New Approaches to Ancient Greek Architecture

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to explore some of the modern approaches to ancient architecture, by studying first technical devices used in it. Second, one can detect different conceptions of architecture that have led to apparently similar constructions but in which the intervention of architects with very different skills can be discerned. Not many scholars ventured to study the building processes and the proportions of ancient Greek buildings. Among others, it is fair to mention J. Bousquet, J.-J. Coulton, L. Haselberger. Planning and building are two logical steps that seem to follow one another naturally but the reality is more complex: observing the hesitations of ancient builders that have left their marks in some of their buildings and new discoveries about the graphic processes they made use of, may lead to reconsidering to some extent our knowledge of ancient Greek architecture. The study of Greek architecture leads first to consider the techniques used by the ancients. We realize that these were particularly rudimentary, but the quality of the work led to almost perfect results, despite the rigor of the materials. In the same way, the study of plans and proportions allows to define a whole arc of processes. Some buildings are the result of a simplistic construction in which only elementary rules of construction and decoration were applied. Other buildings, on the contrary, were built according to a pre-established plan whose analysis reveals the presence of elaborate geometric proportions. The implementation of the latter is obviously a feat that is only found in a few exceptional buildings.