Functional vibroacoustic implications of Doric temples geometrical design

Abstract

This study explores the functional consequences of Doric temples' geometries, viewing them as a product of implicit experience-based knowledge (techné), where the temples' proportions are seen in relation to the environmental conditions and, especially, to winds and sound, both identified in ancient Greece as pneuma. The dimensions of 41 Doric temples were compared to validate their correlations. Then, based on a simplified geometrical physics model coherent with the knowledge of ancient Greeks, the structure-wind interaction is computed, suggesting that colonnades may act as attenuators of incoming winds, at certain angles, compatible with the temple orientations and with the direction of locally prevailing stronger winds. These findings, consistent with Vitruvian prescriptions and verified for the entire dataset, are detailed for the Doric temples at Paestum, whose alignment is distinct from the urban grid. The results highlight the ecological wisdom of ancient Greeks, revealing a nuanced relationship between material form and intangible heritage.

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