Architectural+Didest+Article

**The Greek Influence Today** **Written By: Gillian Williams**

Ancient Greece is without a doubt one of the most influential periods for architecture. Why you may ask. Well, if you look at pictures of the magnificent buildings of that time and the buildings that are more modernly built, you can see a great many similarities.

Some similarities being the different styles of building, such as Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian; also known as the three orders. The Doric style is quite simple; being comprised of columns that are sturdy and plain, architrves, mutules, pediments, ect. The Ionic style is more elegent than the Doric. It is comprised of thin, elegant columns that are decorated with a scroll-like design on top, have molded bases, and sculpted figures on the lower half. And last, but certainly not least, you have the Corinthian style, which is not used as widely as the other two. That's because it is much more fancier and is done with quite a lot of detail, some of which is acanthus leaves.

To show an example of how ancient and modern architecture compare, I will use the Temple of Hera and the jefferson Memorial. You may wonder how these two very different buildings can compare, but in fact they are quite similar.

Even though the Temple of Hera was destroyed awhile ago we can still tell how it would have looked because of the plans that are still around today. It was a purely Doric Structure, even though it was altered while it was still standing. The Jefferson Memorial its self was actually designed to look like the Pantheon of Rome, which of course was a Doric structure. So both of the buildings use the Doric style.

The temple of Hera and the Jefferson Memorial have Doric style columns that surround there entire structure. They both also have ceilingd that were made up beams that laid across the building with their ends on the architraves. Now on the end of these beams are channel's to make a triglyph. You can see an example of a triglyph on the Jefferson Memorial today. Although you would only be able to see a part of one on the Temple of Hera, for it was destroyed.

As you can see the Temple of Hera and the Jefferson Memorial are quite similar. Although they are from two completely different times, they both share many similarities and even their building style. I hope that this has helped you to see how much ancient Greek architecture has influenced modern society.