Week Three- Classical Civilizations

Classical Civilizations

Week Three- Minoans, Mycenaeans, Greece, and Rome 

Moldings

    
    The Minoans and Mycenaeans were connected to ancient Greece, their main developed architecture were citadels. These would have been capped mountaintops some examples are Tiryns, Plyos, and Mycenae. Centered on the island of Crete, many of their urban areas would have been in the valley. In the Mycenaean culture the most important structure wasn't a temple, instead it was the palace. These civilizations were not fortified but instead used the geographical state itself to protect from invaders. 

Minoan Architecture

    The Palace of Knossos was constructed by an additive design process and organized around a central courtyard. The palace looked inward towards the courtyard; the interior would have consisted of a stairway and thrown room. The throne room would have been lined with a bench against the walls the same height as the throne itself. Walls of important rooms would have been painted the color palette would have been heavy on white, red, and black. These would have been most common because they were available and had sustainability of their natural pigmentation. Blue and Green would have been less common, expensive they would have been reserved for the most important rooms. The palace would have been two or three stories tall, ground rooms were designated to storerooms, and the upper rooms boasted windows. Minoan columns were a big feature as well as interiors that would have painted schemes. 

    The Minoans left behind a large assortment of glazed pottery and items made out of metal. Crete is covered in oaks, cypress, fir, and cedar but very few wooden products remain. We could assume that wood would have been used, however. Mycenae is on the mainland of Greece, megaron is the foundation of their architecture. In this culture instead of the palace being the greatest part of architecture it was the beehive tombs. They consist of a subterranean corbelled dome, corbelled arch, and dromos. As well as the famous lion gate, the main gate to Mycenae, the first piece of monumental public sculpture in Greece. 

    The Golden Age was dated between 480-400 B.C., in the Golden Age we find the concept of developing balance. The developed the system of columns and details withing the column. They would start with the base, shaft, capital, and entablature. Thier sequence of architecture was oriented inwardly, starting with the courtyard in the center. The main gathering space with the kitchen, bathroom, and andron coming off from the center room.  Something interesting that I found was the use of a cistern, it was a vessel that was used to collect rainwater. They learned how to be useful of materials and found ways to use resources. 

Modern Greek Chair

    Furniture in Greece would have been constructed with leather and cords. Some would have aspects of gold, ivory, and gems, copper, bronze, iron, marble, and wood. 

    Seat furniture consisted of thrones, klismos, and stools. These would have had round shaped legs, and these items would have been small, portable, and lightweight. Tables were the same and were regulated by the height of the couch. They would also implement moldings and patterns; I like the design of this because they started to implement design and functionality. Through this we see that it's important for humans to feel at home, they want to make it their own. This is when Interior Design comes in and shows how valuable it is. People want to feel when they enter a space, they want to add things like molding and patterns that maybe they could functionally do without but emotionally enjoy. 

Modern Coliseum

Greek Architecture

 Rome was one of the greatest powers in west China, and they served the world with spreading art and civilization but was inspired by Greece. One of the greatest developments from Rome was the use of the arch, there are many different types, arch, barrel vault, groin vault, and dome. One of the greatest forms of architecture from Rome is the Coliseum. It could easily seat 50,000 people. Made up of concrete and stone it was the first prototype of a sport arena. Another example would be the Pantheon, a round temple with a dome, it was the world's largest un-reinforced concrete done with the oculus being 142 feet in diameter and 142 feet high. The romans residential architecture would have had the use of villas or a more open living space. 

Modern Villa

    After reading the book and slideshow I found the temple of Hera interesting, in my Arc History class we are learning about temples made by the ancient Egyptians and people from Mesopotamia. I find it so intriguing how similar but different each societies temple is depending on what and how they worshiped.