AJA Open Access
BY-NC-NDOctober 2011 (115.4)
State of the Discipline
Greek Architecture
The study of Greek architecture grew out of the meticulous recording of buildings and their components by 18th- and 19th-century investigators. Although the aims have changed, with an increasing emphasis on historical and social context, the basic methods of documentation remain the same. This essay traces the history of the discipline as a background to modern approaches, geographic emphases, and new perspectives. It surveys the work of archaeological schools and conference bodies, followed by general studies of architecture and its components as well as individual building forms and complexes. A focus is placed on recent literature, from 1980 to the present, and on books rather than articles.