The
video Architecture: The Science of Design
(from the website Films on Demand) discusses the structure and purposes of
skyscrapers, technologies used to regulate the temperature, humidity, electricity,
and security of buildings, and the formation and uses of concrete. The weight of skyscrapers (both from its
building materials and all that they hold) is borne by the foundation. Because they are many stories high, they move
more in the wind than shorter structures.
They also cause very strong currents of wind to blow even at
ground-level, which can make walking around these structures troublesome. Skyscrapers allow for more people to dwell in
concentrated areas. Their construction
became possible due to the discovery of steel’s potential as a building
material. Concrete is also very important
in their construction, especially for their foundations. Many environmental factors must be considered
before a skyscraper in constructed, including the amount of pollution in the
air in the area.
Concrete is a very important building material, which allows for varied
structural forms. It was used by the
ancient Greeks and Romans. It can endure
extremes of temperature. Portland cement
is widely used today, and it was invented in 1824, although other cements were
used previously. Often concrete must be
reinforced with bars of metal (layered around metal bars) in order for it to be
strong enough for certain uses.
The video Imperial Rome, Ostia, and Portus: Ancient Architecture
and Technology (also from Films on Demand) examined several structures from
these locations, including the Pantheon, insulae (which are similar to modern city
blocks, surrounded on four sides by roads), and public baths such as the extremely
large one at Carracalla. The
technologies used in building these often were borrowed from the Greeks and
used in inventive ways. The empire of
Rome (which was the largest empire in the Western world at that time) had to
have structures that would accommodate all its people. The insulae were composed of buildings, which
often had five stories. The wealthier
residents lived I the lower apartments where there was running water. Local materials, such as the stone tufa, were
often used in construction. Sometimes buildings
materials, such as the marble slabs for the columns of the Pantheon which came
from Egypt, were imported from great distances to send the message that Rome’s
power was far-reaching. The Romans used
arches, domes, vaults, coffering, thick walls for protection, relief sculpture,
post and lintel construction, entablature, pediments, and large windows with
glass (sometimes double-glazed for better insulation), to name a few techniques,
in their construction. Many structures
were made of brick-faced concrete. For
structures like domes, they varied the aggregates used for the concrete so that
the top of the dome was made of lighter-weight materials. The interior of the great dome of the
Pantheon represents a great accomplishment in architecture. Historians are not quite sure how they
accomplished the coffering.
These videos, as well as the text Living
with Art, 10th Ed. By Mark Getlein, address the importance of
using the right materials for the right structures. Some materials are better suited to certain
structures and environments. The text alludes
to the use of structures for communicating messages, such as messages of power
or prestige. The video about Rome
provides several examples of how architecture was used in this way even in
ancient times.
These videos both provide a more detailed understanding (than does the
text) of some of the processes involved in creating architectural structures
and the composition of some large structures.
I chose to watch the first video to gain a better understanding of the techniques
involved in building. I chose the second
one to deepen my understanding of the architectural technologies employed by
the ancient Romans.
References
Getlein, Mark. (2013). Living with Art. 10th Ed. New
York: McGraw Hill.
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