New Materials In Housing - Article Example

Name: New materials in Housing: Date: Student number: Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 3 Brief History 4 The origin of the influence 5 Materials and techniques 5 Architectural features 7 Conclusion 8 Works cited 9 Becker. S. (2012). Analysis of building materials. The American Journal of Energyy, 76 (1), 9 Abstract Roman architecture has enhanced continuance of a legacy left by ancient architects from Greece and the Roman respect for those architectural designs and building materials is seen through the large and significant public buildings. But, the significant innovation of the Romans has seen them adopt new construction techniques, new building materials (bricks, concrete and arch) and has combined unique techniques with creative designs to come up with a range of new architectural structures like monumental aqueduct, basilica, amphitheatre and residential housing blocks among other public buildings. Introduction Ancient Roman architecture came up with myriad elements of ancient Greek architecture coupled with novel technologies like dome and the arch to develop modern architectural style. The architectural design of the Romans thrust to prominence within the realms of empire in the duration referred to as Pax Roman. The application of new building materials like the concrete illustrated a significant aspect. Roman architecture occurs during the duration from the establishment (Roman republic) from 509 BC up to approximately 4th century AD when it was effectively re-classified as Byzantine or late Antique architecture. Most surviving cases originate from the former imperial duration. The architectural approach of the Romans continue to influence many buildings in the world today and the architectural design used in the Western Europe beginning during the late years of 1000 AD commonly referred to as Romanesque is anchored on their reliance on the founding Roman architecture. Ancient Romans represented the champions of notable developments in public hygiene and housing, for instance, their private and public latrines, baths, floor heating through hypocaust, piped cold and hot water, and mica. Brief History Factors like increase in wealth and population explosion in towns compelled the ancient Romans in identifying their novel architectural issues and solutions. Increased application of arches and also vaults coupled with adequate understanding of materials used for buildings put them on a pedestal to attain unprecedented success in the development of the imposing buildings required for utilization by the public. Some of the examples include Baths of Diocletian, Rome aqueducts and also the baths of Caracalla, the coliseums and the basilicas. Such buildings were developed at lesser scales in majority of the cities and towns occupied by the empire. Certain surviving buildings are shown as complete; for instance, the town walls of Lugo located within the Hispanic terraconensis. Ancient Romans had an intention that public buildings should be constructed to appeal to the public or simply impress the public but at the same time perform their intended functions effectively. The Romans were not so tethered with the Greek aesthetic truism only by efforts aimed at meeting the objectives or goals. The Pantheon as a building exemplifies this point especially through the version reconstructed by Hadrian. The version to date is still perfectly reserved and for far too many centuries has served more so in the Western Hemisphere to inspire a series of public buildings. The origin of the influence Romans are indebted to their neighbors, notably the Etruscan and forefathers who conferred on them immense skills and knowledge that was necessary for architectural remedies like the application of the hydraulics and also during the building of the arches. It is also seen that the Romans took up the influence of the Greek architecture indirectly e.g. (Etruscan architecture was influenced by the Greeks) and directly e.g. Magna Graecia. This influence in architectural style is evident in a number of approaches, like the development and utilization of Triclinium in the Roman Villas during dining. The Romans mostly engaged the Engineers and craftsmen from Greece to develop the Roman buildings. Materials and techniques The initial complete marble building is referred to as the temple of Jupiter stator located within Rome, constructed in 146 BC, however it was not until development of the empire that utilization of the marble increased or became widespread as the choice stone for majority of the building projects initiated by the state. The most applied stone was the Carrara also known as Lunamarble from Tuscany. Marble was and is still easily available throughout the terrains of the empire, more so significant are the Parian marble of Paros within Cyclades and also the pentelic located within Athens. Colored types are extremely popular with roman builders; for instance the yellow Numidian marble originating across the Northern Africa, purple phyrgian within the central turkey , the red porphyry available in Egypt and the green veined carystian marble sourced in the Euboea. Majority of the foreign marble is generally used in the columns; hence this is dictated by the high cost involved in its transportation. Apart from marble, white travertine and limestone is got through the quarries around Tivoli. The suitability when it comes to precise carvings and its inherent strength to bear load makes it a favorable substitute for marble in the midst of the Roman architects illustrated during the 1st century BC to date. It is mostly applied in paving, window frames, in doors and also the stair cases. The Romans invented the lime mortar, and also they were the first to observe the entire potential involved in utilizing it in making concrete. The concrete was previously reserved for filtering materials. The architects from Rome discovered that the filtered material has the potential of supporting heavy weights, hence with very minimal imagination applied it in spanning space and in developing an entire category of building opportunities. This discussed material has been known as opuscaementicium since it involves stone aggregate where caementa is mixed entirely with the lime mortar. The mixture has thick consistency; therefore, it is laid and not poured in the same manner as concrete. The initial recorded proof of its utilization is illustrated in the 3rdcentury BCCosa and its first utilization among the Romans was in the building of a warehouse in the 2nd century BC. In the same period, the other building material that was discovered to have a high tensile strengthwas pozzolana which is a concrete made using volcanic sand known as pulvisputeolanus. With high content of silica, concrete has the ability of settling under water. It is much stronger than the basic concrete. As from 1st century BCE, it was widely used in constructing foundations, vaults and walls. Perhaps, its best use was exemplified in constructing the sanctuary of Fortunia located in Palestrina. On top of the structural applications presented through the concrete, the material is generally cheaper when compared to solid stone. It can be provided with a better turned-out frontage using marble veneer, stucco and another fairly cheap material, terracotta or maybe fired brick. The sun dried bricks has also been applied for several centuries. The bricks have continued to be used for projects until 1st century BC. Although fired bricks have the feature of durability and can also curve like stones to bear a resemblance to standard architectural features like dentils and capitals. Architectural features The Roman application of arch and developments in the application of bricks with concrete was used in the building of a number of aqueducts allover the empire like the aqueduct of Segovia in addition to all the Rome aqueducts which include Anio Novus and Aqua Claudia. The same knowledge was used to construct a number of bridges, some are still usable today. For example, the Puente Romano found in Merida in Spain, Pont Julien and the bridge in Vaison la Romaine both of which are found in Provence, France. The dome gave room for the construction of vaulted ceilings without use of crossbeams and permitted huge public space like basilicas and public baths. The Romans anchored a lot of their architecture on domes like Hadrian’s Pantheon in the Roman city and the Baths of Caracall and Diocletian. The application of arches which directly stems from the top of columns is a Roman concept witnessed from the 1st century AD, and is widely adopted in Western medieval, especially Byzantine and Islamic architecture. The arch is seen in the majority of aqueducts and more so in virtually all surviving examples like Pont du Gard, the aqueduct found at Segovia, and the remnants of aqueduct of Rome itself. The fact that they are surviving to date is an attestation to the fact that their design and materials are durable. The Romans initially adopted the arch from Estrucans and harnessed its use in their buildings. The science behind the use of arch is that it evenly transmits load and this explains why it is still commonly used to date in architecture. Conclusion The Roman architecture then has given us an opportunity to experience magnificent buildings which have directly passed the time test. Through amalgamating an array of building materials coupled with daring designs, the people of Rome were in a pedestal of pushing the physics limits and change architecture to an art form. The organic outcome is that architecture has inherently become an instrument of demonstrating to the world that in terms of superiority, Rome was great in cultural context. This is because of the audacity, skills and wealth required in developing such edifice. More importantly, the application of concrete, bricks and arches on building techniques such as basilica and amphitheatre had the potential of immeasurably influencing all western architecture to present day. Works cited Becker. S. (2012). Analysis of building materials. The American Journal of Energyy, 76 (1), 32-40. Karlsen. J. (2012). The Emergence of Greece Architectural designs. Engineering journal, 27. Karlsen, J. et al. (2012). Enhancing durability of buildings. Baltic Journal of Energy management, 3. Logun, P. (2013). Determinants of success in public Buildings. New York: Sage publishers. McGregor, P. (2013). Innovative approaches to curtail perpetual failure in Building Projects. New York: McGrawHill. Read More

Ancient Romans had an intention that public buildings should be constructed to appeal to the public or simply impress the public but at the same time perform their intended functions effectively. The Romans were not so tethered with the Greek aesthetic truism only by efforts aimed at meeting the objectives or goals. The Pantheon as a building exemplifies this point especially through the version reconstructed by Hadrian. The version to date is still perfectly reserved and for far too many centuries has served more so in the Western Hemisphere to inspire a series of public buildings.

The origin of the influence Romans are indebted to their neighbors, notably the Etruscan and forefathers who conferred on them immense skills and knowledge that was necessary for architectural remedies like the application of the hydraulics and also during the building of the arches. It is also seen that the Romans took up the influence of the Greek architecture indirectly e.g. (Etruscan architecture was influenced by the Greeks) and directly e.g. Magna Graecia. This influence in architectural style is evident in a number of approaches, like the development and utilization of Triclinium in the Roman Villas during dining.

The Romans mostly engaged the Engineers and craftsmen from Greece to develop the Roman buildings. Materials and techniques The initial complete marble building is referred to as the temple of Jupiter stator located within Rome, constructed in 146 BC, however it was not until development of the empire that utilization of the marble increased or became widespread as the choice stone for majority of the building projects initiated by the state. The most applied stone was the Carrara also known as Lunamarble from Tuscany.

Marble was and is still easily available throughout the terrains of the empire, more so significant are the Parian marble of Paros within Cyclades and also the pentelic located within Athens. Colored types are extremely popular with roman builders; for instance the yellow Numidian marble originating across the Northern Africa, purple phyrgian within the central turkey , the red porphyry available in Egypt and the green veined carystian marble sourced in the Euboea. Majority of the foreign marble is generally used in the columns; hence this is dictated by the high cost involved in its transportation.

Apart from marble, white travertine and limestone is got through the quarries around Tivoli. The suitability when it comes to precise carvings and its inherent strength to bear load makes it a favorable substitute for marble in the midst of the Roman architects illustrated during the 1st century BC to date. It is mostly applied in paving, window frames, in doors and also the stair cases. The Romans invented the lime mortar, and also they were the first to observe the entire potential involved in utilizing it in making concrete.

The concrete was previously reserved for filtering materials. The architects from Rome discovered that the filtered material has the potential of supporting heavy weights, hence with very minimal imagination applied it in spanning space and in developing an entire category of building opportunities. This discussed material has been known as opuscaementicium since it involves stone aggregate where caementa is mixed entirely with the lime mortar. The mixture has thick consistency; therefore, it is laid and not poured in the same manner as concrete.

The initial recorded proof of its utilization is illustrated in the 3rdcentury BCCosa and its first utilization among the Romans was in the building of a warehouse in the 2nd century BC. In the same period, the other building material that was discovered to have a high tensile strengthwas pozzolana which is a concrete made using volcanic sand known as pulvisputeolanus. With high content of silica, concrete has the ability of settling under water. It is much stronger than the basic concrete.

As from 1st century BCE, it was widely used in constructing foundations, vaults and walls.

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