Building Flashcards
tufa
Most popular stone, especially early on. Compressed volcanic ash. It is everywhere, top rock of Italy. Soft and easy to dig out. Becomes hard and strong when left out. Fire and water proof.
Ugly. If used in a building it was covered with another stone or by plaster
travertine
period of the republic. nicer looking and decrorative than tufa. secondary limestone. impurities (holes)
colored marble
Rome did not have its own marble sources till the early empire. Rome would conquer overseas then bring back marble
lunar marble (carrara marble)
White with some black streaks. Discovered by Augustus nearby Pisa
roman cement
The reason buildings are still standing. Sand + lime + water. replaced sand with Pozzolana, quarried volcanic dust that made it much stronger.
Set almost immediately. Harder than stone. Self healing properties.
Allowed Romans to build bridges and cliff side villas near water. It was easier to build over these buildings than to clear them. used for domes and vaults.
Barrel Vault
The arch is the strongest shape. The arch made with Roman cement was incredibly strong. It allowed them to build on sides of hills and for better seating venues.
Early technique
Opus Quadratu/ashlar masonry
Big block
large rectangular blocks of stone placed one on top of the other, without mortar, kept in place by their own weight (sometimes with metals clamps or dowels to secure them). Period of popularity and use: Period of the Republic up to the first century AD. Examples in Rome: Round Temple by the Tiber River (in marble), and the Tabularium (in tufa stone)
concrete - opus incertum
small and irregular stones, averaging 6 – 10 cm. in size and placed into a concrete core, smoothed on the outer surface to form a flat wall. Period of popularity and use: 2nd century BC – 1st century BC. Example in Rome (and earliest example of the use of Roman concrete): Porticus Aemilia
opus reticulatum
similar to opus incertum, here a concrete core was also used, but the stones were pyramidal in form, with their points inserted into the concrete core. The flat sides of the pyramids were rotated so that the bottom-most part of the block was one of the four points, when inserted into the core (i.e. on the diagonal); the result of all stones together was a net-like appearance. The edges of these buildings (doorways, window frames, edges and corners) were made of squared blocks, usually tufa or travertine. Period of popularity and use: mid-1st century BC – late 1st century AD. Example in Rome: House of the Griffins on the Palatine
opus mixtum,or mixed technique
Horizontal bands of bricks, 1 – 3 courses, inserted at intervals into the opus reticulatum, and bricks replace the tufa/travertine blocks for the edging, in a mixed technique. Period of use: beginning in the mid-1st century AD.
opus testaceum, or regular brickwork
Period of use: from the 2nd century AD on. Examples in Rome at the Markets of Trajan, and at the ancient city of Ostia
Vitruvius “on Architecture”
gives instructions on building Roan buildings. For Romans its about who built the building, so they would try to innovate to stand out.
colonnade
row of columns
peripteral
wrapped all the way around with columns
cella
Most important room
center with cult statue
