INVESTIGATING GOTTFRIED SEMPER'S SYMBOLIC APPROACH TO THE SURFACE DESIGN IN HELLENISTIC ARCHITECTURE: THE CASE OF THE MACEDONIAN TOMBS

Abstract

This paper investigates the applicability of the phenomenological approach articulated by the Nineteenth

Century German architectural theoretician Gottfried Semper (1803–79) of ―Cladding as the origin of architec

ture‖, to understand the surface design of Hellenistic Macedonian tomb architecture. The phenomenological

approach to dematerialization in surface design, introduced by Semper, has never been investigated and

studied in Hellenistic architecture. Based on Semper criteria, the study argues that Hellenistic architecture of

the Macedonian tombs demonstrated a distinctive conceptual freedom of design, associated with the devel

opment of the masonry technology of semi-cylindrical barrel-vaulted chambers. This development endowed

Hellenistic architectural and the morphology of its surface façade design continuous creativity and innova

tion. The study analyzes various examples of Macedonian tombs dated from the 4th to the 2nd centuries

BCE. The aim of this research is to reveal crucial phenomenal aspects of cladding/masking of the Macedoni

an tomb‘s façade. Thus, dealing with its surface as an effect rather than an object, the study will shed light on

a crucial reality that was censored in previous studies of Macedonian tombs architecture which considered it

a lifeless mask. Based on Semper theory, the study will show that the issue of meaning in Hellenistic archi

tecture is related to the manner with which surface design is approached. Thus, ornaments and decorations

at its façades go beyond decorating, to become further tools for potent expression and cultural reference of

the Oikoumene. As conclusion, Hellenistic surface façade design contributed to effective branding and im

age-making within its larger Pan-Mediterranean context of the Greco-Macedonian and Ptolemaic Alexandri

an, Pompeian second style, Nabataean architecture and later the Renaissance. The hugely influential

Oikoumene Hellenistic design approach may have a lasting impact on architectural design even today.