Classical Civilization- Rome

As I have stated numerous times, prior to this class I have not had any class pertaining to the History of Interior Design, therefore everything is new to me. Something that I found particularly interesting in this chapter was the residential dwellings in Rome. It is interesting because it is the same large concept as today's residential dwellings, but they differ in many ways. For example, residential dwellings in Rome had no plumbing, the heat came from the stoves, and they were very dangerous. This shows how this idea developed over time, which was intriguing to me.

Favorite Architecture, Furniture, and Interior Design

Like most, the Colosseum is my favorite piece of architecture that Rome has to offer. It is a place that I have always wanted to visit and learning about it makes me even more anxious to see it in person. The reason why it is my favorite is because it is so similar to sports arenas today. The fact that it held 50,000 people is mind blowing, considering there are stadiums today that do not hold that many. The technology and technique of the Romans really amaze me. 

Another piece of architecture that I found to be particularly interesting was the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a domed temple and it is the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome; it was made in 126 A.D. and it holds that title. The impact that these people are still having on the world today is amazing and that is why it was one of my favorite things from the section on Rome. 

Current Applications

As stated previously, Roman residential dwellings are quite similar to the ones that we have today. They hold the same purpose and structurally have the same general idea. One main difference is the quality of living.

Another part of Rome that we see in the world of Interior Design today is the idea of a patterned floor. This was commonly seen throughout Roman Interior Design and it is making it's way back in modern spaces. Below, you will find a picture of a patterned floor from Ancient Rome and a modern use of a patterned floor.

Extra Resources

If you are interested in Roman Interior Design, check out this Prezi!! 

Roman Interior Design Prezi 

Student Response 

For this section, I looked at Yo's blog. Yo made a lot of excellent points and I feel that him and I are on the same page in terms of what we learned and what we found to be interesting. Their use of the arch is truly amazing and that is something that Yo made a point of mentioning in his post about Rome. Yo went into great detail about the history of the arch and how it was developed from past civilizations and discussed the making of it. Yo stated, "Precedents were from Greek, they were used to use column and post-and-lintel construction.  I am not sure how long and how many testing that they took to achieve their invention.  Other civilization had arch and they did not explore the possibility, including Greece.  When arch is projected in 3D, it becomes barrel vault. When it's rotated around a single point, it becomes a dome." Because I am a teacher education major and this is only my second interior design course, this was extremely informative.

                                         

I also looked at Megan's blog post on Rome. Megan emphasized the importance of the Roman's discovery of concrete. Concrete enabled them to create the different structures that we still consider to be amazing and astounding. Not only did concrete help the Romans build and make their visions come to life, but they are also helping us today in the world of Interior Design.