DR ABDURRAHMAN MOHAMEDDR ABDURRAHMAN MOHAMED

ARCG 211ARCG 211 HISTORY OF HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IARCHITECTURE I

4. Roman Architecture4. Roman Architecture

UNIVERSITY OF BAHRAINCOLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGDEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTUREBSc. in ARCHITECTUREARCHITECTURE PROGRAMSUMMER 2012

4.1 THE ETRUSCANS PRECEDED THE 4.1 THE ETRUSCANS PRECEDED THE ROMANS IN ITALYROMANS IN ITALY

During the first millennium BCE, the Etruscans, were During the first millennium BCE, the Etruscans, were settling and developing their own culture in the area of settling and developing their own culture in the area of north central Italy now known as Tuscany. north central Italy now known as Tuscany.

They were influenced by the Greece civilization and their They were influenced by the Greece civilization and their language contained both Indolanguage contained both Indo--European and nonEuropean and non--IndoIndo-- European elements and was written in a script derived European elements and was written in a script derived directly from Greek.directly from Greek.

Their religion had much in common with that of Egypt Their religion had much in common with that of Egypt and the Hittitesand the Hittites

Their art was influenced by the Minoans and Their art was influenced by the Minoans and MycenaeansMycenaeans naturalistic decorations depicting birds and dolphins. naturalistic decorations depicting birds and dolphins.

Their use of the arch and vault in monumental gateways Their use of the arch and vault in monumental gateways indicates links with the architecture of Asia Minor. indicates links with the architecture of Asia Minor.

Even though they assimilated much from their Even though they assimilated much from their neighbours, the Etruscans were an original people whose neighbours, the Etruscans were an original people whose accomplishments left distinctive imprints on Roman accomplishments left distinctive imprints on Roman civilization.civilization.

Map of Etruria Map of Etruria (land of (land of Etruscan Etruscan civilization)civilization)

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Etruscan_civilien.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Etruscan_civili zation_map.pngzation_map.png

Etruscan settlements appear to have been loosely Etruscan settlements appear to have been loosely organized into autonomous cityorganized into autonomous city--states states

Etruscan culture was well established by the eighth Etruscan culture was well established by the eighth century BCE and grew in influence for the next 200 years century BCE and grew in influence for the next 200 years to encompass the area from the river Po in northern Italy to encompass the area from the river Po in northern Italy to the region around Pompeii, south of Rome. to the region around Pompeii, south of Rome.

Etruscan temples typically contained a tripartite Etruscan temples typically contained a tripartite cellacella oriented to the south (Fig. 4.1, 4.2), set on a high podium, oriented to the south (Fig. 4.1, 4.2), set on a high podium, covered with a gable roof, and approached through a covered with a gable roof, and approached through a double row of columns set at the top of a single flight of double row of columns set at the top of a single flight of stairs. stairs.

They simplified the Doric and Ionic orders into the They simplified the Doric and Ionic orders into the Tuscan order, which had the basic characteristics of the Tuscan order, which had the basic characteristics of the Doric but no fluting on the column shafts or sculpture on Doric but no fluting on the column shafts or sculpture on the frieze. the frieze.

Both the columns and roof structure were built of wood, Both the columns and roof structure were built of wood, while the walls were unbaked brick. Terracotta was while the walls were unbaked brick. Terracotta was employed for roofing tiles, pediment ornamentation, and employed for roofing tiles, pediment ornamentation, and sculpture.sculpture.

Fig. 4.1: Fig. 4.1: Drawing of an Drawing of an Etruscan Etruscan temple (plan), temple (plan), based on based on descriptions descriptions by Vitruvius by Vitruvius

Fig. 4.2: Drawing of an Etruscan Fig. 4.2: Drawing of an Etruscan temple (elevation), based on temple (elevation), based on descriptions by Vitruvius descriptions by Vitruvius

4.2 ROMAN ARCHITECTURE 4.2 ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

Rome was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus, and it was Rome was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus, and it was ruled from 616 to 510 BCE by the Etruscan.ruled from 616 to 510 BCE by the Etruscan.

In about 500 BCE, Roman republic was established the. In about 500 BCE, Roman republic was established the.

Rome absorbed the Etruscans, Greeks, Egyptians, and Rome absorbed the Etruscans, Greeks, Egyptians, and formed an empire with a remarkably homogeneous formed an empire with a remarkably homogeneous architecturearchitecture

The Romans were practical builders. They constructed The Romans were practical builders. They constructed durable roads and bridges across their empire, they durable roads and bridges across their empire, they brought clean water into cities through a series of brought clean water into cities through a series of aqueducts, and they drained waste water in underground aqueducts, and they drained waste water in underground sewers (that of Rome was called sewers (that of Rome was called CloacaCloaca Maxima.Maxima.

They invented under floor central heating for houses, and they built large heated baths for public use.

They also built stadiums and amphitheatres to They also built stadiums and amphitheatres to accommodate accommodate crowds for athletic events.

The Ten Books of Architecture, written in the late first century BCE by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, is the only reference on architecture from antiquity

Map of the Roman Empire 117 ADMap of the Roman Empire 117 AD

4.3 BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND 4.3 BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS MATERIALS

Roman construction exploited structures built in compression: the arch, the vault, and the dome.

A true arch consists of wedge-shaped stones (called voussoirs) set in a curved shape, often a semicircle over a temporary timber formwork, or centering.

By using arches, vaults, and domes, the Romans could enclose large areas.

Vaulted construction thus required thicker walls and piers.

The earliest Roman vaults were built for utilitarian structures like bridges, aqueducts and sewage drains.

Romans developed a new material, hydraulic cement, derived from volcanic deposits named pozzolana which thence around the 300BCE was developed as concrete used for foundations.

4.4 ROMAN CITY PLANNING: POMPEII

City planning in ancient Greece and in Rome was parallel.

Both Athens and Rome, had no overall plans, while their colonial cities were provided with orthogonal plans.

Pompeii, one of the best-preserved examples of a Roman provincial towns owing to its burial in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 BCE.

Pompeii had irregular grid plan covered about 160 acres within roughly oval town walls (Fig. 4.3).

Public facilities included three baths, a large exercise facility (the palaestra) with a swimming pool, covered and open-air theaters, and an amphitheater.

It also had Nine temples but cemeteries were located outside the town gates.

Fig. 4.3: Plan of PompeiiFig. 4.3: Plan of Pompeii

4.4.1 The Forum of Pompeii4.4.1 The Forum of Pompeii

The Forum in Pompeii was the focus of public life (Fig 4.4, 4.5).

A two-story colonnade surrounded its rectanguular form, on three sides.

the fourth (north) side was occupied by the Capitolium (the temple of Jupiter).

Triumphal arch marked the north entrance and prevented wheeled vehicles from intruding on the pedestrian domain.

On east side were the macellum, the meat and fish market, the lararium, a temple for the patron god of the city, the eumachia building, containing guild office and shops of the cloth workers and dyers and the comitium an open area where elections were held.

The Basilica was on the west side. It was the space where public assemblies for legal, commercial, and social purposes were held. It functioned much as the stoa in the Athenian Agora, yet the space here was enclosed rather than being outwardly oriented.

Beyond the basilica were the Temple of Apollo, the vegetable market, and public lavatories.

The use of colonnades linking most of the buildings gave the forum architectural consistency and it indicates the high quality of Roman design attained in provincial centers.

Fig. 4.4: Fig. 4.4: Pompeii Pompeii Forum Forum (plan) (plan)

Fig. 4.5: Pompeii ForumFig. 4.5: Pompeii Forum

4.5 ROMAN CITY PLANNING: ROME

Civic life in Rome focused on the Forum Romanum at the base of the Capitoline Hill in an area drained by the Cloaca Maxima (Fig. 4.6).

The functions of commerce, government, law, and religion mingled together.

The area expanded as new colonnaded for a (forums) were constructed adjacent to the existing fabric (Fig. 4.7). The largest was the forum of Trajan equal in size to all the others.

Traian's forum was symmetrically planned, with a monumental entrance way from the Forum of Augustus leading into the forum proper, a court 330 by 375 feet defined by double colonnades and two semicircular elements (hemicycles) set on a cross-axis.

Dominating the center of the court was a large equestrian statue of Trajan.

Opposite the entrtrance was the Basilica Ulpia.

Beyond the basilica was Trajan's Column, a marble shaft nearly 100 feet high.

Trajan's Column was flanked by two library buildings.

At the terminus of the axis, in the center of a curving colonnaded courtyard, was a temple dedicated to Trajan and his wife by the later emperor Hadrian.

Fig. 4.6: View of the Forum Romanum, Rome

Fig. 4.7: Plan of the imperial fora, Rome. with the great Forum of Trajan, 1st century CE.

The commercial buildings of Trajan's markets,, were set in a multi-story semicircle with adjoining buildings, reflecting the hemicycle of the forum below and becoming an arcaded complement to it (Figs. 4.8).

The markets contained over 150 shops, offices, and a cross-vaulted market hall

All spaces could be reached from the forum and from streets on two higher levels.

They were built of brick-faced concrete.

Barrel vaults provided the basic structural module for shops and enclosed walkways between them.

Trajan's forum and the markets show at once the monumentality of great civic constructions and the ingenious adaptation of geometric forms to a fundamentally utilitarian project.

Fig. 4.9: Trajan's markets Rome 100BCE-14 CE

4.6 Triumphal arches 4.6 Triumphal arches

The were built in several Roman Cities including Rome Rome (Fig. 4.10) .

They are freestanding monuments built to commemorate a military victory.

They added grandeur to the public realm by serving as reminders of civic greatness.

They can might be singleThey can might be single-- arched (the arched (the triumphal arch of (Pompeii) triumphal arch of (Pompeii) (Fig.) or tripleor triple-- arched (the triumphal arch of arched (the triumphal arch of Septimus Severus and Constantine in Rome) and Constantine in Rome) (Fig. 4.11) . .

Fig. 4.11 :The Arch of Constantine, Rome, 315 CE.

Fig. 4.10: Triumphal arch, Pompeii, before 79 CE.

4.7 ROMAN TEMPLES 4.7 ROMAN TEMPLES

The Romans built temples on the basis of Greek and Etruscantemples.

Romans temples were not isolated structures as the Greek temples, but as components of the larger urban setting.

They have the same placement and design in different Roman cities.

The temple usually was raised on a podium, so that a flight of steps led up to the colonnaded portico of the cella space.

Most of them had rectangular plans with the Most of them had rectangular plans with the columns of the portico are engaged in the wall of columns of the portico are engaged in the wall of the the cellacella (Fig. 4.12).(Fig. 4.12).

Some other temples had circular plans like the Some other temples had circular plans like the Greek Greek tholoitholoi..

Fig. 4.12 Fig. 4.12 Temple of Temple of Fortuna Fortuna VirilisVirilis..

Rome, 2nd Rome, 2nd century BC. century BC.

Temple of Temple of Fortuna Fortuna VirilisVirilis, plan , plan and and elevationselevations

The Pantheon in Rome (118The Pantheon in Rome (118--128 CE )128 CE )

The greatest circular-plan Roman temple is the Pantheon in Rome (1l8-28 CE ).

It is considered the most influential building in Western architecture (Fig. 4.13).

Its size, the boldness of its design, and the technical accomplishment of its construction make it a distinguished work.

It was constructed in the reign of the emperor Hadrian, who is believed to be its architect.

The entrance is an enormous portico with twenty Corinthian columns that originally supported roof trusses.

The cella is circular, 142 feet and six inches in diameter and 142 feet high.

The bottom half of the cella is a cylinder which supports a hemispherical dome, with a circular opening (oculus) twenty-seven feet in diameter at the top to let in light and air (Fig. 4.14).

Fig. 4.13: Pantheon. Rome. 125 CE. (exterior)(exterior)

Fig. 4.14: Pantheon. Rome. (interior)(interior)

Although it was converted to Christian use, it never pillaged for its marble facings and remains the Roman building closest to its original state,

The cylindrical cella wall is visually divided in to two stories, a ground-level Corinthian order of fluted columns and pilasters supporting an attic story with rectangular openings resembling windows set in a patterned marble wall.

The lower story is varied by niches, alternately semicircular and rectangular around the circumference.

The dome is accomplished by five tiers of diminishing square coffers, designed with exaggerated perspective to enhance the sense of depth.

The light pouring in from the oculus increases the depth increases the depth of the coffers of the dome and niches belowof the coffers of the dome and niches below

As one stands in the center of the Pantheon, the building creates the feeling that the space extends beyond the cylindrical drum and that the dome is much higher than its actual dimension,

Fig. 4.15: Axonometric section Of the Pantheon.

The immense structural load of the dome is distributed to concrete foundations fifteen feet thick and thirty-four feet wide through drum walls that are up to twenty feet deep.

The first two rings of coffering conceal eight great relieving arches that work with a second set, likewise hidden, to concentrate loads on the wall sections between the niches of the ground story.

Aggregate in the concrete mix is progressively lightened, from heavy basalt in the foundations to sponge-like volcanic rock (tufa) in the oculus ring.

Fig. 4.15: Plan of the Pantheon.

Fig. 4.15: Section through the Pantheon.

4.8 VAULTED BUILDINGS

The Basilica Nova (the Basilica Constantine) in Rome, dated 307-15 CE, had three great groin vaults over its nave, buttressed by three barrel-vaulted bays comprising each side aisle (Figs.).

The large size of each aisle bay creates a strong response to the corresponding aisle across the nave, thereby creating a spatial unit at right angles to the axis of the nave.

Fig. 4.15: Basilica Nova (Basilica of Constantine), Rome, 307-15 CE.

4.9 PUBLIC BATHS 4.9 PUBLIC BATHS

Roman baths (thermae) were primarily hygienic facilities, but they also provided for exercise, relaxation, and informal socializing.

activities more commonly associated with modern spas or health clubs than with bathrooms.

Such an array of activities required multiple spaces: changing rooms, latrines, rooms for hot, warm, and cold baths; exercise facilities, relaxing areas, and gardens if possible.

The Romans used mineral springs when available to provide for adequate water supplies

The Baths of Diocletian (298-306 CE) comprised the largest bath complex in ancient Rome, covering about fifty acres of land and said to have the capacity for 3000 people (Fig. 4.15-16 ).

The entire complex was symmetrically designed, with the principal sequence of rooms within the bath building placed on an axis.

From the center of the south facade, these included the groin- vaulted hot baths (caldarium), domed warm baths (tepidarium), cruciform cool baths (frigidarium), and open-air swimming pool (natatio).

Fig. 4.15: Baths of Diocletian. Rome. 298- 306 CE. (Plan)

Fig. 4.16: Baths of Diocletian. Rome. 298-306 CE. (Interior)

On either side of this central suite of spaces were oval-plan changing rooms and unroofed rectangular exercise courts surrounded by ancillary service rooms.

Interiors were finished with sumptuous materials, marble veneers and mosaics; statues were placed both inside and out; and the grounds were landscaped with trees and gardens to create a congenial environment for exercise, conversation, and relaxation.

A large exedra in the south exterior wall was fitted with tiered seats for use as a theatre or stadium. Rectangular rooms to either side may have contained libraries.

THEATERS AND AMPHITHEATERS

Athletic competitions and dramatic performances were part of the culture of ancient Greece. The Romans, who inherited these traditions and added to them the gLadiatorial combats of the Etruscans, needed theaters and stadiums in which to stage these events. Greek building practice was to carve the shape of theaters or stadiums out of hillsides, thus adapting the natural setting for human use, but the Romans chose to construct their facilities whether the terrain was favorable or not, so they developed great vaulted structures to create the slope needed for spectator seating. An early result of this process was the Theater of Marcellus (completed 13-11 BCE) in Rome (Figs. 5,26a,b), where a great semicircle of 11,000 seats

Slide Number 14.1 THE ETRUSCANS PRECEDED THE ROMANS IN ITALYSlide Number 3Slide Number 4Slide Number 5Slide Number 64.2 ROMAN ARCHITECTURE Slide Number 84.3 BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS 4.4 ROMAN CITY PLANNING: POMPEII Slide Number 114.4.1 The Forum of PompeiiSlide Number 13Slide Number 14Slide Number 154.5 ROMAN CITY PLANNING: ROMESlide Number 17Slide Number 18Slide Number 19Slide Number 20Slide Number 214.6 Triumphal arches Slide Number 234.7 ROMAN TEMPLES Slide Number 25Slide Number 26The Pantheon in Rome (118-128 CE )Slide Number 28Slide Number 29Slide Number 30Slide Number 31Slide Number 32Slide Number 334.8 VAULTED BUILDINGS Slide Number 354.9 PUBLIC BATHS Slide Number 37Slide Number 38Slide Number 39THEATERS AND AMPHITHEATERSSlide Number 41