Architecture of The ROMANS

the Roman Empire ‘caput mundi’

Emerging ROMAN When the ancient Greeks were reaching the height of their glory, the power of Rome to the west was slowly rising. GREEKS - art, literature, science and philosophy. The ROMANS - warfare, engineering, and government – pragmatic & realistic. They did not develop philosophical theory , they were practitioners.

TimeLine Roman Republic (4th c. to 27 BC) small republican city state free landowners expansion growth of commercial & financial power decline of small landowners growth of landed aristocracy, wealthy commercial class, slave labour Roman Empire (27 BC to 476 AD) conquests in Central Europe and north to England during first two centuries centralized and orderly world-wide organization around old and newly founded urban centers extensive public works Late Empire (from 3rd c. AD)

Who were the ROMANS? Practitioners and builders, not thinkers Great engineering achievements Introduced new building types & construction systems & materials – developed architectural forms on a grand scale. Not as religious as the Greeks, more recreational buildings than sacred.

Segesta Greek Ruins, Sicily, Italy NEW Architectural Style The Romans adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for their own purposes, which were different from Greek buildings as to create a new architectural style. Unique achievement as to visualize civic order, space were shaped and framed by clearly ordered edges. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture. Segesta Greek Ruins, Sicily, Italy Roman aqueduct, Spain

ARCHES & CONCRETE a fusion of traditional Greek & Etruscan elements, Roman architecture represents a fusion of traditional Greek & Etruscan elements, notably the orders, with new structural principles based on the development of the arch and of a new building material, concrete. Greek Architecture Etruscan Architecture

ARCHES & CONCRETE Concrete was stronger and readily available substitute for stone. Tile-covered concrete quickly supplanted marble as the primary building material and more daring buildings soon followed, with great pillars supporting broad arches & domes rather than dense lines of columns suspending flat architraves. Roman amphitheater, Pula, Spain

faced with brick / marble Developed concrete construction, faced with brick / marble Fully-developed interior spaces designed to accommodate large numbers of people Public architecture, befitting a grand republic. Infrastructure – roads, bridges, aqueducts. Developed a network of roads linking all parts of the empire. Use of the arch, vault (extruded arch), apse, and dome, all of which can be used to span spaces. Focus on frontality (facades & frontal buildings rather than "object" buildings or pavilions).

Shaping of space is the essence of Roman architecture. Enclosed internal & outdoor space on a grand scale, public space shaped in a conscious and deliberate way. Columns were degraded to decorative roles, walls are essential elements, development of concrete in conjunction with bricks that made the construction of domes and vaults possible. Greek motifs (pediments, porticos, columns) applied to surfaces.

ARCHES & CONCRETE ~ freedom of concrete inspired the colonnade screen ~ ~a row of purely decorative columns in front of a load-bearing wall~ ~concrete's strength freed the floor plan from rectangular cells~

Building Types RESIDENTIAL PUBLIC RECREATIONAL RELIGIOUS Domus Insulae Palace Villa Farm villas PUBLIC Basilica Forum Marketplace RECREATIONAL Theatre Amphitheatre Circus (stadium) Baths RELIGIOUS Temples

Engineering Achievements ART the mosaic, a decoration of colorful chips of stone inset into cement. Statues Sculptures ARCHITECTURE Bridges Aqueducts Roads Defensive wall Arch, barrel vault, groin vault, dome Concrete

the VILLA A country house out of the urban boundaries Large residence for the wealthy and powerful. Similar to a town, often with private stadium, bath, pools, etc. Hadrian Villa, Tivoli, Lazio, Italy

the Handrian’s VILLA a sumptuous complex of over 30 buildings built by the emperor Hadrian in the early second century CE a sumptuous complex of over 30 buildings Hadrian Villa

the PALACE Diocletian’s Palace, Spalato The domestic building for Roman emperors, at the scale of a small city. Form based on a Roman 'castrum' or camp - square in plan & divided into four quadrants. Dense, rigid, regular & solidly built and employed lavish materials.

the PALACE Diocletian’s Palace, Spalato

the DIOCLETIAN PALACE Diocletian’s Palace Peristyle courtyard

the DOMUS Single-storey town house with few exterior windows, to prevent noises coming from the streets. Multiple rooms & two courtyards, With spaces such as: (Atrium) as focal point (Cubicula) are bedrooms (Triclinium) where guests could lie on couches and eat dinner (Tablinum) as living room / the study) and shops on the outside, facing the street. Pompejanische Haus

the DOMUS (Atrium) the most important part of the house, where guests were greeted. High ceiling and often consisted of sparse furnishings to give the effect of a large space . (Compluvium) a square opening in the center of the ceiling in which rainwater could come in, draining inwards from the slanted tiled roof. (Impluvium) a shallow rectangular pool to gather rainwater, which was often lined with marble, and around which usually was a floor of small mosaic. (Peristylium) a small garden often surrounded by a columned passage.. Most of the light came from the compluvium and the open peristylium.

the INSULAE Large apartment buildings, where the lower and middle classes dwelled. A block with shops & light industry at the ground level and apartments above. These structures ranged from 4 to 7 stories. Did not have running water or sanitation, with the inhabitants relying on public toilets & fountains. Latin for ‘islands’ - these buildings appear spaced out like islands, while being surrounded by road.

the INSULAE Usually designed around an open courtyard Most apartment blocks being three stories high, at least, courtyard simply became a light well. Shops usually fronted the streets at ground level. Tenants have to go through the central portal. Upon entering they will find themselves in a courtyard upon which open many windows of the tiers of rooms in the upper stories. From the courtyard, several staircases rise to the apartments above. The first floor are the more comfortable suites, each with a series of rooms. The quality falls rapidly as the tenants scale higher. Juvenal writes, "If the (fire) alarm goes at ground level, the last to fry will be the attic tenant, way up among the nesting pigeons, with nothing but tiles between himself and the weather."

the FARM VILLAS Working farms and real country homes

Town Planning Axial Coordinates - The system of the ancient Romans for the placement of buildings and roads that uses parallel and perpendicular lines in an even spacing. Also called a grid pattern.

Town Planning Organised, with straight streets and neat rows of buildings. The town plan might be based around a town forum - a large building often with an open courtyard that was used by the people of the town as a meeting place, a place to do business, discuss town matters and hold markets.

the FORUM Heart of old cities Held the main public buildings, temples, basilicas, shops, colonnades, triumphal arches, pillars and statues. axial plan, everything is organized within defined boundaries.

Forum Romanum is the original forum – the oldest and most important and was the centre of the civic & economic life of Rome The Roman Forum was not simply the core of an ancient city; for many it was the center of the universe.

the ROMANUM FORUM

the BASILICA A large meeting hall often used for the law courts. a Roman public building usually located at the centre of a Roman town A large meeting hall often used for the law courts. Also contain the stock exchange, business and administrative offices, and therefore was a physical link between law and business. RavennaSanAppolinare

the BASILICA Contained interior colonnades that divided the space, giving aisles / arcaded spaces at one or both sides, with an apse at one end where the magistrates sat, often on a slightly raised dais. The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles, so that light could penetrate through the clerestory windows. Primary architectural model for Christian churches Basilica Nova, Rome

the THEATER Used for dramatic performance / entertainment. Unlike the Greek theater, the building is free standing, the wall behind the stage is much higher & the seating area may be covered. Roman Theater, Orange

the AMPHITHEATER Greek words 'amphi', on both sides, + 'theatron', used for gladiatorial contests & other entertainments. One of the best preserved examples of this type is the 'Colosseum'; an enormous wedge shaped oval, four levels high, seating 50,000 people on raised tiers, each with a good view of the center of the theater.

the COLOSSEUM 4 arcaded stories, The Flavian Amphitheater the first three had eighty arches each, framed respectively by engaged Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns. constructed as two normal semi-circular theaters built to face each other toward a central  performing area in a single building

the COLOSSEUM Seating levels reserved for a particular category / class.  1st level - Emperor, Senators & Vestals.  2nd level - upper classes 3rd level - professional and business classes  4th level - common people, slaves & women.

the COLOSSEUM underground passages and chambers to hold the animals, gladiators, and prisoners. this was covered up with a system of wooden planks. it could be flooded through to allow for water sports.

the COLOSSEUM vaults Barrel vaults Groin vaults

The space of this circus survives today as the Piazza Navona. the CIRCUS (stadium) In ancient Rome, this was used for the running and viewing of chariot races. The Circus Maximus, or Domition's Circus, in Rome seated 200,000 people. The space of this circus survives today as the Piazza Navona.

the ROMAN MARKET In ancient Roman cities, the public market was located on or adjacent to the forum and varied somewhat in shape.

Town Planning

the ROMAN BATH The thermae were an important part of its social life, where most citizens lived in crowded tenements (insulae) without running water / sanitary facilities. Designed along a central axis & symmetrical plan hot bath (caldarium); warm bath (tepidarium); cold bath (frigidarium) open-air bathing pool (natatio). Symmetrically arranged on either side of the baths were rooms: changing rooms (apodyteria), gymnasium (palaestrae) sauna (laconica)

the ROMAN BATH Modern leisure centre with gardens surrounding the main building, libraries, multi-purpose halls and a small outdoor stadium. Around the perimeter of the site were rooms used as shops Entrance to the baths was free. The building was sumptuously decorated with statues and mosaics, but unfortunately only a few fragments are still in place.

earlier rectangular plan temples have bearing walls. the TEMPLE for religious ritual of the priests, are either rectangular / round in plan. earlier rectangular plan temples have bearing walls. both forms stood on podiums & meant to be approached only from the front. 1. Podium (or base). 2. Engaged column. 3. Freestanding column. 4. Entrance steps. 5. Porch. 6. Cella. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Palestrina (ancient Praeneste), near Rome: Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, c. 80 BC

temple with a portico offsetting the cella to the rear the pseudoperipteral TEMPLE temple with a portico offsetting the cella to the rear

cella in the center of the plan the peripteral TEMPLE cella in the center of the plan

PANTHEON built as a Roman temple & later became a Catholic Church.

PANTHEON Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda.

PANTHEON The portico consists of three rows of eight columns, 14 m (46 feet) high of Egyptian granite with Corinthian capitals. They support an entablature facing the square, which bears the famous inscription in Latin, attributing the construction to Agrippa, although the extant temple was rebuilt later by Hadrian.

PANTHEON The building materials were travertine, tuff, bricks and the very light, volcanic pumice stone which was used to reduce the weight towards the top of the dome. The temple has lost its facing so we can now admire the brickwork with its weight-distributing, relieving arches

PANTHEON - oculus The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles.

PANTHEON Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room.. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side are three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns.

Castrum Imperial Roman military camp, an extremely rigid and orderly square, divided into four quadrants by the primary roads and oriented to the cardinal directions. Castrum of Timgad

Aqueduct An engineering structure designed to bring huge quantities of pure water into the city.

The TRIUMPHAL ARCH A structure in the shape of a monumental archway, built to celebrate a victory in war – a free-standing structure Consists of two pillars connected by an arch, crowned with a superstructure on which a statue might be mounted or which bears commemorative inscriptions. More elaborate triumphal arches have more than one archway, typically three or five of varying sizes

TUSCAN Order                                                             Very plain design, with a plain shaft, and a simple capital, base, and frieze. A simplified adoption of the Doric order by the Romans.                                                                             

COMPOSITE Order                                                        Mixed order, combining the the floral decoration of the Corinthian and the scrolls of the Ionic, and was considered as a late Roman form of the Corinthian order.                                                                             

ROMAN ART Actual individuals rather than idealized human beings increasingly mannered.