Greek Architecture: R.A. Tomlinson

 

 A:  Introduction to Greek Architecture

 

 Read Chapter 1, the Introduction to Tomlinson’s book. Now answer these questions:

 

1. What is meant by describing a building as vernacular, and how do vernacular buildings differ from major public buildings?

 

2.  What are the two main reasons why classical buildings fall into ruin?

 

3.  Assess the importance of the roof to a building.

 

4.  “abandoned buildings become ruins” says Tomlinson (page 3): give an example (you can use a modern example if you wish!)

 

5. Make a list of what is missing even from what appears to be a complete temple, such as the temple of Hephaistos in the agora at Athens.

 

6. Why are Greek temples built to such a simple, rectangular, box-shape plan?

 

7.  Often we only have the foundations of a building to look at . What information can the foundations of a temple give us about its probable appearance?

 

8. What three elements would be sufficient to enable us to reconstruct the elevation of a temple such as the temple of Zeus at Olympia?

 

9. How might the proportions of the columns and capitals in a ruined temple give a clue as to its probable date of construction?

 

B.  The Early Development of Classical Temples

 

Now read Chapter 2 of Tomlinson’s book and answer these questions:

 

10. In which century did the Greek temple appear in the form by which we recognise it today?  In what main ways was it different to what had gone before?

 

11. What aspects of Doric architecture “present concepts originally achieved in wood”? (Tomlinson, page 16)

 

12. How does Tomlinson come to the conclusion that the appearance of the doric frieze was not  due to  “concepts originally conceived in wood”?

 

13. Make a table listing the essential differences between the doric and ionic column (pages 18-19).

 

14. In what main way was the temple of Hera on Samos different to the temple of Hera at Olympia? Account for this difference.

 

15. Where did the Greeks learn how to build temples in stone? What is significant about the temple of Aphaia on Aegina?

 

16. Why should a designer of buildings be called an architecton, when the word actually means a “master carpenter”?

 

17. “Greek architects proceeded from rule of thumb.”  (page 23) What does Tomlinson mean by this?

 

18. What limited the size - and determined the appearance  - of Greek temples?

 

19. How much did the Parthenon cost to build?

 

20. Were Greek buildings the product of slave labour?

 

21. “All Greek temples may look alike, but a large range of subtle variation is possible.” (page 27) How is this variation possible?

C. Temples of the Classical Period

 

 Now read Chapter 3 of Tomlinson’s book and complete the following tasks:

 

22.

 a) Complete a temple datasheet for the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aigina.

 

b) What evidence is there to suggest that the building of this temple belongs to a period between the Archaic and Classical periods? (Consider the sculptures and columns)

 

23. What is the “triglyph problem” on doric temples, and how did architects overcome it? (Use figure 14 to help your understanding and explanation)

 

24.

 a) Read carefully the description of the cella of Aphaia and, in conjunction with figure 11, try to visualise its appearance.

 

b) Add any important notes you have made to your temple datasheet.