RESONATION OF THE VITRUVIUS'S MODULAR, SYSTEMATIC APPROACH WITH THE COMPUTATIONAL MINDSET OF THE DIGITAL AGE: 3D MODELING OF THE IONIAN TEMPLES OF AEGEAN TURKEY

Abstract

Eight of the greatest Ionic temples of the ancient world were built on or near the Aegean coast of Turkey, from the dipteros of Chersiphron in Ephesos to the pseudo-dipteroi of Hermogenes in Teos and Magnesia. The temples were the epitome of elegance and splendour, difficult to surpass in terms of architectural achievement for a period of four centuries from 6th century to 2nd century BC which spans Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic eras. All of these edifices now lie in ruins. As various empires in the region rose and fell, the temples suffered looting and destruction. Nature also played a part with rivers inundating the temenoses and silting up the archaeological remains, and earthquakes toppling columns and reducing the cellas to rubble. Despite this catacylism, tens of hundreds of years after they were built, these marble buildings still tantalise the human imagination. The objective of this paper is to present a systematic and comprehensive treatise of the logical procedure of the 3D visualisation of these monuments of the ancient cities of classical antiquity. The virtual rediscovery and visual recovery can never replace or remedy the loss of the temples. It can, however, visually awaken the imagination and provide a hypothesised experience of the temples as well as restoring a sense of the architecture and the place.