Royal Institute of British Architects

16:46 2012, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, City of London, London 2012, Open House day, RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects No Comments

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) building is the centre for professional body architects in the UK. The Royal Institute of British Architects headquarters were 1930s Grade II* listed building designed by architect George Grey Wornum, at 66 Portland Place. The building itself is beautiful Artdeco architecture with touches of Ancient Greek and Egyptian architecture. The Building has two Egyptian style columns from each side of the entrance with statues and engraved writing. The construction is mainly out of stone and glass. It has 3 conference halls as well as halls for exhibitions. During the Open House Day it was on show and had a free pass to see both exhibitions that were on: DESIGN STORIES and 5 BY FIVE. Design Stories exhibition is about the Olympics venues and the 5 By Five that is about the process of designing buildings.

Click Here to go back to the Open House day page.

If you are interested in attending architectural events we would recommend to got to our EVENTS page and check out what is on. 

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The Roman Triumph Arch

21:10 Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, Arch, Roman Architecture, Roman Cities, Roman empire, Roman Triumph Arch No Comments

The Triumph Arch was built in many of Roman cities it was a passageway for citizens in the city and was also a monument to illustrate triumph. The arch had 4 entrances from each side and was usually the centre of the city or town. It was first used by the Hittites Empire at around 17th Century BC. The construction of the arch came from Monumental gateways that had been already in use for thousands of years by civilizations such as the Hittites, Assyrians,Babylonians and Myceneans. The Arch was a simple construction the saw two piers from either sides connected with an arch with decorations around that illustrated wars and power. Triumphal arches are one of the most influential and distinctive types of architecture associated with ancient Rome. The Triumph Arch is now popular and is used in modern architecture. Here are some examples of famous modern arches:

- Arc de Triomphe in Paris
- Siegestor in Munich
- Wellington Arch in London

Examples of arches built by the Romans:

- The Arch of Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna
- The Porte Noire in Besançon
- The Arch of Titus in Rome
- The Triumphal Arch of Orange

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Ancient Roman Temples

13:01 Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, Roman, Roman Architecture, Roman Cities, Roman empire, Roman Temples, Temples No Comments

Roman Temples were usually associated with the Greek temple because the Roman period of architecture has developed most of the main factors and techniques that the Greeks have invented.

Ancient Roman temples are among the most visible archaeological remains of Roman culture, and are a significant source for Roman architecture. The reason to their construction was the Roman believe in the Roman and Greek Gods. The cella housed the cult where the Roman citizens used to do their religious practises. Behind the cella was a room or rooms used by temple attendants for storage of equipment and offerings.

The English word "temple" derives from Latin templum, which was originally not the building itself, but a sacred space surveyed and plotted ritually. 

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Roman Circus

23:45 Amphitheatre, Ancient Greek, Circus, Greek, mud-brick, Roman, Roman Architecture, Roman empire, Stadium No Comments

The circus was another open aired oval venue where people used to see horse and chariot racing. It first appeared in major cities around 500BC and worked it's way to the popularity it holds today. It was made out of mud-brick and stone and the people used to sit on a stair shaped seat. Usually it had a length of 245m to around 621m. Furthermore the venue could hold up over 15,000 people each time. It was developed from the Ancient Greek construction called the Stadium.

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The Map of Ancient Greece

14:57 Agora, Ancient Greek, Ancient Greek Architecture, Architecture, Bouleuterion, Map, Olympic Stadium, The Acropolis, The Parthenon No Comments

Athens: The great capital of ancient Greece has a lot of really interesting constructions like The Parthenon, The Amphitheatre, The great Agora of Athens and of course The Acropolis. 
The Acropolis contains: 
- Stoa of Eumenes
- Statue of the Great Athena 
- Odeon of Herodes Atticus 
- Theatre of Dionysus 
- The Parthenon
- All the other vital constructions in the Greek Period.


Sparta: There are some architectural constructions in Sparta like The Bouleuterion of Sparta because of its famous governmental methods. However the main attraction in Sparta is the sculptures.


Olympia: Olympia is famous for hosting the Olympic games in The Olympic stadium. The Olympic games were made to favour the Gods and Goddesses. It is also very famous to the world for the magnificent Temple of Zeus of Olympia that was dedicated to the main God Zeus.

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Greek Public Square (Agora)

23:28 Agora, Ancient Greek, Ancient Greek Architecture, Athens, Columns, Greek Public Square No Comments

The Agora was a central spot in ancient Greek cities and towns where people used to gather and walk through the Agora. It was usually made out of stone and used the Doric order as the column type. The literal of the word Agora means Gathering place.

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Fibonacci number

16:21 Ancient Greek, Architecture, Fibonacci of Pisa, Fibonacci sequence, Fibonacci spiral No Comments

In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers or Fibonacci series/sequence are the numbers in the following sequence:

By definition, the first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 0 and 1, Therefore when you add 0 to 1 it equals 1. So the sequence carries on 0,1,1 and you keep on adding the two numbers that you got and the previous one. So that you get 1+1=2 and you get 0,1,1,2. Each subsequence number is the sum of the previous two. 

This is the equation:

With seed value:

This really helped Greek engineers work out how to build temples and how many columns you need to support the ceiling.

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The Golden Ratio

22:25 Ancient Greek, Ancient Greek Architecture, Architecture, Columns, The Golden Ratio No Comments

Greek architecture was usually designed and constructed using a mathematical ratio that is called The Golden Ratio, This ratio shows two quantities in the ratio that if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity to the smaller one.
This figure illustrates the geometric relationship:

Where the Greek letter phi ( φ ) represents the Golden Ratio. Its value us:

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Stadium

21:13 Ancient Greek, Ancient Greek Architecture, Architecture, Athens, Classical Architecture, engraved illustrations, Stadium No Comments

The Greek civilization has made a lot of very important inventions and designs that changed the course of Architecture. One of them is the stadium a oval shaped construction that held sport events in it. The oldest known stadium is a stadium in Olympia, Greece where the Olympic games of antiquity were held from 776BC. The Olympic games was a celebration in favour of the gods, where the best athletes from all over the country gathered and showed their skills to win the competition for their cities.   

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Bouleuterion

18:55 Ancient Greek, Ancient Greek Architecture, Bouleuterion, engraved illustrations, Greek, Ionic No Comments

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Stoa

15:32 Ancient Greek, Ancient Greek Architecture, Architecture, Athens, Columns, Doric, Ionic, Roman, Roman empire, Stoa No Comments

Stoa is a covered walk through or porticoes that was first constructed and used in Greece and later used in the Roman empire. It was usually for public usage. Early Stoas were open at the entrance with columns, usually of the Doric Order, however was sometimes built using the Ionic Order, lining of the building. It was one of the most popular constructions built in the Greek period. 

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Classical Architecture

16:10 Ancient Greek, Architecture, Classical Architecture, Greek, Roman No Comments

Classic architecture is a period of architecture that developed from Greek and Roman Architecture and is classical antiquity. Only Greek architecture during the control of Alexander the Great and after his supremacy. The Classical period was revived in the 18th century and the early 19th century. It was mainly constructed using stone, marble and columns. It was revolutionary and was a major change in the history of architecture and construction. This idea was used to build arches, churches and palaces.

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