Roman architecture

NAME:- BHAVESH BHAGATWALACODE:-SUBMITTED TO:- ADITI JOSHISEM :- VIDATE:- 4-7-2012SUBJECT :- HISTORY

Roman architecture

The typical Roman city of the later Republic and empire had a rectangular plan and resembled a Roman military camp with two main streets—the cardo (north-south) and the decumanus (east-west)—a grid of smaller streets dividing the town into blocks, and a wall circuit with gates.

Older cities, such as Rome itself, founded before the adoption of regularized city planning, could, however, consist of a maze of crooked streets. The focal point of the city was its forum, usually situated at the center of the city at the intersection of the cardo and the decumanus.

CULTUREThe city of Rome was the largest megalopolis of that time, with a population that may well have exceeded one million people, with a high end estimate of 3.5 million and a low end estimate of 450,000. Historical estimates indicate that around 30 percent of the population under the city's jurisdiction lived in innumerable urban centers, with population of at least 10,000 and several military settlements, a very high rate of urbanization by pre-industrial standards. The most urbanized part of the Empire was Italy, which had an estimated rate of urbanization of 32%, the same rate of urbanization of England in 1800. Most Roman towns and cities had a forum, temples and the same type of buildings, on a smaller scale, as found in Rome. The large urban population required an endless supply of food which was a complex logistical task, including acquiring, transporting, storing and distribution of food for Rome and other urban centers. Italian farms supplied vegetables and fruits, but fish andmeat were luxuries. Aqueducts were built to bring water to urban centers and wine and oil were imported from Hispania, Gaul and Africa.

LIFE STYLEThe Romans encompassed thousands of different cultures and comprised of diverse social, religious, ethnic and economic classes. The Roman family consisted of the father of the family, the wife, the children and the slaves of the household. The Roman family structure was patriarchal, with the oldest father of the family being the head. They lived in joint family systems where the sons' families lived with his father under the same roof. The Romans had very short working days, working at an average for 6 hours a day. The men in the families went for work whereas the women were housewives. They lived in sophisticated brick houses. The Romans believed in public display and recognition of status through one's clothing. The Roman clothing revealed the social status of its wearer. The more distinguished the wearer, the more distinctively his clothing was marked; whereas the lowest classes had nearly no markings at all in their clothing.. Lower class working men wore hitched-up tunics. The dressing was much simpler in women. The clothing of high-class women did not have any special markings that could point out the status of their male counterparts. Instead, they wore the basic tunics, which were fuller and longer, and extended to their feet, and adorned elaborate jewelry and hairstyles in order to stand out from the other women..

CLIMATEThe weather in Rome during summer is uncomfortably hot, temperatures often exceeding 95°F (35°C) at midday, and Romans tend to close up their businesses during August to take holidays in cooler spots. Mid-winter is mild, with the average temperature in December hovering around 55°F (13°C). The best time to travel to Rome is in springtime, when skies are blue and the weather warm. Rain showers are possible any time of year.

Pantheon Architecture

Roman architecture stands today as a testament to the ability and grandeur of this once great civilization that, at one time, covered three continents. The common style of architecture formed a thread that helped keep the vast Roman empire connected. Their great theaters and amphitheaters were wonders that could seat thousands of people and are still impressive, both in size and volume, today. Their development of the arch and concrete influenced architecture for centuries to come.

The basics of Roman Architecture

1. Doric Columns2. Ionic Columns3. Corinthian

Columns4. Tuscan

Columns5. Composite

Order

Roman ColumnsThe architecture of Classical Greece and Rome did not come about all at once, but came in different stages of design and style. There were five different types that the Romans and Greeks used throughout classical times, from pre 500 BC to the first century AD.

Doric ColumnsDoric Style - Columns built in this style usually had no base and consisted of a massive shaft with 20 flutes. Doric architecture predates the 5th century BC. It was infrequently used, but examples are seen in the Parthenon and Coliseum in Rome. Later Roman columns differ from the Greek version in their addition of a base and changesin the capital profile.

Parthenon Coliseum

Ionic Columns

Ionic Style -  More visibly complex than that of the Doric style, being of slender proportion, and their height being generally about nine times the column's lower diameter; the order is always used with a base and the column shaft usually has 24 flutings. The example (at left) is from the Temple of Portunus.

Corinthian Columns

Corinthian Style - This is the most ornate of the classical styles and is generally much more slender than the Ionic style. The Romans used the Corinthian order in numerous monumental works of imperial architecture. They gave it a special base, made carved additions to the cornice, and created numerous capital variations, utilizing florid leafage and sometimes human and animal figures.

Tuscan Column

Tuscan Column - The Tuscan column was the next form to be introduced and it was introduced by the Etruscans. The Tuscan Column is a very simple, plain column with a base and non-fluted shaft. No major examples of this architectural type survive today. Composite Order - The final architectural

type to come from the classical world is the Composite order and it was first seen in 82 AD on the arch of Titus (above). The Composite form is a combination of Ionic and Corinthian orders. This form was the most complex due to the fact that it used the arch. Due to the advances of the Composite style of architecture and the skill that the Romans had with concrete, the Romans were able to develop such architectural marvels like the arch, the vault and the dome.

COMPOSITE ORDER

Pantheon

The Roman Pantheon is the most preserved and influential building of ancient Rome. It is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome. As the brick stamps on the side of the building reveal it was built and dedicated between A.D 118 and 125. The emperor Hadrian (A.D 117-138) built the Pantheon to replace Augustus’ friend and Commander Marcus Agrippa’s Pantheon of 27 B.C. which burnt to the ground in 80 A.D. When approaching the front of the Pantheon one can see the inscription above still reads in Latin the original dedication by Marcus Agrippa

• Despite all the marvelous building projects that the emperor Hadrian produced during his reign, he never inscribed his name to any, but one, the temple of his father Trajan. That is why the Roman Pantheon bears the inscription of Marcus Agrippa, and not the emperor Hadrian.

• The pediment,(the triangle section above the inscription) is blank today, but there would have been sculpture that acted out the battle of the Titans. Great bronze doors guard the entrance to the cella and would have been covered in gold, but it has long since disappeared.

• The original use of the Pantheon is somewhat unknown, except that is was classified as a temple. However, it is unknown as to how the people worshipped in the building, because the structure of the temple is so different from other traditional Roman temples such as in the Roman Forum. The Pantheon exists today in such amazing form because the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave it to Pope Boniface the VIII in A.D 608 and it was used as a church ever since. The Pantheon has been in use since the time it was built.

The Pantheon PlansThe Pantheon Plans

The Amazing Dome at the Roman Pantheon

Probably one of the most fascinating features of the Pantheon is the Architecture. The structure of the Pantheon is comprised of a series of intersecting arches. The arches rest on eight piers which support eight round-headed arches which run through the drum from its inner to its outer face. The arches correspond to the eight bays on the floor level that house statues.The dome itself is supported by a series of arches that run horizontally round. Romans had perfected the use of arches which helped sustain the weight of their magnanimous buildings. The Romans were aware of the heavy nature of their building materials. So they used lighter materials toward the top of the dome.

This use of lighter materials on top alleviated the immense weight of the dome. The Roman Pantheon was probably constructed by using an elaborate setup of wooden scaffolding, which in itself would have been costly. The elegant coffers on the dome were likely struck with a device that was exacted from floor level. The detail of this building is extraordinary. If the dome of the rotundra were flipped upside down it would fit perfectly inside the rotunda. When approaching the Pantheon from the outside it appears rectangular in shape. But it is only the first small room (cella) that has corners. The rotunda is completely round. The small entry room would have been entered by climbing a staircase that is now entirely under modern ground level.

Renaissance Art

Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in Europe saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. Against a backdrop of political stability and growing prosperity, the development of new technologies–including the printing press, a new system of astronomy and the discovery and exploration of new continents–was accompanied by a flowering of philosophy, literature and especially art.

Pantheon’s DomePantheon’s DomeThe building was originally approached by a flight of steps, although later construction has raised the level of the ground leading to the portico, eliminating the steps.The pediment was decorated with relief sculpture, probably of gilded bronze. Holes marking the location of clamps that held the sculpture suggest that its design was likely an eagle within a wreath; ribbons extended from the wreath into the corners of the pediment.It took 732 construction workers over 3 years to construct the Pantheon because of its many features.[The Pantheon’s porch was originally designed for monolithic granite columns with shafts 50 Roman feet tall (weighing about 100 tons) and capitals 10 Roman feet tall in the Corinthian style. the taller porch would have hidden the second pediment visible on the intermediate block.

Portico

The building was originally approached by a flight of steps, although later construction has raised the level of the ground leading to the portico, eliminating the steps.The pediment was decorated with relief sculpture, probably of gilded bronze. Holes marking the location of clamps that held the sculpture suggest that its design was likely an eagle within a wreath; ribbons extended from the wreath into the corners of the pediment.It took 732 construction workers over 3 years to construct the Pantheon because of its many features.[The Pantheon’s porch was originally designed for monolithic granite columns with shafts 50 Roman feet tall (weighing about 100 tons) and capitals 10 Roman feet tall in the Corinthian style. The taller porch would have hidden the second pediment visible on the intermediate block. Instead, the builders made many awkward adjustments in order to use shafts 40 Roman feet tall and capitals eight Roman feet tall.This substitution was probably a result of logistical difficulties at some stage in the construction. The grey granite columns that were actually used in the Pantheon's pronaos were quarried in Egypt at Mons Claudianus in the eastern mountains. Each was 39 feet (12 m) tall, five feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and 60 tons in weight

Pantheon Interior Pantheon Interior

The Oculus was also to let the smoke from sacred fires out. The belief that the Oculus was built so that rain could not get in is not true. When it rains, it also rains in the Pantheon; the floor is slightly convex so the water flows away thanks to an effective drainage system. Everything you see has not changed much in two thousand years. The columns, the marble, the inner decorations have not changed; even the floor is the same, built with precious marble from all over the Mediterranean Sea. Here walked emperors like Hadrian and Charles V.

As the Romans had no reinforced concrete they found another solution. This dome was built with a single casting of concrete in subsequent layers. The concrete was lightened by mixing it with lighter stones as it neared the highest point. Initially mixing the concrete with heavy travertine stone, going upwards using progressively lighter materials; like tuff stone. The top layer was made with the light-weight pumice stone.

At the centre of the dome, there is a 9 meter diameter hole, the Oculus. A brilliant idea. The Pantheon has no windows and the only light penetrates from above streaming down like a river of inner light; towards midday, the rays coming through the Oculus are particularly intense.

Pantheon Interior

.Circles and squares form the unifying theme of the interior design. The checkerboard floor pattern contrasts with the concentric circles of square coffers in the dome. Each zone of the interior, from floor to ceiling, is subdivided according to a different scheme. As a result, the interior decorative zones do not line up. The overall effect is immediate viewer orientation according to the major axis of the building, even though the cylindrical space topped by a hemispherical dome is inherently ambiguous. This discordance has not always been appreciated, and the attic level was redone according to Neoclassical taste in the 18th century.