Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Preface
- 1 INTRODUCTION
- 2 CENTERING AND FORMWORK
- 3 INGREDIENTS: MORTAR AND CAEMENTA
- 4 AMPHORAS IN VAULTS
- 5 VAULTING RIBS
- 6 METAL CLAMPS AND TIE BARS
- 7 VAULT BEHAVIOR AND BUTTRESSING
- 8 STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: HISTORY AND CASE STUDIES
- 9 INNOVATIONS IN CONTEXT
- APPENDIX 1 CATALOGUE OF MAJOR MONUMENTS
- APPENDIX 2 CATALOGUES OF BUILDING TECHNIQUES
- APPENDIX 3 SCORIA ANALYSIS
- APPENDIX 4 THRUST LINE ANALYSIS
- Notes
- Glossary
- Works Cited
- Index
- Plate section
1 - INTRODUCTION
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Preface
- 1 INTRODUCTION
- 2 CENTERING AND FORMWORK
- 3 INGREDIENTS: MORTAR AND CAEMENTA
- 4 AMPHORAS IN VAULTS
- 5 VAULTING RIBS
- 6 METAL CLAMPS AND TIE BARS
- 7 VAULT BEHAVIOR AND BUTTRESSING
- 8 STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: HISTORY AND CASE STUDIES
- 9 INNOVATIONS IN CONTEXT
- APPENDIX 1 CATALOGUE OF MAJOR MONUMENTS
- APPENDIX 2 CATALOGUES OF BUILDING TECHNIQUES
- APPENDIX 3 SCORIA ANALYSIS
- APPENDIX 4 THRUST LINE ANALYSIS
- Notes
- Glossary
- Works Cited
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
Concrete vaulted structures represent one of the ancient Romans' most original and enduring contributions to the artistic and architectural patrimony of the Mediterranean world. A combination of factors led to the development of the large spans and curvilinear forms still visible in buildings such as the Pantheon and the Basilica of Maxentius. Rome was endowed with a wealth of natural resources in its immediate environs, and what it could not supply for itself it could bring in from afar through the development of extensive trade networks. Along with the financial benefits of conquest came the architectural, technological, and mathematical expertise of the architects, builders, and engineers from the conquered territories. Augustus, in bringing the civil wars to an end, also brought a vision of urban renewal for Rome that provided incentive for more grandiose schemes than had previously been possible. By that time, the architects and builders had over a century of collective experience with concrete construction, but Augustus's creation of an organizational infrastructure provided a context in which new ideas and larger building schemes were possible. As emphasized by W. L. MacDonald, the fire that devastated much of Rome during Nero's reign in a.d. 64 effectively cleared the slate and provided opportunities to exploit the fireproof nature of concrete and in doing so created a new aesthetic based on the plastic potential inherent in the material.
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- Concrete Vaulted Construction in Imperial RomeInnovations in Context, pp. 1 - 21Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005