by Jessica Burde

Created on: January 25, 2010

Greek architecture is generally familiar to many people - the classic white columns rising under a triangular cap that has been revived many times through out history - most recently in America as the basis for designing court houses and other public buildings. There are three canonic orders of classical Greek architecture: Ionic, Doric and Corinthian. These orders are mainly distiguished by differences in the columns used in buildings, though other differences between the orders include the shape of the roof and type of decorations of the freize.

The first of these orders to develop was the Doric order. The Doric order evolved from adapting the building techniques used in constructing wooden temples and buildings, to stone. Doric columns were simple and plain. They were made with 24 flat sides, and topped with a capital that had two parts - a circle directly over the column, and a square resting on the circle. The roof of a Doric build was triangular, with the face of the triangle on the short ends of the building. Between the roof and the columns was a section called a frieze. The freize in Doric architecture was divided into sections. Over every column was a series of three vertical lines, called a triglyphs. The triglyphs are belived to have originated as the support beams that would have supported the roof in a wooden building. They may have been added to Doric architecture to give the stone building the same look as the more tradition style. Between the triglyphs were plain rectangular sections called metopes. Below the freize and immediately about the columns was a plain section called an architrave

The Parthenon is the most famous example of Doric architecture.

The Ionic order developed on the island of Ionia in the 6th century BC, and was common on the mainland by the 5th century. Ionic columns were fluted, which means they had lines carved into them running from top to bottom. Ionic columns had a base made of a series of rings, and the capitals were formed in the shape of scrolls. Ionic columns tended to be narrower then Doric, and the Greek's saw them as exemplifying the form of a young girl, where the Doric style was seen as more masculine. The freize of a Ionic building was plain, without the triglyphs of Doric architecture. Ionic columns also incorporated a small visual illusion. Because from eye level the columns would seem to narrow as a person looked up, they were built with a bulge in them that caused them to appear to be straight and even

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