Parts : Whole

The source of the projects we have been working on for Environmental Design II has been stories—fairy tales and creation stories. These sources must be abstracted in some way and then translated into a design, which must be completed using certain materials assigned to us. Likewise, architecture, and what filled the buildings, in different parts of the ancient world depended on the materials their environment supplied them with. In Egypt, most things were made of stone, since it was most readily available. In Greece, “wood was used extensively… in the construction of furniture” (Blakemore 2006). Many of Greece’s advancements and styles would become a sort of “design source” for the Romans, who took the Greek orders and other ways attributes and made them their own.



The Greek building, social, and political style served as an archetype definitely for Rome, as well as for all of Western civilization to follow. The Greek megaron, consisting of “an entry porch… a vestibule [court]… a raised circular hearth” (Roth 2007) remains a model for buildings and homes today. The columns used by the Greeks would continue to be used both structurally and decoratively in Roman buildings, and throughout time up to present day, becoming specifically important in the Greek Revival style. In Rome, they were used highly as pilasters or as fakes in front of a load-bearing wall, transforming them from the highly-important structural pieces they were to the Greeks to a decorative way of showing opulence to the Romans.



The orders were perfected on the Acropolis from earlier prototypes. According to Blakemore, “Both in form and in ornament Roman design was based on Greek prototypes” (Blakemore 2006). The Romans developed what Greece made perfect into something that would stick for centuries. Likewise, when, as both students and professionals, we are working on a design, an original idea, or prototype, must be developed into something more and perfected.



Sometimes in the refining process two ideas merge into a hybrid. The three orders are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. According to Roth, “The other major addition was the Composite order” (Roth 2007), combining attributes of the other orders into one. The simple Tuscan-Doric order was also developed as a hybrid. As Roman culture took the Grecian ideas of design, they often hybridized them into something new, making them more their own.

In most designs, there exists a hierarchy both to how it is designed, and to how it is read. For example, on the Acropolis, there is a hierarchy among these structures. The Propylia and Temple of Athena Nike serve their purpose to get a person to the Acropolis and to welcome them there. The Erechthion, as well as the Propylia and the Temple of Athena Nike, as well as nearly every other structure on the Acropolis, serves to point the viewer directly to the building that falls at the top of the hierarchy: the Parthenon. And because this structure was of such great importance to the people of Athens, it was built with “extraordinary precision” (Roth 2007).



An entourage is the grouping that surrounds a person or thing. In drawing vignettes, the entourage is very important, and often gives the context of the object being focused on. Likewise, in every application, the entourage, or context, must be considered. Why is the Parthenon executed with such precision and attention to detail? The context that Athena was the head goddess over all of Athens answers that question. Her temple, the Parthenon, is surrounded by an entourage of buildings that point and bow to its greatness. In Rome, it was important that important buildings were not surrounded with what might be called entourage so that their importance was highlighted by making them seem grander by having no surroundings.


In conclusion, as designers of today, whether designing an artifact from a story or a home in which people will live, it is crucial that we understand why design trends happen, from where they came, and what makes it all possible. Often, something popular today was popular hundreds of years ago. Buildings are made possible by the post and lintel construction used as long ago as Ancient Egypt, from which other civilizations have built off of and modified. All of these parts from the past, from a story, come together to create a new whole: something greater than what came before it, and something that can be engaged today.