The Parthenon and the New Acropolis Museum: Two Odes to Humanism
Introduction
Two and a half millennia after it was built, the ruins of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, continue to “conjure the glory of [a] classical past and western civilization” (Neils 1).
The Parthenon was commissioned during the Classical Period in Greece by the celebrated leader, Perikles, in the fifth century B.C. (Janson 79).
The architects Iktinos, Kallikrates, and Karpion erected the classic Doric temple to transcend beyond a functional place of ritual to “an architectural masterpiece” that was a “monument to Athenian power, prosperity and piety” (Burford).
The Parthenon was the ultimate vehicle of cultural expression of the time – the Humanistic notion of man as the center of importance and celebrant of its own history (however mythological).
Two thousand years later, the Greece-based company, the Organization for the Construction of the New Acropolis Museum, hosted an international competition for architects to submit proposals for designing the New Acropolis Museum to house some of the most important pieces of Classical Antiquity.
Naturally, the commission winner was Swiss-born architect Bernard Tschumi who embraced the same exaltation of man and incorporation of history as the Parthenon.
The New Acropolis Museum in Athens was completed in 2009 A.D. in view of the original Parthenon and has quickly become iconic.
The similarities between the Parthenon and New Museum extend beyond the central premise of the buildings based on Classicism which celebrates man’s central capacity for order and logic and to be the measure of all things (Nightingale 13).
Both structures incorporate the most modern use of technology and materials available in their times and exploit their location to add to the impact of their architectural and cultural statement – a reverence of man.
The Parthenon
The Parthenon is a temple constructed in its entirety out of gleaming white Pentelic marble within a period of 16 years (448-432 B.C.) (Janson 79).
The temple was built on the most prominent location in Athens hovering over the city as a “brilliant landmark” that bespoke its power, and position, and suggested the proximity of its inhabitants to the gods (Janson 80).
Adorned with enchanting sculptures and carvings of mythical figures, gods, and their interactions with men, the temple was the center of the celebration of significant aspects of ancient Greek culture.
The ordered geometrical design of the temple, for example, was a perfect acknowledgment of man’s ability to erect a structure of logic as a vehicle of homage (Freeman 208).
The structure’s rectangular shape and the significance of the simple columns that extended around its periphery (margins) was the expression of the Doric order in its absolute form.
All the classic elements of the Doric order were present in the temple: the stepped platform, the columns with vertical grooves called flutes, and the entablature with mutules, or small graded steps, in the cornice (Harris 172).
Among architectural scholars, it is widely believed that the first structure in which the Doric order was established was the large temple of Artemis at Garitsa, located on the island of Corfu, which was built circa 590-580 B.C. (Watkin 26).
While the order of the temple was classical, the Parthenon did introduce novelty when it came to the distribution of the Doric elements.
Unlike classic architecture of its time that consisted of the peripteral (surrounded by a single row of columns) colonnade ratio of 6×13, the Parthenon was octastyle, having 8 Doric columns in its front and rear, and 17 columns on its sides conforming to the established ratio of 9:4 (See Figures 1A and 2A).
This ratio governed the vertical and horizontal proportions of the temple and many other relationships of the building, like the spacing between the columns and their height.
The Parthenon was geometrically rectangular, with dimensions of 30 meters in width and 70 meters in length.
The design of the temple was based on the ideal symmetry and proportions of human physic, and its architecture was rooted in the Pythagorean idea that “all is Number.”
The ingeniousness of the architectural design was in the 70, 000 individual marble pieces of the temple that came together in perfect equilibrium to the human eye.
The luxurious volume of fine marble used for the temple was a testament to the Athenian pride that the patron of the building, Perikles, attempted to convey to visitors.
In the fifth century B.C, as Greece was rocked by the turmoil of war (with Persians and among Greek city-states), the display of a solid symbol of strength and wealth was an affirmation by the Athenians of their place as an empire in the Mediterranean (Freeman 208).
Even the routes leading up to the temple were thoughtfully positioned at certain angles to create an awe-inspiring view of the temple as a giant impressive monument crowning the city (Watkin 28).
The design of the Parthenon has based on the Protagorean concept of humanism that “man is the measure of all things”.
Along with its geometry, this concept was incorporated in many of the architectural features of the structure.
A perfect example of this feature is displayed by the temple’s magnificent columns. Individually, the resilience, masculinity, and the perfect symmetry of the Doric columns symbolized the ideal male physically, while collectively they represented the united and very capable Greek society.
Another significant humanistic element was the depiction of mortals alongside the gods in many religious works of art decorating the temple.
This is significant, as it represented the philosophical progression of Greek society that had elevated man’s status as the epicenter of reality- thus aspiring to become gods themselves.
Built and named in dedication to the Goddess Athena Parthenos, the Parthenon held a deep religious significance for all of Greece (Nightingale 54).
The Goddess’ birth, and her triumph over Poseidon to become the patron deity of the Greeks, were celebrated in the temple’s east and west pediments (low-pitched triangular gables).
The Cella (the principal enclosed chamber of a classical temple) housed the Goddesses’ golden-ivory statue, which towered 12 meters tall, dwarfing anyone who dared to share her sacred chamber.
The temple was the center for many religious celebrations, particularly the Panathenaic festival, which was held every four years to commemorate Athena’s birth (Nightingale 55).
Parthenon’s master, Sculptor Pheidias captured this ceremonial procession on the Frieze (wall painting) that decorated the Cella’s interior.
The introduction of Ionic influence by the Frieze to this Doric structure was further emphasized by the four Ionic columns that stood at the center of the opisthodomos (small room in the cella used as a treasury).
This harmonious marriage of the two organized systems of classical architecture marked “the first introduction of Ionic elements into a Doric building” (Watkins 36).
Pheidias’ friezes ran above the lines of columns throughout the temple, decorating the building as they told a continuous story- likely about a Panathenaean celebration in remembrance of Athenian heroes (Freeman 209).
A large portion of these glorious friezes has survived to modern-day. However, seventy-five of the 160 meters of the original frieze are located in Britain.
These portions of the frieze, known as the Elgin Marbles, were removed from Greece during the
Ottoman rule by Lord Elgin in the 1800s, who later sold it to the British Museum.
The retrieval of the missing art was one of the primary motivational drivers for constructing the New Museum.
For over a century, the Greeks persisted “that Lord Elgin acquired the sculptures through illicit means” (Marstine 2) and demanded the return of the important historical artifacts.
The British refusal was based on the argument that they were “keeping them safe…against the damage of neglect” (Marstine 2).
The New Museum was thus commissioned to be architectural and technologically sound to house delicate artifacts.
Most interestingly, an entire floor was designed with a space left for the return of the marble with the hope that the ancient sculptures would find their way back home where they will be displayed at eye-shot from their former location.
New Acropolis Museum
Located 1000 feet from its ancient predecessor, the New Acropolis Museum is both a tribute to the architects of antiquity and to man’s ingenuity of survival for millennia.
Coming at a tremendous cost of 80 million dollars, it seems that the undertaking was an attempt by modern Greece to exalt its ancient city with a majestic crowning edifice worthy of Perikles.
The museum symbolically and literally incorporates features of the ancient world. Like its ancient predecessor, the New Acropolis is constructed on top of ancient ruins incorporated into its architecture.
The archaeological site that was unearthed during the initial phases of the excavations for the building posed a serious problem for developers.
However, due to the brilliant design of Bernard Tschumi and associates (especially Michael Photiadis), the archaeological excavation site became one of the museum’s most prominent features and serves as a live exhibition on the first floor (Caskey 2).
The New Acropolis consists of three narrative levels; the base, middle, and top. The base is elevated over the archaeological site, supported by 100 concrete pillars.
A partial glass floor provides the visitors with a first-hand view of the archaeological excavations.
From the base, visitors pass through the museum’s atrium over the glass ramp to the middle level.
Entering the middle level, the visitor would observe a large trapezoidal hall with a series of large grey-tone columns supporting a high ceiling of double-height.
The museum’s interior is dominated by columns, just as the Parthenon was before it was ravished. The middle hall provides a fascinating historical journey through time, from the Archaic to the Roman period.
This feeling is further exaggerated by the muted color pallet used in the middle hall, consisting of grey, almost industrial-appearing columns contrasted against the white marble of the delicately sculpted artifacts.
Perhaps intentionally, the New Acropolis Museum utilized “different colors of natural stone in the architecture to produce contrast,” as was used in the original Parthenon (Caskey 3).
The Parthenon used dark grey limestone for the background for some of the friezes, which contrasted beautifully against the sincere white of the Pentelic marble.
Incorporating this ancient practice in the modern museum, the New Acropolis thus manages to maintain the austere seriousness of prayer from the original Parthenon, while infusing the expanse with a modern spaciousness that is the perfect conduit for a visitor to contemplate his or her own history.
The New Acropolis thus summons a feeling of a minimalist (Wise) and a non-denominational temple which deeply acknowledges its existence as a temple for the purpose of man.
This aura is carried down from the Parthenon, with the variation that the Parthenon was dedicated to the purpose of man, however, in ode and service to the Goddess.
The minimalist solution is also used by the New Acropolis to deal with the issue of providing natural lighting to illuminate its content of artifacts.
While both the Parthenon and the New Acropolis were built to utilize natural light; the objective of the latter was accomplished through the use of large sturdy concrete columns, widely spaced out, and large sheets of highly specialized glass which provide protection of the artifacts against excessive heat and light (Caskey 5).
Elevated above the city, the visitors stand in contemplation of the original Parthenon to the north of the New Acropolis and simultaneously experience the past but in the present form.
The octastyle colonnade of the Parthenon has also been integrated into the new structure with modern modifications to fit with the design (See Figures 3A vs. 3B).
In addition, its contents and specifically the frieze will be displayed in natural light as great Pheidias intended.
When the time arrives for the sculptures to be returned, they will decorate the New Museum much like they did the Parthenon more than two millennia before.
The current replicas displayed in the gallery “have been arranged in the round, replicating the exact layout and dimensions of the original frieze” (Soares).
The design routes from the base of the building to the rectangular glass gallery located at the top (see Figure 2E), bears a close resemblance to the procession the ancient Athenians would have traveled as they headed to the Parthenon.
Furthermore, the staggered geometric angling of the third utmost floor on top of the second floor forces the visitors, like on the routes to the Parthenon, to experience the edifice on a three-dimensional scale.
The New Acropolis Museum thus recreates the dramatic effect of a large awe-inspiring structure emerging from the hilltop and conjures the sensation of pilgrimage for the visitors.
Conclusion
The Parthenon and the New Acropolis Museum, built two and a half millennia apart, stand as majestic illustrations of enduring classical Greek culture.
The preservation of ancient architecture is monumental for future architectural advances, especially the Parthenon with its humanistic elements, which intuitively draw a person deep into the structure as if designed specifically for his or her presence.
The invocation of the humanistic concepts, especially the exaltation and focus on man, in the New Acropolis is a testament that the Parthenonic elements can be incorporated into a modern structure with the same captivating effect on visitors.
While the Parthenon was a religious temple dedicated to a Deity, it complimented the men who worshiped, using man as the geometric ruler in the design of the dimensions of the building.
The muted color tones, the natural light, the purity of the lines of the columns, and the three-dimensional angling of the building all culminated to produce a solemn temple of worship that depended on the human visitors to be resurrected and breathed with life.
Similarly, the New Acropolis Museum complimented the visitors by being designed specifically for man’s journey.
The visitor experienced the living excavations on the first floor, the contemplative central vault of the middle floor, and finally, the culmination of the journey on the elevated and glass enshrined chamber on the third floor.
With the sample elements of color, light, geometry, and positioning, the New Acropolis paid the visitor the same compliment as being the central focus of its existence.
However, the difference is more profound for the visitors to the New Acropolis who must traverse the millennia of human existence in search of that divine whisper to discover that the prayer is uttered in an ode to himself and the enduring accomplishments of his fellow man.
References
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Janson, Anthony F., and H.W. Janson. History of Art for Young People. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1997. Print.
Marstine, Janet. New Museum Theory and Practice. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Print.
Neils, Jenifer. The Parthenon: From Antiquity to Present. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print.
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Soares, Clair. “Acropolis now! A museum for the Elgin Marbles.” The Independent [London, UK] 20 June 2009: 30. Web. 16 Oct 2011.
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