Search

Title:
Baths and bathing in classical antiquity

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$58.95
(available to order)

Summary:
Bathing in antiquity elevates a prosaic function to the level of a civic institution for which there is no counterpart in contemporary culture. Enriched by over 500 illustrations, many of them by the author, "Baths and bathing in classical antiquity" is an important sourcebook for this ancient institution. Through hundreds of examples, it reviews and analyzes the structure, function, and design of baths, seeking to integrate their architecture with the wider social and cultural custom of bathing, and examining in particular the changes this custom underwent in Late Antiquity and in Byzantine and Islamic cultures. Yegul explores the complexities of ancient bathing from several points of view. Sociologically, the baths with their vast appeal for all levels of society - were seen as the epitome of democratic ideals and institutions. Politically, they provided the perfect vehicle of propaganda : their lavish and magnificent interiors reflected the might and prosperity of the Roman empire and the apparent generosity of the emperor himself. Architecturally, baths are at the vanguard in the development of Roman building technology. Some of the earliest uses of concrete as a building material and the most innovative applications of the aesthetics of concrete - bold, curvilinear forms, vaults, and domes involved bath buildings. Because of their status as transition between purely utilitarian structures and the more conservative, traditional forms of public and religious architecture, the baths helped to propagate and make acceptable new ideas and new styles in architecture.

Title:
The ruin of the eternal city : Antiquity & preservation in renaissance Rome

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$71.50
(available to order)

Summary:
In Renaissance Rome, ancient ruins were preserved as often as they were mined for their materials. Although the question of what to preserve and how continued to be subject to debate, preservation acquired renewed force and urgency in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as the new papal capital rose upon the ruins of the ancient city. Preservation practices became more focused and effective in Renaissance Rome than ever before. "The Ruin of the Eternal City" offers a new interpretation of the ongoing life of ancient buildings within the expanding early modern city. While historians and archaeologists have long affirmed that early modern builders disregarded the protection of antiquity, this study provides the first systematic analysis of preservation problems as perceived by the Renaissance popes, the civic magistrates, and ordinary citizens. Based on new evidence and recent conservation theory, this compelling study explores how civic officials balanced the defense of specific sites against the pressing demands imposed by population growth, circulation, and notions of urban decorum. Above all, the preservation of antiquity remained an indispensable tool to advance competing political agendas in the papal capital. A broad range of preservation policies and practices are examined at the half-ruined Colosseum, the intact Pantheon, and the little-known but essential Renaissance bridge known as the Ponte Santa Maria.

Title:
La ville antique

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$19.95
(available to order)

Summary:
Une synthèse sur la création des premières villes européennes et sur l'émergence du modèle urbain au sein des civilisations grecques et romaines. Les contributions tentent de définir les conditions qui ont rendu possible la naissance de ce nouveau type d'organisation, connu sous le terme générique de cité, et la diffusion de ce concept autour de la Méditerranée.

Title:
The classical Greek house

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$27.99
(available to order)

Summary:
Did homes in ancient Greece have kitchens and bathrooms? If so, why have archaeologists had such troubles finding their remains? What did the concepts of home and house mean to the ancient Greeks? This book offers a reappraisal of domestic space in classical Greece. Beginning with the premise that we must cease to view the classical Greek house through the lens of contemporary Western notions, Janett Morgan provides an evaluation of what home meant to different communities in the ancient Greek world. By employing textual analysis alongside archaeological scholarship, this publication seeks to explain some of the contradictions that previous approaches have left unresolved. Morgan’s work offers a new perspective on relations between men and women, public and private, and between home and city in the ancient world.

Title:
The Parthenon

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$17.99
(available to order)

Summary:
This book conducts readers through the storied past and towering presence of the most famous building in the world. In the revised version of her classic study, Mary Beard now includes the story of the long-awaited new museum opened in 2009 to display the sculptures from the building that still remain in Greece, as well as the controversies that have surrounded it, and asks whether it makes a difference to the “Elgin Marble debate.”

Title:
Rome: A living portrait of an ancient city

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$42.00
(available to order)

Summary:
Rather than look only at the physical development of Rome - its buildings, monuments, and urban spaces - Dyson also explores its social, economic, and cultural histories. This approach situates Rome against a background of comparative urban history and theory, allowing Dyson to examine the dynamic society that once thrived there. Dyson follows Rome as it developed between the third century BC and the fourth century AD, dividing the megalopolis into distinct neighborhoods and locales. He shows how these communities, each with its own unique customs and colorful inhabitants, eventually grew into the great imperial capital of the Italian Empire. Dyson integrates the full range of sources available -- literary, artistic, epigraphic, and archaeological -- to create a comprehensive history of the monumental city. In doing so, he offers a dramatic picture of a complex and changing urban center that, despite its flaws, flourished for centuries.

Title:
Building in time: From Giotto to Alberti and modern oblivion

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$70.00
(available to order)

Summary:
This book is about a way of building that for centuries dominated the making of monumental architecture – yet now not only is it lost as practice, but knowledge of its very existence is consigned to oblivion. Trachtenberg rewrites the history of medieval and Renaissance architecture in Italy and recasts the turn to modernity in new terms, those of temporality and its role in architectural theory and practice. Recovering this lost element of the deep architectural past allows us also to see the present in a new way: that temporality is not any neutral or secondary factor in modern architecture culture, but an epistemic condition that silently affects all production and experience of the built environment.

Title:
Style and function in Roman decoration: living with objects and interiors

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$130.00
(available to order)

Summary:
This important book puts forward a new interpretation of Roman decorative art, focusing on the function of decoration in the social context. It examines the three principal areas of social display and conspicuous consumption in the Roman world: social space, entertainment, and dress, and discusses the significance of the decoration of objects and interiors within these contexts, drawing examples from both Rome and its environs, and the Western provinces, from the early Imperial period to Late Antiquity. Focusing on specific examples, including mosaics and other interior decor, silver plate, glass and pottery vessels, and jewellery and other dress accessories, Swift demonstrates the importance of decoration in creating and maintaining social networks and identities and fostering appropriate social behaviour, and its role in perpetuating social convention and social norms.

Title:
The origins of the Greek architectural orders

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$51.95
(available to order)

Summary:
Much of our understanding of the origins and early development of the Greek architectural order is based on the writings of ancient authors, such as Virtruvius, and those of modern interpreters. Traditionally, the archaeological evidence has been viewed secondarily and often made to fit within a literary context, despite contradictions that occur. Barbara Barletta's study examines both forms of evidence in an effort to reconcile the two sources, as well as to offer a coherent reconstruction of the origins and early development of the Greek architectural orders. Beginning with the pre-canonical material, she demonstrates that the relatively late emergence of the Doric and Ionic orders arose from contributions of separate regions of the Greek world, rather than a single center. Barletta's reinterpretations of the evidence also assigns greater importance to the often overlooked contributions of Western Greece and the Cycladic Islands.

Title:
Origins of classical archtecture

Actions:

• Buy book

Price:
$76.00
(available to order)

Summary:
Casting new light on a subject that has preoccupied architects since the Renaissance, Mark Wilson Jones shows how construction, influence, appearance, and meaning found expression in complex and multifaceted designs. New emphasis is placed on the relationship between the orders and the temples of worship that they were created to adorn. Temples were exquisitely made offerings to the divinity, and they also contained valuable offerings. In revealing affinities between certain offerings and the orders, the author explains how these gave architectural expression to sensibilities of intense social and religious significance.