What is important about Romanesque architecture?

Answer 1

The most important aspect about Romanesque architecture is the surreality behind its craftsmanship. However, this importance is only in the eye of the beholder, as not everyone sees such intrinsic beauty to it.

Answer 2

Romanesque art is a type of art from Western Europe between the year 1000 AD to the thirteenth century. It is characterized by its round-headed arches, striking, vibrant colors, and was often done using stained glass. Many religious themes were done in the Romanesque style.

Answer 3

Roman architecture adopted the architectural styles of the Greeks: the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders. This refers to the style of columns and their capitals and of the entablature (a structure made up of the architrave, the beam above the columns, the frieze, it central part which was often decorated and the cornice, the par just below the roof which collected the rain). However, the Romans also developed the composite order, which combined the acanthus leaves of the Doric order and the spiral scroll-like ornament of the Ionic order (the volute) and added other decorative elements, such as the egg-and-dart moulding (which alternated egg shapes with V shapes). Roman architecture was also influenced artistically by other conquered peoples. Above all, it was very innovative and suited the development of large cities in the empire and the need for large scale infrastructural works for the empire.

The Romans were first to fully appreciate the advantages of the arch, the vault and the dome. The arch has a strong load-bearing capacity and provides stability. The Etruscans invented the simple barrel arch and Pergamon invented the vault (adjacent arches which are assembled side by side) which has an even greater load bearing capacity and whose structure is also suited to support large roofs. The arches and the vaults came to be used extensively for the first time. They became essential for the construction of large scale buildings, to support large roofs and to build basements. The Romans also used the arch to build gates, aqueducts, bridges which were much longer than before and could cross much wider rivers and valleys. They even managed to build a bridge across the lower Danube, which is a very wide river. If a deep valley had to be crossed, two or three piers of arches were built on top of each other to reach the desired height.

The Romans invented segmental arch, which was flatter as they realised that an arch did not have to be a semicircle.

The Romans developed a new and much stronger type of concrete which was as resistant as modern concrete and also set underwater (this enabled them to build much bigger docks for ports). However, it was not as fluid as modern concrete and had to be layered by hand. The arch, the vault and concrete were what made the construction of such a massive structure as the Colosseum possible. Concrete was also used to build domes, public buildings, military facilities (forts and fortifications) warehouses, circuses (racing tracks) amphitheatres, temples and baths. Often the Romans used a mixture of stone, brick and concrete (for the Colosseum stone and concrete were used).

The Romans built great aqueducts. Most were underground conduits. When above ground the conduits were on bridges when the aqueducts had to cross a valley or when they were needed to keep a gradient to make the water moving. The Pont du Gard, a bridge for an aqueduct which supplied Nimes, in southern France is the greatest example of a multi- pier bridge. It has three tiers of recessed arches with the main piers in line one above the other. The first two tiers have very high and wide arches and a third tier has low and narrow arches. It was built to carry an aqueduct to Nimes in southern France. It reaches a height of 48.8 metres (160 feet). The lower tier is 142 metres (466 feet) long and has six aches with a height of 22metres (72 ft.). The second tier is 242 metres (794 ft.) long and has eleven arches 20 metres (66 ft.) high. The upper tier is 275 metre (902 ft.) long. It originally had 47 arches (only 35 have survived) 7 metres (23 ft.) high. The width of the first pier is 6 metres (20th.), that of the second pier is 4 metres (13 ft.) and that of the third pier is 3 metres (23 ft).

The Romans perfected the dome. The Pantheon (a temple which has been turned into a church) in Rome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.

The Romans invented the amphitheatre, which was an arena for the gladiatorial games. They took the Greek idea of theatres with semi-circular seating and they extended it to a full circle or, more usually an elliptic shape. The Colosseum and the arena of Verona are the two most famous amphitheatre.

Unlike Greek theatres whose seating was built on earthwork up the slopes of hills or mountains, Roman threatres were built on their own foundations and on flat land.

The Roman basilicas were public buildings. They were large roofed halls were business was transacted and legal matters were dealt with. They often had interior colonnades which divided the space, giving aisles or arcaded spaces on one or both sides, with an apse at one end (or less often at each end), where the magistrates sat, often on a slightly raised dais (a raised platform). The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles, so that light could get through windows high up. An apse (Greek apsis, Latin absis which meant arch, vault) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome. Because basilica could host large crowds, their layout was used a a model for building Christian Churches.

Most people in the city of Rome lived in insulae, apartment blocks up to six or seven floors high. Despite height restrictions, some reached eight or nine floors. Originally they were built in timber and mud brick, later chap concrete was used. Fires and collapses were a common problem, made worse by the fact that they were often built cheaply by speculators. Fires could spread quickly because the insulae were densely packed, often separated only by alleys. After the Great Fire of Rome (64 AD) Nero ordered that the insulae were to be spaced out, built in brick, and faced by porticos on wide roads. Even so, they remained prone fires and collapses because of poor building quality.

The middle class lived on the lower floors of the insulae which were larger and more expensive and had running water. On the ground floor there were shops and workshops.

The poor lived on the upper floors which were the least desirable because of the extra stairs and they were less safe in case of fire and, therefore, were cheaper to rent. The apartments on these floors were small and only had small rooms for sleeping. There was no running water, heating, cooking facilities or toilets. The poor went there only to sleep. During the day they and lived outdoors. They ate outdoors, went to outdoors public toilets, and went to the public baths

The detached houses of the rich were called domus and were divided into the areas. There was a public area centred on an atrium (courtyard) where the social life of the family took place and were guests were received. There was also a private area just for the family members, which was centred on a garden which was called peristyle, which was adopted from the Greeks.

The Romans invented the hypocaust, which was an underfloor heating system for heating houses and the baths using hot air. The floor was raised above the ground by pillars which left a space inside that was filled with hot air from a furnace. The heat from the underfloor heated the air in the room. Passages boxed by ceramic tiles were put inside the walls to move the air to flues on the roof and to heat the walls.

Answer 4

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