Greek key may refer to:
- Greek key (art), a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif
- Greek key (protein structure), a repeated motif in the secondary structure in proteins
How did this ancient design go mainstream?
What is interlacing lines at right angles?
Why use Greek keys?
What did designers use in ancient Greece?
What is fretwork design?
What is a Greek key?
Who is Kristin Crane?
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What is the Greek key pattern called?
Greek key, also referred to as meander, is in its most basic form a linear pattern. The design is made up of a long, continuous line that repeatedly folds back on itself, mimicking the ancient Maeander River of Asia Minor with its many twists and turns.
What is the meaning of Greek pattern?
What does The Greek Key Motif symbolize? Greek Key or Meander Pattern. In Ancient Greece, the unbroken, interlocking pattern of the Meander (Meandros), or Greek Key, was one of the most important symbols; it symbolized infinity, unity and the eternal flow of life through reproduction.
Why is it called the Greek key?
It has been called a Greek key because an individual section vaguely resembles a primitive key. The labeling of it as a meander results from its continuous back and forth progression, recalling the winding course of the Meander River in Asia Minor, now present-day Turkey.
What is a Greek key used for?
The Greek Key is a common motif in textile design and many other places where decorative elements are necessary. Whether or not you know the name, you have most likely seen a Greek Key design. In fact, it may even be in your home. Often used as a border, it is also used frequently in stripes.
Where did the Greek key pattern originate?
The Greek key pattern, also referred to as a “meander” or even Greek "fret", is a continuous line that folds back on itself replicating the Maeander River which is located in Turkey. The motif is found abundantly in architecture and decorative arts from the Greek Empire.
What is the history of the Greek key design?
The Origins of the Greek Key Pattern The key pattern is most frequently associated with Greece thanks to the Ancient Greeks' commitment to employing it prolifically. The motif was employed with abundance across temples and monuments in Ancient Greece as much as it was on domestic pots and vases.
What is the Versace pattern called?
A meander or meandros (Greek: Μαίανδρος) is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif. Among some Italians, these patterns are known as "Greek Lines".
Which designer uses Greek key?
In today's style scene, Versace is the (Greek) keyholder of this timeless print, a trademark iconography for the Italian fashion house.
Does Greek use C or K?
K is a Greek letter, Latin uses C. So naturally, they follow the alphabet of their “mother” language. Though, there are many borrowed words that use K in Romance languages today. Where did the Ancient Greek language come from?
When was Greek key popular?
Greek key patterns came into vogue in the United States as an important element of Neoclassical architecture during the late 18th and early 19th century. Indeed, many of our most beloved buildings in Washington, D.C., incorporate this design element.
What do the Greek swirls mean?
Especially in Greece, it was a sign and symbol of the universal Ancient Hellenism and a symbol of the Vital Force. The concentric rings that expand from a central point to the outside are also a symbol of growth, rebirth, and metaphorically represent the link between the human and the divine.
Why do we use Greek symbols?
Because European mathematics is very heavily rooted in the mathematics of ancient Greece, and due to the need for many symbols to represent constants, variables, functions and other mathematical objects, mathematicians frequently use letters from the Greek alphabet in their work.
What is the meaning of pattern '?
pattern noun (ARRANGEMENT) any regularly repeated arrangement, especially a design made from repeated lines, shapes, or colours on a surface: Look, the frost has made a beautiful pattern on the window.
What does the Greek spiral symbol mean?
rebirthEspecially in Greece, it was a sign and symbol of the universal Ancient Hellenism and a symbol of the Vital Force. The concentric rings that expand from a central point to the outside are also a symbol of growth, rebirth, and metaphorically represent the link between the human and the divine.
What is the meaning of the Greek flag design?
The nine stripes do not have any official meaning; the most popular theory says that they represent the syllables of the phrase Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος ("Freedom or Death"), the five blue stripes for the syllables Ελευθερία and the four white stripes ή Θάνατος.
What is pattern in your own words?
A pattern is an arrangement of lines or shapes, especially a design in which the same shape is repeated at regular intervals over a surface.
How did this ancient design go mainstream?
People were looking toward ancient Greece with nostalgia and revering it as the epicenter of Western civilization and culture. Designers saw architects in ancient Greece using a Greek Key design often in its buildings and decorative elements on items such as ceramics and pottery.
What is interlacing lines at right angles?
Creating patterns by only interlacing lines at right angles is a limited exercise and eventually led designers, both in ancient Greece and more modern times, to push the boundaries. Lines stop and start, change scale or intersect in surprising places.
Why use Greek keys?
The Greek Key as a motif continues to stand the test of time. Interior designers still use this pattern when they want something decorative but still simple. It adds an element of architectural interest to a room and is usable at nearly any scale.
What did designers use in ancient Greece?
Designers saw architects in ancient Greece using a Greek Key design often in its buildings and decorative elements on items such as ceramics and pottery. Inspired by these forms, designers began to incorporate these elements from architecture into textile designs.
What is fretwork design?
Many designs fall under the category of fretwork. What they have in common are designs made with short lines at right angles. They never meet or seal off and visually create a square or grid. These repeating and nesting lines are reminiscent of a labyrinth.
What is a Greek key?
The Greek Key is a common motif in textile design and many other places where decorative elements are necessary. Whether or not you know the name, you have most likely seen a Greek Key design. In fact, it may even be in your home. Often used as a border, it is also used frequently in stripes.
Who is Kristin Crane?
Kristin Crane. Kristin Crane has designed jacquard designs for the home furnishing and residential jobber market for many years, with mills in the US and in China. She writes about pattern and design trends for Design Pool from her home in Providence, Rhode Island.
What does the Greek key mean on a pillow?
Whether centralized, used on a border, or used throughout the entire design of the pillow the Greek Key can add a nod to ancient history within your home. The presence of the Greek Key has become a very popular within the home as it symbolizes infinity and an eternal flow.
What is the Greek key pattern?
Decorating with the Greek Key pattern. By Ali Glass. The Greek Key is most commonly used as a decorative border. Its appearance in architecture and landscape dates back to ancient history. The design itself is constructed of various lines shaped into a repeated motif, which resembles a key.
Where to put Greek keys in a home?
A more subtle and simple way to incorporate the Greek key into your home is on the border of your carpet, shown above in the stair runner . The use of the Greek Key in your interior space doesn’t have to stop there however; plenty of decorative items in your home can be adorned with this border.
What wallpaper is used in a powder room?
Using the pattern on walls can have the same effect. San Francisco-based Briana Nix used the Phillip Jeffries wallpaper “It’s Greek to Me” in a powder room she designed, giving the room serious architectural interest and graphic punch. She said she felt the black-and-white Greek key was more unexpected than its “overplayed” cousin, chevron.
What is the meaning of the Greek key?
Homer mentions the river in “The Iliad,” and it is believed that the meander motif symbolizes infinity or the eternal flow of things. (In fact, the word “meander” is derived from the 250-mile-long snaking Maeander, known today as the Menderes, which flows through southwestern Turkey.) What is most astonishing about the meander motif is that it is found in the architecture, sculpture and decorative arts of many early civilizations — civilizations that could not possibly have known or seen one another’s artifacts. It seems that those cultures, independent of one another, created their own version of the motif.
What does the meandering river symbolize?
Homer mentions the river in “The Iliad,” and it is believed that the meander motif symbolizes infinity or the eternal flow of things.
Who designed the powder room?
A powder room designed by Briana Nix with Phillip Jeffries’s “It’s Greek to Me” wallpaper. (David Nix)
Who used the Greek key?
But it’s the Greeks who used the motif with abandon, hence the reason we most commonly refer to it as the Greek key. The Romans then copied it, and by the 18th century, all of Europe had adapted it into their design vocabulary. For our own history, the motif has been celebrated in many design periods, including Empire and Hollywood Regency.
Did the Greeks use color?
And one thing to note: The Greeks themselves used color freely; all those white temples were actually heavily decorated with color and gilding. So take it from the Greeks — their color and their key. Mayhew, a “Today” show style expert and former magazine editor, is the author of “Flip! for Decorating.”.
Can you find Greek keys in any scale?
You can find items with just about any scale of Greek key. The key can be blown up to a single large bracket so that the design takes on a super graphic quality, or the motif can be miniaturized and densely repeated so that the keys are less noticeable. When it comes to color, there are no rules.
How did this ancient design go mainstream?
People were looking toward ancient Greece with nostalgia and revering it as the epicenter of Western civilization and culture. Designers saw architects in ancient Greece using a Greek Key design often in its buildings and decorative elements on items such as ceramics and pottery.
What is interlacing lines at right angles?
Creating patterns by only interlacing lines at right angles is a limited exercise and eventually led designers, both in ancient Greece and more modern times, to push the boundaries. Lines stop and start, change scale or intersect in surprising places.
Why use Greek keys?
The Greek Key as a motif continues to stand the test of time. Interior designers still use this pattern when they want something decorative but still simple. It adds an element of architectural interest to a room and is usable at nearly any scale.
What did designers use in ancient Greece?
Designers saw architects in ancient Greece using a Greek Key design often in its buildings and decorative elements on items such as ceramics and pottery. Inspired by these forms, designers began to incorporate these elements from architecture into textile designs.
What is fretwork design?
Many designs fall under the category of fretwork. What they have in common are designs made with short lines at right angles. They never meet or seal off and visually create a square or grid. These repeating and nesting lines are reminiscent of a labyrinth.
What is a Greek key?
The Greek Key is a common motif in textile design and many other places where decorative elements are necessary. Whether or not you know the name, you have most likely seen a Greek Key design. In fact, it may even be in your home. Often used as a border, it is also used frequently in stripes.
Who is Kristin Crane?
Kristin Crane. Kristin Crane has designed jacquard designs for the home furnishing and residential jobber market for many years, with mills in the US and in China. She writes about pattern and design trends for Design Pool from her home in Providence, Rhode Island.
