3. Technology and Revolution in Roman Architecture

Roman Architecture (HSAR 252)

Professor Kleiner discusses the revolution in Roman architecture resulting from the widespread adoption of concrete in the late second and first centuries B.C. She contrasts what she calls innovative Roman architecture with the more traditional buildings already surveyed and documents a shift from the use of concrete for practical purposes to an exploration of its expressive possibilities. The lecture concludes with a discussion of the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Palestrina, an impressive terraced complex that uses concrete to transform a mountain into a work of architecture, with ramps and stairs leading from one level to the next and porticoes revealing panoramic views of nature and of man-made architectural forms.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Roman Concrete and the Revolution in Roman Architecture
13:26 - Chapter 2. The First Experiments in Roman Concrete Construction
25:11 - Chapter 3. Sanctuaries and the Expressive Potential of Roman Concrete Construction
41:28 - Chapter 4. Innovations in Concrete at Rome: The Tabularium and The Theater of Marcellus
56:56 - Chapter 5. Concrete Transforms a Mountain at Palestrina

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2009.