History of Art and Design - Essay Example

This write up gives an account of the plan of the house and activities that were carried out there. The Romans valued space in relation to setting up buildings that they would use for various purposes such as rituals. This would be compared to the design of the temple together with the forum within the Roman Empire. The Romans participated in various rituals that required people to come together in spacious structures. This meant that every structure considered space aspects when being constructed because ritual activities were to be performed in such a setting (Clarke, 1991, 65).

The houses were built based on a public perspective. This meant that enough space was provided within the house for visitors and even those uninvited. These houses formed the focal point of activities that would be political, social and even business related. The houses were also decorated, and this revealed the minds and perceptions of the ancient Romans. This is the place that served as the meeting point for people in which they would discuss different issues that would be political, economic or even social.

In the context of the roman houses, the domus is valued because of its importance in the ancient period. Those who made plans for its construction were required to ensure that its spaces had proper proportions. The domus had party walls on its flanks and was structured in a way that ensured that a back area was enclosed in it (Tang, 2005, 20). In addition to this, its main opening to the outside was located on the street front and formed an entryway. The houses above also had fauces that marked the axis from the point of entry which was long and narrow.

The central part of the roof was also designed to allow rainwater to flow from the top to the basin below the impluvium. The compluvium was within the central space and served as a source of light to the atrium and those that would be found within it. The domus being the most common structures within this setting served to hold salutationes activities. The domus held that paterfamilias, patrons of paterfamilias and the extended family. This was in regard to social and economic reasons that were far beyond the immediate family.

This formed the clientela which was composed of relatives who did not have paterfamilias status and included slaves, freemen and other people who made daily salutationes guarantee their economic and political safety. Part two Byzantine churches Byzantine architects based their drawing on Roman temple features that were widely known within Italy. For instance, they combined ideas that were used to construct the basilica and other central-plan religious structures. This resulted on a structure with a square, central mass that had four arms of equal size.

The most striking feature in these structures was the domed roof above the square area. The dome shape was suspended above the square by arches on each of the corners of the square, and this resulted into an octagon shape which would be referred to as a pendentive. These structures were characterized by towering spaces and luxurious decorations. In addition, this, marble columns, mosaic, inlay and inlaid stone pavements were also incorporated within this setting. These structures are believed to have extended in Christian East and other places such as Russia (Gagarin & Elaine, 2010, 443).

The interior of the structures incorporated mosaic aspects, paintings and other arts. For instance, the painting was based on devotional panels. This was because the cult of icons was