Roman Dwelling: Domus, Insulae and Villa

Question 1

Vitruvius [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio]

Ten Books on Architecture

written c. 15AD

Answer 1

• Treatise written in Latin
• Dedicated to Emperor Augustus
• Buildings must be ‘solid, useful, beautiful’
• Architecture as imitation of nature
• Proportional, harmonious, rational, unified
• Key to the Renaissance, used by Alberti, Bruelleschi
  *

Question 2

House of the Tragic Poet

Pompeii, Italy

1st century BC

Answer 2

• Typical example of Roman domus
• Built around courtyard
• Urban setting, orthogonal plan, designed for density
• Upper classes
• Decorated with simple frescoes and mosaics
• Clear delineation between antica (front) and postica (back)
• Vestibule followed by atrium
• Important people received in tablinum

Question 3

Hadrian’s Villa

Tivoli, Italy

2nd C

Answer 3

• Large, sprawling complex
• Assymetrical, organic, picturesque
• Anti-city
• Built around different sized courtyards
• Celebrates nature, outdoor entertainment, theatre, bath houses, ball courts

Question 4

Insula (pl. insulae) housing type

Answer 4

• “Urban island”
• Built for density - many people can be housed within one level
• Medium rise apartment building
• Up to 6 stories high
• Majority of citizens (middle to lower class)
• Had running water + sanitation
• Prone to fire and collapse

Question 5

Domus as vernacular architecture

Answer 5

• Derived from Greek courtyard house
• Comprised of common regional forms, differing building materials
• Becomes consistent typology, developed locally
• Becomes cultural habit with time and repetition
• Regional climate taken into account, as well as local values, layout of the city, dynamic of the family