Architectural Space in Ancient Greece

by Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis

Doxiadis is best known as an architect-planner, as a consultant with an international clientele, as something of a prophet whose outlook is focused on man's worldwide future. But here, in his first major study, originally published in German in 1937, Doxiadis looks back into the past, to the architectural roots of his native Greece.

He works out a theory that accounts for the seemingly unordered layout of the buildings in ancient Greek sacred precincts, proposing that the spatial relationships between the buildings were strictly determined according to a plan.

Doxiadis examines in detail nearly thirty sites, charts their layouts, and presents relevant linear and angular measurements. Numerous site plans and about forty halftones complement the text. The full references include many recent sources. The trim size of the book itself is proportioned by means of the golden section.

Genres: Architecture

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis was an architect and urban planner who was extremely successful and influential in his field during the 1960s & 1970s. He was perhaps best known as the lead architect of Islamabad, the new capital of Pakistan. He later was also renowned for his pioneering work in the study of human habitation, which he referred to as ekistics. He was a prolific author, and is still revered by many as the father of modern urban planning. His son, Apostolos K. Doxiadis, is an internationally acclaimed novelist.