Excerpts From the Book
Seven: Santorini Observed
Architects use plans to communicate ideas about buildings. Architectural plans speak of building outlines, circulation patterns, room sizes, structural
concepts, and related issues. But most architects find vertical sections more exciting to their mind's eye. Together with two-dimensional plans, a vertical section exposes the third dimension of a building and thus reveals architecture in the
most appropriate light. The magnificent natural section through the caldera on Santorini sets the island apart from all other Aegean islands. Its
awe-inspiring site, the product of prehistoric volcanic activity, appears today as a colossal cut, or vertical section, that slices through both the land
and the sea. An immense incision whose extraordinary physical dimensions far exceed the limits of any architectural section, this vertical rift
(on a scale similar to the Grand Canyon’s) dramatically fuses Aegean geology and Aegean history at the unique site of Santorini. (Page 309-310)
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Table of Contents from The Aegean Crucible
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| The Aegean Crucible |
Tracing Vernacular Architecture in
Post-Byzantine Centuries |
| Constantine E. Michaelides, FAIA |
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