What was architecturally innovative about the Pantheon in Rome - Essay Example

? What was the Architecturally Innovative about the Pantheon in Rome? Rough Plan Introduction: Definition and brief history Main Body: 1. Description of the meaning, symbolism and design of the Pantheon 2. Architecture of the Exterior and interior of the building 3 & 4: The Dome Conclusion The Pantheon is a building in Rome, Italy that whose design and construction was under the directorship of Marcus Agrippa who was a friend and commander during the reign of Augustus. It was constructed as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome, and it was rebuilt in 117-138 AD by Hadrian after it was razed to the ground during a war. The building is circular with a front entrance portico made up of eight large Corinthian columns made of granite. There are another two groups of four behind that are all under pediment. There is a vestibule, rectangular in shape that links the porch to the cupola that is beneath a coffered concrete auditorium. The dome has a central opening to the sky called the oculus, and it is the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. Fig 1: Pantheon, Rome. This paper seeks to highlight on what is architecturally about the Pantheon in Rome by discussing various features and aspects of the building. The version of the Pantheon seen today was built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian at around 123AD, which fused the technical, religious and architectural inheritance of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman culture (Baldwin, 2004). The Emperor’s emphasis on perfection of the heavens is reflected in other buildings built by him and in its self-similar use of geometry and proportions. The notion regarding the nature of the universe being spherical is more Greek than it is Roman with the portico and the pediment also being of Greek influence. The coppice of columns leading into the temple is evocative of the hall of columns or hypostyle found in Egyptian temples (Baker, 2008). The interior of the Pantheon called the rotunda is accessed through a pair of bronze doors, with the vertical and horizontal diameter of the interior space being 43.2 meters. This is exemplary of the Romans’ emphasis on the notion of perfection in the sphere but also the heavens, and this sense of geometric perfection permeates the entire structure (MacDonald, 2002). The Pantheon is composed of two compartments namely the rotunda and the portico, with portico comprising of 16 large columns at the opening of the building. The columns are under a pediment with a phrase across it that reads; M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIUM·FECIT. This translates to Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made this building when consul for the third time. The walls are three storeys high and up to 6.2 meters thick with arches built into the brickwork to distribute the weight and achieve the height and strength required to support the dome (Baldwin, 2004). The thick walls are necessary to support and act as a buttress against the dome’s colossal stress. Inside the pantheon, the perimeter wall opens into seven niches that once contained statures of several deities a reference to the structure’s name, which means many gods. The floors are covered with beautiful tiles, which are an example of opus sectile roman mosaics that are used in the rest of the building enhancing the building’s decoration in amazing colours and patterns (MacDonald, 2002). The floor inside the pantheon is a checkerboard pattern that differs from the coffers in the dome, with each part of the dome’s interior subdivided according to different themes. They reinforce the building’s shape with the modular approach augmenting an individual’s point of reference of self and the size of the building. The dome of the pantheon weighs an approximate 4.5 metric tonnes concentrated on a ring of voussoirs that are 30 feet in diameter that form the oculus (Grasshoff, Heinzelmann & Wafler, 2009). Eight columns that are 21ft thick carry the downward thrust of the dome. The light from the open doorway and the oculus are the two sources of light inside the pantheon, with the light form the oculus moving around the room like a sundial. The hole in the roof serves as a cooling system and ventilation system. There are sunken panels that featured in five rings of 28, which have a symbolic meaning (MacDonald, 2002). Fig 2: Interior of the Pantheon looking up at the Oculus. The inside of the dome is a hemisphere that is mounted on a cylinder in such a way that if the dome was extended would be tangent to the floor. The coffers on the lower part of the dome have a significant influence on the features of the dome by lighting the structural load and lighten the dome perceptually (MacDonald, 2002). The oculus is separated by from the coffers by a bare space that is less than 5% of the floor area with the original bronze flashing still in the oculus along with the three rows of bricks, which represent only masonry used in the dome. The outside of the dome is covered by lead plates that replaced the original gilded bronze tiles under which there is a light layer of pozzolana cement about 6 inches thick set over tiles set in the concrete of the dome (Grasshoff, Heinzelmann & Wafler, 2009). On the exterior of the dome extending up the curved surface there are six steps that act as dead weights and help balance the thrust of the dome on the walls stabilizing the structure. Part of the external cylinder forms the bottom part of the dome, which means that the external dome does not represent the interior dome’s profile. The outer dome can be part of a sphere with a larger diameter than the inner dome, which facilitates the thinning of the dome towards the top in order to lighten the load. This illustrated by the fact that the outside vault springs from the cylinder that is higher than the beginning of the inside dome. Fig 3: The Roof of the Pantheon. The Pantheon has an awe-inspiring effect that is spectacular due to that fact that one does see the dome when approaching the building through the pediment because it is obscured by the rectangular edifice connecting it to the portico. The dome is a surprise to those who enter it for the first time without an inkling that the dome exists. An individual’s eyes are carried up to the oculus, which lets in enough light to create the perception of the room being airy and light. The coffers on the roof give contrasting magnitudes of light and dark luminescence easing the gloom of the dome. Reference Baker, W. T. (2008). Architectural Excellence. Illustrated Edition. New York: Images Publishing. Baldwin, E. (2004). The Pantheon Or Ancient History Of The Gods Of Greece And Rome. London: Kessinger Publishing. Grasshoff, G., Heinzelmann, M. & Wafler, M. (2009). The Pantheon in Rome: Contributions to the Conference, Bern, November 9-12, 2006. BoD-Books on Demand. MacDonald, W. L. (2002). The Pantheon: Design, Meaning, and Progeny. Illustrated Edition. Atlanta: Harvard University Press. Read More