Roman Architectuer

12 Pages 3117 Words

ond cultures and beyond time itself.
Roman architecture is not a variable, it is, and forever will be, a constant. Unlike cultures before them, the Romans were not intimidated by the curve, “Greece, like the Orient, had been shy of the curve.” (Brown 20) It had proven very difficult for predecessors to successfully negotiate an angled surface; it not only took great skill, but the right kind of material and design. The Romans, however, saw great advantages in curved structures such as the arch, vault and dome. Use of the arch and its principles date back to ancient architecture; however, the Romans revolutionized the way the arch was used, and in that changed the face of architecture. The concept of the arch was to support a structure spanning a wide distance. Builders before had used beams and columns for support, but they had sometimes been too weak.(Encarta) The Roman architects were not concerned with embodying an innovative new design; they were impressed with the practical advantages of the arch and the greater amount of load it could support. The concept was a step up from the Greek post-and-lintel system, where many temples and public structures were erected on columns. Through time, the arch proved to be worthy of any task, whether it was supporting a long bridge, or giving rise to a Gothic cathedral. As is the case with many Roman designs, the arch can be seen in many modern structures. The vault was used by the Romans, predominantly, as ceilings and roofs of buildings or rooms and support for ceilings. It is basically a string of connected arches forming a semi-spherical structure. The simplest of the vaults was the barrel, or tunnel, vault. It was supported by straight walls on its side and was very sustainable. Another system the Romans fancied was the groin vault, where two barrel vaults come together and cross each other. Vaults were used in structures like the Coliseum to cover corridors and in the public baths of ...