Originally published in German in 1937 under the title
Raumordnung im griechischen Städtebau.
Doxiadis is best known as an architect-planner, as a consultant with an international clientele, as something of a prophet whose outlook is focused on man's worldwide future. But here, in his first major study, originally published in German in 1937, Doxiadis looks back into the past, to the architectural roots of his native Greece.
He works out a theory that accounts for the seemingly unordered layout of the buildings in ancient Greek sacred precincts, proposing that the spatial relationships between the buildings were strictly determined according to a plan.
Doxiadis examines in detail nearly thirty sites, charts their layouts, and presents relevant linear and angular measurements. Numerous site plans and about forty halftones complement the text. The full references include many recent sources. The trim size of the book itself is proportioned by means of the golden section.