The Pantheon in Rome was built in 126 AD as a Roman temple but later converted to a church. It was constructed out of lighter materials at the top of the dome to reduce weight. Key features include the dome, oculus, and coffers. The dimensions of the interior space and dome are the same, showing architectural harmony. It remains an impressive example of advanced Roman engineering.

1. Pantheon, Rome.
2 i ) Where and when was the building built?
Where : Piazza Della Rotonda, 00186 Roma, Italy.
Province : Rome
Opened : 126D
Function : As roman temple, but converted to museum now.
Architect : Apollodorus of Damascus
Pantheon in greek means : Honour all gods
The pantheon is turned into church in 609
Key Plan
Location Plan

2. ii) How the context, building period and evolution makes the building historically significant and
meaningful?
3D Mass Context Study

3. Building Plan

4. Elevation plan

7. Section Plan

9. 5.i) What were the materials and construction technology or method used?
ii) how the materials and construction technology or method help making the building
historically significant and meaningful?
Probably one of the most fascinating features of the Pantheon is the Architecture. The
structure of the Pantheon is comprised of a series of intersecting arches. The arches rest
on eight piers which support eight round-headed arches which run through the drum from
its inner to its outer face. The arches correspond to the eight bays on the floor level that
house statues.

10. The dome itself is supported by a series of arches that run horizontally round. Romans had
perfected the use of arches which helped sustain the weight of their magnanimous
buildings.
The Romans were aware of the heavy nature of their building materials. So, they used
lighter materials toward the top of the dome. On the lowest level travertine, the heaviest
material was used, then a mixture of travertine and tufa, then tufa and brick, then all brick
was used around the drum section of the dome, and finally pumice, the lightest and most
porous of materials on the ceiling of the dome.
This use of lighter materials on top alleviated the immense weight of the dome. The
Roman Pantheon was probably constructed by using an elaborate setup of wooden
scaffolding, which in itself would have been costly. The elegant coffers on the dome were
likely struck with a device that was exacted from floor level.

12. The detail of this building is extraordinary. If the dome of the rotundra were flipped upside
down it would fit perfectly inside the rotunda. When approaching the Pantheon from the
outside it appears rectangular in shape. But it is only the first small room (cella) that has
corners. The rotunda is completely round. The small entry room would have been entered
by climbing a staircase that is now entirely under modern ground level.
Also, in antiquity there would have been a large colonnaded enclosure in front of the
building making it almost impossible for one to glimpse the dome at the back.
The statues of Augustus and Agrippa stood in the apse at the end of the colonnaded side
aisles of the entrance.
The interior design of the Roman Pantheon is a striking synthesis of tradition and
innovation. The dimensions of the interior height and the diameter of the dome are the
same (145 Roman feet., which is 141 feet. 8 inches;43.2m).
The architect, who is unknown, did this on purpose
to show the harmony of the building. The marble
veneer that we see today on the interior was for the
most part added later

13. However, the Roman Pantheon in its
present state allows us a glimpse into the
marvelous and stunning world of Roman
architecture. The dome would have been
gilded to look like the heavenly sphere of
all the gods that the name Pantheon
evokes. The oculus was an engineering
gem of the Roman world. No oculus had
even dared come close in size to the one
in the Pantheon. It is still lined with the
original Roman bronze and is the main
source of light for the whole building. As
the earth turns the light flows in to circle
the interior making the viewer aware of
the magnificence of the cosmos. The
oculus was never covered and rain falls
into the interior and runs off the slightly
convex floor to the still functioning Roman
drainpipes underneath.

14. The oculus is important because it symbolic
connotations aside, the oculus also has
many historic bases, which are mainly
architecture driven and therefore, making
them useful and practical. The main historic
base for an oculus is its use as a sundial.
Although not a very conventional sundial,
the hole in the roof does give varying
shadows throughout the day, which can be
calculated precisely to give human beings
an idea of time. The oculus is also a source
of light and rain in ways that windows cannot offer. This is very
practical in the case of vegetation growing directly underneath the oculus or to simply give a simple
architecture a natural touch. However, perhaps the most useful historic base for an oculus is its
use as a ventilation system.
The Pantheon has since antiquity been used to inspire artists during the Renaissance as
well as become the tomb for important figures in Italian history.
The Italian kings Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I as well as the famous Renaissance
painter Raphael and his fiancée are buried in the Pantheon. It is a wonderful example of
second century Roman architecture. It boasts mathematical genius and simple geometry
that today still impresses architects and amazes the eyes of casual viewers.
EXTERIOR
The whole building stands on a 1.3 m high base which originally extended a further 7
metres in front of the colonnade. Steps in Numidian yellow marble extended from the outer
ends of this base. The building consists of two principal parts - the porch, which is very
Classical Greek in presentation, and the circular main building which is much more Roman
in style and reminiscent of the architecture of the large Roman baths. The circular building
is built with brick and concrete but was originally faced with white marble stucco to match
the porch in appearance. The dome is concrete with the external surface originally covered
in sheets of bronze but these were removed by Constans II in 663 CE.

15. The porch measures 33.1 x 13.6 m and presents a front colonnade of eight Corinthian
columns 11.8 m high. The monolithic column shafts are in Mons Claudianus and Aswan
grey granite with the bases and capitals in white Pentelic marble. The pediment above the
columns is now empty but drill holes suggest there was originally an emblem of some sort,
possibly an eagle or wreath which would have been in gilded bronze and symbolised
Jupiter. The porch was faced with white Pentelic marble and is decorated with reliefs
showing objects used in religious sacrifices (such as dishes, boxes and axes), garlands
and candelabras. The interior of the porch measures 34 x 20 m and has four rose-pink
columns creating three aisles. The pavement is restored but reflects the original design
with grey granite rectangles and circles in white marble. The interior of the porch was also
panelled with marble but this has since been lost, revealing the brickwork.

16. INTERIOR
The Pantheon may well be the first building from Classical architecture where the interior is
deliberately made to outshine the exterior. The circular part of the building or rotunda was
entranced via two bronze doors measuring 12 x 7.5 m (those of today are ancient but not original).
The rotunda measures 43.2 m in diameter which is exactly the maximum height of the dome, itself a
perfect hemisphere. At the very top of the dome is an opening to the sky (oculus) which is 8.8 m in
diameter and has a decorative bronze sheet frieze.
The dome is made from a light tufa and scoria (a type of pumice) mix of concrete (caementa) and
its interior is further lightened by five rings of 28 coffers which reduce in size as they rise towards
the centre of the dome. These may have been originally covered in bronze sheets.
The wall of the rotunda is 6 metres thick and has seven alcoves which are alternatively semi-
circular (3) and rectangular (4). The alcove opposite the door is the most impressive and reaches the
ceiling. It has a decorative red porphyry frieze and cornice and is flanked by two Corinthian marble
columns of Phrygian purple. Each of the other alcoves has two marble columns in Phrygian purple
(semi-circular) or Numidian yellow (rectangular). Each alcove also had three niches for statues and
a small window with another seven windows placed around the rotunda walls. The pavement is the
original and consists of a square pattern using grey granite, red porphyry, Numidian yellow and
Phrygian purple marble.
Pantheon Formwork
The massive size of the Pantheon has fueled discussion regarding the centering
system used to construct it. Did it use a ground supported centering system or
a completely self supporting system with all radial trusses framing into a
central compression ring at the top? In order for the dome to be constructed
without many column supports upholding individual formwork pieces, radial
trusses would have to span a distance from the base of the dome curvature to
the edge of the oculus. This angular distance is approximately 26 meters as
seen in Figure 1 below and coincides with the centering span required to build

17. the Basilica Ulpia, which was constructed at roughly the same time as the
Pantheon (Lancaster, 2005). The Romans likely designed both buildings so that
the same centering could be used which would save time and materials
(Lancaster, 2005). The wood construction knowledge at the time would have
allowed radial trusses of this dimension to be built so it would have been
unnecessary to have many columns supporting the centering from the ground
(Lancaster, 2005). The next question is whether or not the centering had a
large central tower or not. According to Vitruvius, towers reaching 53 meters
high and having a base of 10.4 meters had been designed and built by Diades,
an engineer for Alexander the Great, so the technology to build a column
supported centering system was available to the Romans at the time of the
Pantheon's construction (Lancaster, 2005). The alternative method of a
completely self supporting centering system would also have already been
developed.
Of the centering systems proposed for the Pantheon, it is likely that the
Romans used the easier and less complicated method, which would suggest
the large central tower system. The use of a self supporting system would have
been overly complex and required extra supports or cranes to hold the system
in place until all the radial frames were positioned and equilibrium was
achieved.

20. Analysis
Influence of the Pantheon:
As one of the best surviving structures from ancient Rome, the influence of the Pantheon
on modern architecture almost cannot be underestimated. Architects from all over Europe
and America from the Renaissance through the 19th century studied it and incorporated
what they learned into their own work. Echoes of the Pantheon can be found in numerous
public structures: libraries, universities, Thomas Jeffersons Rotunda, and more.Its also
possible that the Pantheon has had an impact on Western religion: the Pantheon appears
to be the first temple built with general public access in mind. Temples of the ancient
world were generally limited only to specific priests; the public may have taken part in
religious rituals in some fashion, but mostly as observers and outside the temple. The
Pantheon, however, existed for all the people a feature which is now standard for houses
of worship in all religions of the West.Hadrian wrote about the Pantheon: My intentions
had been that this sanctuary of All Gods should reproduce the likeness of the terrestrial
globe and of the stellar sphere...The cupola...revealed the sky through a great hole at the
center, showing alternately dark and blue. This temple, both open and mysteriously
enclosed, was conceived as a solar quadrant. The hours would make their round on that
caissoned ceiling so carefully polished by Greek artisans; the disk of daylight would rest
suspended there like a shield of gold; rain would form its clear pool on the pavement
below, prayers would rise like smoke toward that void where we place the gods.

21. http://www.ancient.eu/Pantheon/
http://www.rome.info/pantheon/
https://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com/Pantheon+-+The+Pinnacle
https://zeynasanjania.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/final-oculus-essay.pdf
http://atheism.about.com/od/christianchurchchurches/p/PantheonRome.htm
https://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com/Engineering+the+Pantheon+-+Architectural,
+Construction,+%26+Structural+Analysis