Hist12797 Architectural History Ancient Rome The Authority of Competence “The Shaping of Space was the essence of Roman Architecture” Leland Roth, Understanding

Hist12797 Architectural HistoryAncient RomeThe Authority of Competence

“The Shaping of Space was the essence of Roman Architecture” Leland Roth, Understanding Architecture

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=9056

Discover Ancient Rome in Google Earthhttp://earth.google.com/rome

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=9056

http://earth.google.com/rome

Founding of RomeCities in north and central Italy were settled

by various tribes including the Etruscans, who gave the Romans their engineering ability and their religious practices

In 753 BC, Rome was founded by Romulus, who was one of 7 kings.

In 509, the Republic was declared in the names of the people and the senate“SPQR”

Chapter 8+9 Architectural History2

The Hills of Rome Rome was a

small city on the Tiber River which flooded often. Various tribes claimed the hills until a way was found to drain the swamps between them.


Roman engineering built defensive walls, bridges, sewers and roads so that the city could grow regionally. Aqueducts brought water from the Appenine Mountains

Timeline – Rome Three stagesRule of the early kings The Republic The Empire


100 BC-350 AD

5

The Romans 1

Inherently pragmatic and realistic (unlike the speculative and idealistic Greeks), the Romans produced an abundance of engineers and builders

They had sharp logical minds that excelled in making laws, engineering feats and administering territories (after they conquered them, usually by war)

Chapter 8+9 Architectural History

6

The Good Roman

They practiced a rigid morality, served the state, had unimpeachable honor, and strived for a physical and spiritual asceticism.


7

The Good Roman

A driving compulsion to spread the benefits of Roman law and republican governance to the rest of the world and spreading Romanitas = the sum of Roman values and culture


8

The RomansThey had a sense of ingrained discipline, -

“gravitas” - patriotic responsibility and serious purpose

A sense of the importance of matters at hand, a propensity for austerity, conservatism and a deep respect for tradition

Endeavored to achieve universality and a clearly perceivable order in all of life


Senatus PopulusQue Romanus "The Senate and the People of Rome"

9

Roman Religion

Religion was centered in the home, the domus. Originally animistic – trees, rocks, water and the fire of the hearth, they adopted the Etruscan pantheon of Greek-like gods

Developed detailed rituals in worship carried out by priests who had little contact with the public

Ordinary Romans made offerings to the numina, the spirits of the home shrines

Roman ArchitectureThey borrowed many of the external

trappings of Greek architecture but theirs was an architecture of space, enclosed internal space and outdoor space, on a grand scale

Much of the best Roman architecture was built during the reigns of Augustus, the Flavians, and the Five Good Emperors

The city is the basic constituent element


Imperial Forum like a Greek Stoa

Not sited in response to the natural environment but as a planned space enclosed by architecture


Fig 112

Forum Romanum

A colonnaded stoa along both sides of a great rectangular square, closing the vista with a Temple to Mars: a series of geometric shapes with contrived views and vistas


Roman EngineeringA network of roads that spanned the empire

and a water supply/aqueducts and drainage for the cities


Aqueduct, Segovia, Spain

Pont du Gard Aqueduct, Nimes, France 14 AD

1.8m x 1.2m Water conduit @ gradient 0.4%


Roadway

Roman EngineeringAqueducts supplied running water to homes,

public lavatories and baths with hot and cold pools


Latrines in the Baths of Ephesus

Fig113

Public Lavatories in Dougga, Tunisia 3rd century AD

Baths of Caracalla Rome

212–216 AD


17

Baths of Caracalla

Frigidarium

Roman Theatre, Orange, France

Unusual, in that it is built into the hillside like a Greek theatre

Romans wanted more than just drama; they needed a new form for their circuses and amphitheatres


Flavian Amphitheatre: Colosseum


Fla

vian

Am

phith

eatr

e


Colosseum: 280 arches on three levels


Greek orders on the facade:Doric on the Ground floorIonic on the Second floorCorinthian on the Third floor and on the top storey pilasters


ColosseumSectional Views


Roman Colosseum construction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO1NQy4oyJsShea Stadium, New YorkColosseum, Rome


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO1NQy4oyJs

Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek

Bigger than the ParthenonComposite Order: Corinthian and IonicEngaged Columns


Arch of Constantine Rome

- Erected to commemorate victories - Often site at the entrance to a forum- structure not based on

columns so could useforms decoratively


Roman crane

Arch of Constantine


El-Deir (Monastery) Temple, Petra JordanA most attractive architectural whimsy:

a miniature round temple between the sides of two broken pediments


Building an ArchThe Romans had no inhibitions

about putting other’s knowledge to work ... to improving everyday life

From arch to vault to groin vault to dome

29

Roman use of “Caementum”

Pozzolana – best substance for concrete-making from red volcanic soil near Naples


31

The Pantheon: Plan and Aerial Viewpan = All theism = religions

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The Pantheon by Emperor Hadrian Temple to all gods

- built 120 – 124 AD- 143 ft / 43.5 m

diameter domeWalls 23 ft / 7 mVarying weight

Concrete Coffered ceilingsBronze doors

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Pantheon: Portico

Reconstruction

Classic Greek temple pediment

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The Pantheon

35

Insulae (Apartment Blocks) & Offices in Ostia [Rome’s harbour City]

Insulae

3-4 storeys Shop fronts Collapsed

easily Subject to fire


37

Pompeii

Networks of streets forming irregular rectangles, becomingmore regular as the cities expanded

forum

38

Street ViewsPompeii

39

Street View & Residential District Overview

Pompeii,

40

House of Pansa, PompeiiPlan and Section

41

House of Vetti, Pompeii

Plan, Garden View and Interior

Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, ItalyOpulent apartments +

gardens


Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, ItalySeven miles of gardens, pavilions,

palaces, baths, theatres and temples


44

Diocletian’s PalaceSplit, Yugoslavia

Basilica Maxentius, 306-325 AD


46

Ruins

Reconstruction

Basilica of Maxentius

47

Basilica Ulpia: Plan

48

Basilica Ulpia

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In Conclusion: Roman Architecture

Roman buildings addressed the problems of the present, not the mysteries of the hereafter.

They were visually and intellectually comprehensible, composed of parts that had recognizable proportional relationships and clear connections.

They combined the elegance of detail and refinement of form of Greece with the pragmatic functionalism, civic scale and sense of power of Rome.

Documents

Hist12797 Architectural History Ancient Rome The Authority of Competence “The Shaping of Space was the essence of Roman Architecture” Leland Roth, Understanding