Classical Architecture

Classical architecture has its origins in simple houses and plain little temples built by the early peoples of the Mediterranean region. From these unselfconscious beginnings classical style found perfect expression in the Doric and Ionic temples of the Greek city-states. The excellence of classical design is such that it has endured for more than two thousand years as the ideal of Western architecture. Moreover the vocabulary of classical architecture-from acanthus to zoophorus-is not only alive but is enjoying yet another renaissance today. In Classical Architecture Robert Adam traces the history of classical design to the present day and provides examples of virtually everyone of its applications. He shows how the style of classical architecture has been echoed adapted and refined in subsequent school including those as diverse as Hellenistic Romanesque and Baroque. Adam draws on an enormous range of source material to illustrate different types of classical buildings the evolution