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Restoring Reason, Beauty, and Trust in Architecture, Part 13: The Case of the Flat Arch

July 17, 2025 • Think ND

Episode Topic: The Case of the Flat Arch

New fieldwork at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace reveals flat arches in the Doric frieze of the Stoa, a structure built in the second quarter of the 3rd century BCE. Sam Holzman, Assistant Professor of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University, examines these keystone friezes, which predate similar examples in Italy by over 150 years and highlight a critical moment in ancient structural design, bridging Greek trabeated aesthetics with Roman architectural innovation. Holzman traces this evolution, from cantilever-based devices in Athens to plate-bande construction in late Republican Rome, showcasing the blending of form and function in the ancient Mediterranean.

Featured Speakers:

Samuel Holzman, Princeton University

Read this episode's recap over on the University of Notre Dame's open online learning community platform, ThinkND: https://go.nd.edu/fb23d7.

This podcast is a part of the ThinkND Series titled Restoring Reason, Beauty, and Trust in Architecture.

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