The Classical Orders

The classical orders of architecture are essentially a set of posts and beams (called columns and entablatures) that were originally developed in Ancient Greece, and have since spread throughout Europe and the World.

Below I will give just a brief introduction to them, but for more information please consult some of the many books that are available on the subject, some of which are listed in the Bibliography at the back of this work.

The Greek Orders

The Greeks started developing the orders sometime around the 7th century BC, creating the Doric and Ionic styles of architecture, each with a customary look as to the design and proportions of the columns and entablatures. At a later date, sometime in the 5th century BC, the Corinthian capital was developed, though it never became a distinct type of architecture in Greece, like the Doric and Ionic before it.

One of the primary differences between the Greek orders and later examples are the curves that were used in constructing them. They are shallower and subtler than later examples, either being derived from complex curves like hyperbolas and parabolas, or the result of on-site trial and error to get just the right curve. Mark Wilson Jones, in his book Principles of Roman Architecture† presents several examples of this latter method.

The Greek forms were not used by the Romans, and it was not until the late 18th and early 19th century, with the rise of the Greek Revival period, that they came back into use. It is at this time that several treatises were written showing the construction of Grecian architecture and the use of complex curves in forming their moldings.

Due to their essential replacement by the Roman forms in so much classical work, the Greek version of the orders will not be directly discussed here. For those interested in constructing them, however, the basic methods used in this book could be combined with information from treatises covering the Greek or Greek Revival orders, just replacing the proportions and molding forms.

The Roman Orders

The Romans initially adopted the Greek Doric and Ionic styles of architecture for their buildings, as evidenced by their descriptions in the only book on architecture to survive from ancient times, De Architectura (On Architecture) by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, written during the 1st century BC. In this book he gives descriptions of the Doric and Ionic styles, but only briefly touches on the Corinthian, and then only in relation to it’s capital, thus following Greek custom.

Though the Romans made little use of either the Doric or Ionic orders, they did make them their own, by adapting their design and proportion to their taste.

For the Doric order, they increased the height and slenderness of the column, standardized the placement of the triglyphs and mutules in the entablature so they were centered over columns, even at the corners, and sometimes introduced a base, which the Greeks never had. In addition, they introduced alternative cornices, some with the mutules hanging down in a block-like form from the soffit, and others with the dentils of the Ionic order added under the corona.

For the Ionic order, their major adaptation was the introduction of the four-sided capital, with the volutes angling out of each corner, thus giving a uniform view from all four sides. In addition, they also introduced an alternative cornice in some instances, with simple modillion brackets replacing the dentils of the Greek Ionic order.

However, the majority of Roman remains mostly feature the Corinthian capital or one of it’s derivatives, along with a multitude of different entablature forms created to go along with it. In fact, they used it so much, that it has been referred to as the Roman order par excellence.

Also in contrast to the Greeks, the Romans used much simpler forms in creating their contours and moldings, preferring curves based on simple arcs and circles, and it was these forms that the later Renaissance architects took up, and which became the norm for several hundred years.

Just as with the Greek orders, the Roman ones will not be explicitly covered here, as their models were the basis of later Renaissance work.

The Renaissance Orders

Following the rediscovery of Classical thought and design in the 15th century, there were a number of treatises written on classical architecture.

Among the earliest and most prominent was Leon Battista Alberti with his De re aedificatoria (On the Art of Building) of 1452, but it was Sebastiano Serlio who codified the concept of the orders as we know them today. In his illustrated treatise I Sette Libri dell’ Architettura (The Seven Books of Architecture), he defined five separate orders, the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite, giving each their specific characteristics and forms, that were to form the basis for all later authorities.

Following this, there were a number of treatises written exploring the orders and classical architecture in general. The sources these authors took ranged from Vitruvius and existing Roman remains, all the way to imaginary ideal orders or mathematical explorations of proportion. The result is the existence of hundreds of treatises written over the following centuries, in over a dozen languages.

The Example Orders

Following the Renaissance, the basic form of an order was a column, formed of a base, shaft and capital, topped by an entablature, comprising an architrave, frieze and cornice. The whole was sometimes placed upon a pedestal, formed of a base, dado or die, and cap.

However, while this basic set of elements was agreed upon, there was greater disagreement on how the orders should be proportioned, not only in how individual parts related to each other and how the larger parts worked together, but also in how those relationships should be expressed. They therefore created rules, meant to show their own idealized forms, that the reader could then follow. Some showed only single examples of each order, others showed multiple alternatives that could be chosen from to suit the location and the purpose.

Trying to explain how to construct the orders in detail according to each of the above would be a monumental labor, which is beyond the scope of this book. However, by adopting the work of one authority, and developing some basic methods and techniques, I believe a person can then use that knowledge to follow the rules of other authorities with only minor changes.

As a result, I have chosen one authority to follow in the majority of the examples used in the text of this book, in regards to the proportions, dimensions, and molding forms. However, when possible I have also included information specific to other authorities, especially in relation to molding forms or specialized features.

The Orders According To Sir William Chambers

Among the authorities who wrote on classical architecture was Sir William Chambers, a British architect most famous for designing Somerset House in London, and the author of A Treatise on the Decorative Part of Civil Architecture, first published in 1759.

His general rules for the orders, are:

In addition, there are three more areas he covers that will be dealt with in this book, and these are pilasters, pedestals, and the fluting of columns.

Further details on all of the above will be given when dealing with Chambers’ version of each of the orders.

As noted before, this book is not a treatise on the classical orders or classical architecture, and is not meant as a replacement for examining such sources. For complete details on the use of the orders and their place in classical architecture, this information can be found in William Chambers treatise (or that of the authority of your choice).