Idea and visuality in Hellenistic architecture: A geometric analysis of Temple A of the Asklepieion at Kos

John R. Senseney

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The author uses analytic geometry and AutoCAD software to analyze the plan of Temple A of the Asklepieion at Kos, revealing a circumscribed Pythagorean triangle as the basis for the plan's design.This methodology and its results counter earlier doubts about the application of geometry to Doric temple design and suggest the existence of an alternative to the grid-based approach characteristic of Hellenistic temples of the Ionic order. Appreciation of the geometric system underlying the plan of Temple A leads to a consideration of the role of visuality in Hellenistic architecture, characterized here as the manner in which abstract ideas shared by architects and scholars conditioned viewing and influenced the design process.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)555-595
    Number of pages41
    JournalHesperia
    Volume76
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 2007

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Classics
    • Archaeology
    • History
    • Archaeology

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