Buildings and Structures
The Parthenon
PAR-thuh-non
Temple
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The temple of Athena on the Acropolis of Athens, built 447 to 432 BC under Pericles by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates with the sculptor Phidias. The most refined statement of the Doric order, its subtle curvatures and swellings, called optical refinements, correct what a perfectly straight building would appear to lack, and it has stood ever since as the touchstone of classical architecture.
Facts
Building Type Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Why this is disputed. The Parthenon is the most cited claimed example of the golden ratio in ancient building, but the claim is contested: the proportion is not attested in any surviving Greek building text, and critics argue it is read into measurements after the fact rather than found in them. Ruling on record: this is Status debated, not asserted as fact.
Designed By
Ancient sources name Ictinus and Callicrates as co-architects; Callicrates is not separately entered in this atlas.
In Style
Uses Element
The Doric order, with Ionic elements inside.
Sources
1. Encyclopedia Britannica
Misconceptions about the Golden Ratio
George Markowsky, The College Mathematics Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, 1992Associated With: The Golden Ratio in Architecture, Section on the Parthenon width-to-height claim
Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationDesigned By: Ictinus, Ictinus, works sectionQuote, Designed By: Ictinus, Ictinus, works section
co-architects of the Parthenon
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