Evolution of Greek Architecture
Like the saying big things come from small beginnings, the famous Greek architecture started when Neolithic people built basic structures, which are evident in ancient building structures – such as houses with circular, oval or rectangular shape. The things they used in building such simple structures were mud bricks. Stones have also been used in the mud with reeds or brush to make it easier to erect buildings. At the early years of Greek architecture, houses rarely have two or more rooms.
After the Neolithic people, the Minoan took over the country. They had made their recognizable architectural designs, which contributed also to the growth and development of Greek architecture throughout its evolution. When this civilization started to settle in the country, residential towns became famous. Temples could hardly be found the same with public structures. Also, they started the idea of building houses more than one room but only pillars were used to separate a room from the other. With just a little different from the houses of Neolithic people, the houses are still open. Later years, stairways were invented. They believed that the Minoan civilization opened the dramatic transition of architecture to its continuous development.
As the years progressed for the betterment of the Greek architecture period, many styles flourished supporting the strong foundation of Greek structure designs. There came the three different orders during the Classical Greek period. This was the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. These orders were famous and best recognized of their distinctive column style. The hardest order to be made was the Corinthian for it demands more details. The Doric and Ionic, on the other hand, was the most commonly used order during the era.
The Doric order was the most basic order in building temples. It has been familiarly and overly used by the famous Spartans. The discovery of Doric order started from wood shafts. Then, those were changed with stones. It is characterized with circular pads having a square block of wood at the top of the shaft. The columns standing vertically were used to support the architraves or beams. In forming the ceiling, it takes some other beams to lay across the building with their ends on these same beams. At each beam’s ends, triglyph was made through channeling them. A triglyph’s top contains another beam, also called as mutules, intentionally placed for the overhanging rafters.
Pediments, known also as flat gables, were also embedded in the finishing touches of the roof. Along the top of the pediments runs the gutter which ends at a lion’s mouth. Thatch and the terra-cotta and marble were used to make the roof. The designs and layouts of the Doric temples could be traced similar to Ionic order. The difference between the two was that Ionic much slender than those of Doric order. The Ionic order has dimensions of eight to nine meters high while the Doric order has only four to five high. There are some sculpted figures on the lower part of the shaft in the Ionic order. And at the upper part of those were rectangular blocks of stone.