History and Theory of Design 221: Ancient Rome- Blog Questions

1. Describe the important features of Ancient Roman city planning.

There are several key features of Ancient Roman city planning. Almost all Roman cities were laid out in a grid pattern of street and blocks, much like the cities we have today (Figure 1.a). In the center of the city was the forum, this was the heart of the city. Within the forum you could find major public buildings like markets, shops, temples, the basilica and other government buildings. The forum is like the town hall for today’s cities, this is where the local government met and conducted meetings, where you came to buy clothes or food, and it was where most everything in the city took place. Surrounding the forum would be houses and apartments, more shops, public baths, theaters, amphitheaters, playing fields and possible more temples. The cool thing about the houses, apartments and shops was that they were usually all the same place. Many Romans ran shops out of their homes. The shop would be in the part of the house that faced the main street, this was typically due to the fact that part of the house was open to the street and they didn't want everyone knowing what goes on in their homes. Baths were also another important part of the city (Figure 1.b), but that this time baths were more of a leisure act than a hygienic necessity. Roman baths are the equivalent to our spas, but I feel that Roman baths were much more extravagant. Even at this time the Romans had come up with a heating system to heat not on the water in the baths but also the floors and rooms. Important to the baths were the aqueducts (Figure 1.c), which was key in transporting water from mountains to the city. Another public leisurely activity was to attend the events at the theater or amphitheaters. The theater is where one went to watch plays and concerts (Figure 1.d) but the amphitheater is where one went to watch gladiators fight to the death (Figure 1.e). The most important feature of the city was its walls. The walls of the city kept the enemy out and acted as a defense mechanism but it also set the geographical limits of the city. The gates of the walls opened up to the main streets which lead to the forum, which gave you no choice but to head to the center of the city where everyone else typically was. This was a good idea, if you’re forced to go to the center of the city it gives people a chance to see the stranger they should be keeping an eye on. We owe a lot of what we know about city planning to the Ancient Romans because they us the blueprint for the cities we have today.

2. Describe the importance of three Ancient Roman inventions.

The three inventions of the Ancient Romans I deem most important are Arches, Brick, and Concrete. I consider these three most important because without the brick or concrete the use of the arch may not have grew to be as endless as it did. Roman bricks aren't like the bricks we have today; their bricks were thinner flatter (Figure 2.a), and larger than our brick (Figure 2.b). Bricks were easier to work with and cheaper to make. This helped the Romans build massive structures more easily and on a relatively fast pace. The buildings they threw up by building brick weren't always so nice to look at, at least not in their eye, which brings me to concrete. Concrete allowed the Romans to build imperfectly and quickly because all they had to do was build a structure with brick and throw concrete to the outside to make it look better and stronger (Figure 2.c). Brick and concrete was used to make everything from everyday houses to important government buildings. With the combination of brick and concrete the use of the arch was stretched to greater limits. Brick and concrete again allowed the arch to be made of cheaper easier to use materials. Because of that the ach didn't take as long to make and could be shaped to look perfectly made by concrete. This allowed the Romans to sting multiple arches together which gives you a vault. Through the vault the arch was able to support larger structures and gave more interior space. By placing arches one after another you could create a long hall like areas that ends up as a barrel vault (Figure 2.d). You can make a different kind of vault when you place arches side by side, which is an arcade. The aqueduct (Figure 1.c) is one of the inventions derived from the arcade (Figure 2.e), which we all know was important in bringing water to the city. Bricks, Concrete and arches can be found all though out Roman ruins, because they aided in pushing the Romans forward.

Roman City Layout (Figure 1.a)