SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE• BUILDING• DESIGN

Centre for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia (MASSA)

Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture

ARCHITECTURE CULTURE AND HISTORY 1 [ARC 1313]

PROJECT: PRECEDENT STUDY

Essay (10%)

NAME OF BUILDING: PANTHEON, ROMAN

NAME: TOH CHEE CHENG (0311122)

YAP ZHI JUN (0310738)

YAP ZHONG LIN (0310557)

CHEW WOAN CHYIN (0310797)

LECTURER: MS. SHAHRIANNE

PANTHEON, ROMAN

The history of Rome begins in 753 B.C. when the city was found by Romulus and

Remus. The end of Roman history is often given as 476 A.D. when the last emperor of

Rome surrendered Italy to the Barbarian King Odoacer. During these twelve centuries,

the Roman government evolved from a kingdom to a republic, and finally to an empire.

Its territory grew from a single village in central Italy to the premier city in Italy, and

finally incorporated much of Northern Africa, Western Europe, and all of the Middle

East.

Most scholars attribute the Pantheon’s architect to

Apollodorus of Damascus. He was a Greek engineer, architect,

designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century

A.D., from Damascus.  The Pantheon was originally built in 27-

25 B.C. by the magistrate Marcus Agrippa to commemorate the

victory of Actium over Antony and Cleopatra. This original temple was burnt down in 80

A.D. The Pantheon was completely reconstructed in 125 A.D. by Hadrian.

Pantheon has the greatest Roman temple circular-

plan. Twenty Corinthian columns support portico that were

joined to the hemispherical dome, which 142 feet, six

inches in diameter and 142 feet height. Oculus with 27 feet

diameter is designed to let in the light and air emphasizing

three-dimensional of the dome’s design, to create the feel

of large space and dome is higher than its actual

dimension. The ground level of the hemispherical dome

has Corinthians supporting attic story with rectangular openings resembling windows

set in a patterned marble wall. The lower story is varied by niches in semi-circular and

rectangular at quarter and eight points around the circumference. Dome is

accomplished by five tiers of square coffers. The first two rings of coffering conceal

eight great relieving arches to concentrate loads on the wall section between the niches

of the ground story. These

sections are hollowed

chambers that equalize

contraction of the concrete

as it hardened and lessen

the dead load transferred to

the foundations.

Pantheon was a small temple dedicated to all Roman gods

and Pope Boniface IVI consecrated it as a church dedicated to

Mary and the Martyr Saints in 609. It has also been used as a

tomb: amongst those buried here are the painter Raphael, the

first two kings, and first queen of Italy. The concrete dome

constructed in tapering courses. They used the heaviest

aggregate (basalt) at the bottom and lighter materials (pumice) at the top. To create the

dome’s oculus, the Romans built two circles of bipedalism and laid them edgewise in

three vertical courses, then circled the oculus with a bronze cornice.

The significant structure of the Pantheon

comprised of a series of intersecting arches. The

Oculus allows light and rain in and when the sun

shone in, the shaft of light travels across the interior

of the building. Pantheon showed cultural diffusion

with other earlier civilizations. The Romans started

making concrete more than 2,000 years ago.

Pantheon has survived for centuries, often with little

to no maintenance. It was the largest dome in the

world until the 15th century and is still the largest

unreinforced concrete dome ever built.

Bibliography

About. Agnosticism / Atheism. Retrieved September, 17, 2013, from

http://atheism.about.com/od/christianchurchchurches/p/PantheonRome.htm

Landels, John G. (2000). Engineering in the ancient world. Berkeley: University of California,

Michael Fazio, M. M. (2008). A World History of Architecture. London: Laurence King.

Monolithic. The Pantheon, Rome. Retrieved September, 17, 2013, from

http://www.monolithic.com/stories/the-pantheon-rome-126-ad

Pantheon, Rome. (2009, September 13) Holly Hayes. Retrieved September, 16, 2013,

from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-pantheon

Pillai, M. (2011, September 29). Roman Pantheon Architecture. Retrieved September

23, 2013, from Buzzle:http://www.buzzle.com/articles/roman-pantheon-architecture.html

The Pantheon: temple of Roman Gods. Italy Guides. Retrieved September, 16, 2013

from http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/pantheon.htm

William L. MacDonald (2002). The Pantheon: Design, Meaning and Progeny .Harvard

University Press, Cambridge MA.

Three Important Elements of Successful Roman Architecture. (n.d.). Retrieved

September 23, 2013, from http://pal.loswego.k12.or.us/art_lit/Rome-

VolunteerPresentation-Notes.pdf