A studio of ancient architecture
A studio for the architecture of ancient Greece. Study how temples, theatres and stoas were made, then raise your own.
An empty plateau, ready for its first stone. Four steps take it from there to a building that stands to scale in your district.
Temples, round tholoi, stoas, gateways, theatres and squares are all waiting. Pick one and it opens on the bench.
Steps, columns, entablature and pediment come together in the order the Greeks built them. Every change redraws the building at once.
Drag to walk around your building, pinch to come closer, double tap to step back. The model is built to scale in metres.
Every building you save is its own file, with your notes, and takes its place to scale on the plateau of your District.
The drawings in Marble District are made from the same rules as the 3D model, so each element sits exactly where it belongs. Tap a part to see it in gold.
A Greek temple stands on a stepped platform, the crepidoma, usually of three steps. The top step, on which the columns stand, is the stylobate.
Choose an order and the whole building follows: the column height, the capital, the frieze above it.
No base, plain cushion capital, sturdy.
Moulded base, scroll capital, slender.
Leafy bell capital, the most ornate.
A temple ringed or fronted by columns, a round tholos, a long stoa, a monumental gateway, a theatre and an agora, each with its own controls.
Every model is measured in metres. Column spacing gets its name from Vitruvius, and ringed temples are checked against the classical rule: twice the front columns, plus one.
Monuments, the three orders, the parts of a temple, plans and materials, written in plain language and illustrated with the app's own drawings.
Open the Parthenon, the Tholos at Delphi or the Theatre of Epidaurus on the bench, built from its measured plan. Then change anything you like.
Each entry marks what is attested by the buildings and ancient sources, and what is a modern reconstruction or an open question.
Seven milestones of the studio, earned once and kept on your profile.
Each one starts from a good first design. Start any of them from the District.
A house for a god, ringed or fronted by columns
A round building under a cone of tiles
A long covered colonnade for shade and trade
A monumental gateway into a sanctuary
Rising rows of seats around a circular dance floor
The open square of a city, lined with stoas
The archive marks what is attested by the buildings and ancient sources, and what is a modern reconstruction. Opening an entry marks it as studied.
Athens, Acropolis · 447–432 BC
The Parthenon has 8 columns on each front and 17 on each flank.
Its painted colours are reconstructed from the traces that survive.
We read every message. Use the form, or write to us directly at mail@trayfall.sbs.
Thank you for writing to the studio.
Marble District is free on iPhone and iPad. No account, no sign-in: just the bench, the archive and your district.
Download on theApp Store
Marble District