The Ancient Greek Cities and Buildings
In the Hellenistic era, Greek culture spread to east, and many new cities were settled. The designs of city became more varied and created demand for public buildings. However, the individual citizens had to pay for many buildings. Most Greek cities grew without a plan for the placement of streets and buildings. Several years later, city plane came into use. Some city was structured by a grid system with orderly arrangement of buildings sites. The town planning was usually a maze of narrow chaotic streets. The Agora, market place, was the central feature of the city.
The Greek houses were constructed with mud brick, earth floors, and had no particular designs. It was common to see one to two soried hoses. Several years later, better houses were built with stones with plastered exterior and frescoed interior walls. One type of construction materials that Greek used was mud-brick. It was made by mixing clay with water and straw, then pressing the mixture into rectangular forms. Sometime, they used timber beams as a supporter. These materials were found locally, so it was easier for the Greek builders. |
"Greek Houses & Daily Life." Ancient Greece. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
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The Ancient Greek Monumental Construction
By the mid-400s B.C., a new kind of construction developed called monumental construction. The people of the Aegean, such as the Minoans and Myceneans, created huge structures of stones. However, the Greeks outperform by constructing decorated buildings. The monumental construction method produced buildings that were much bigger, more impressive, and long-lasting. It was first applied to temples, then the idea spread and it was later used for other public structures like treasuries, council halls, and walls for cities. The Greek monumental construction included many characteristic of Greek architecture, such as columns, stone platforms for large buildings, shallow peaked roofs, and decorations of statues or carved panels. They invented new building techniques and designs, and borrowed ideas from the Egyptians.
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Ancient Greek Architecture. Swide. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.
<http://fast.swide.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ the-expansion-of-the-ancient-greek-empire-a-timeline-cover-3.jpg>. |
The Greek monumental construction included many characteristic of Greek architecture, such as columns, stone platforms for large buildings, shallow peaked roofs, and decorations of statues or carved panels. They invented new building techniques and designs, and borrowed ideas from the Egyptians. The Greek builders were skillful at building roofs. The roofs were waterproof with channels to carry off rainwater. It was made out of tiles of terracotta which are backed clay. This invention is used in many places other than Greece, such as the Mediterranean.
Materials
Greek builders used stone and rubble masonry to build everyday structures, such as houses, sheds, and workshops. They also built elegant and massive temples, places, and public buildings. One type of construction materials used in Greece was rubble masonry. It was a small blocks of limestone roughly chipped from quarries. People will build walls by stacking these stone and filling the space between them with mud. This method was used mostly Greece where stone was more common than clay. Another construction materials used in Greece was marble(type of stone). It was an important material for the Greek monumental construction. Thus, the Greeks became very skillful at working with finely cut stone. They carved the stones into different sizes of shapes and used for building walls and columns. Also, they learned to move large, heavy stone using rollers and ramps from the Egyptians. Many techniques developed for fastening blocks of stone together. Dowels were used to secure sections of columns. Clamps were used to lock each block of stone in a wall to the blocks around it.
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"Classes of Stone Masonry." Chestofbooks. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
<http://chestofbooks.com/architecture/Building-Trades-Pocketbook/images/ Classes-Of-Stone-Masonry-301.jpg>. |