Illustrations as credited*
Since I can't quite finish off the lighthouse model this month owing to
lack of access to printers over the holidays, I thought we'd kick off with a
new series of articles instead (the lighthouse will be finalized next month
- if you're building one, please send comments, criticism etc - any feedback
gratefully received!).
The result will hopefully be a new model of a Roman imperial palace building.
It's astonishing how many Roman buildings survive around the Mediterranean,
but further from the heart of the old Empire they drop off dramatically. In
Britain, you are lucky to find as much as a wall surviving above ground level,
though there are one or two quite impressive coastal forts. Paris has the surprisingly
intact Baths of Cluny, but for northern Europe the epicentre of Roman architecture
has to be the German city of Trier. Trier was a capital during the period of
the Tetrarchy, and Emperors Constantius and Constantine both ruled from there.
Accordingly the city grew in importance, and a number of monuments were constructed.
Two great bath complexes still exist, though much ruined, as is the amphitheatre.
A monumental gate known as the Porta Nigra still stands impressively intact.
However, the Aula Palatina, also known as the Basilica of Constantine, remains
not only intact but in use. Built around 299 AD, this immense building is the
former throne room of Emperor Constantine's palace, and is now used as a church.
The Aula has had its share of ups and downs over the centuries and been
much ruined and restored. During the middle ages, the apse (or "round bit at
the end", as it's technically known) of the semi-ruinous building was converted
into a fortified tower for the local bishop, while later much of the rest of
the building was partially incorporated into a palace for his successor. This
palace still occupies most of the site of the former entrance hall of the basilica,
and is, repulsively, both Baroque and pink!... As a result of this now-partly-reversed
debasement, much of the basilica's south and east walls are reconstructions.
Further reconstruction and restoration was completed in 1956, following bombing
in World War 2.
Despite all this, the Aula Palatina is the only true Roman imperial palace
structure which remains in use to this day (that I can think of, at least).
It's a very simple structure but like many things Roman, staggeringly big! Photos
really don't convey the sheer size of the place - over 95 feet wide and 200
feet long. Just imagine the effect on foreign traders and diplomats, or even
Roman citizens, as they approached the throne to seek audience with Constantine,
who sat enthroned on a raised dais in the apse at the end of the building. The
windows and ceiling in this section were lower than the others, which combined
with the raised floor to make him seem larger by comparison. The entire interior
would have been richly decorated with statues, marbles, mosaics, gilt and red-painted
plaster, etc in the ornate Roman style that gave rise to so much of the later
decorative arts of both the West and East. It must have all been pretty impressive
and even awe-inspiring, which was the whole point of course!
A nice pic showing the likely original appearance of the building, 1700 years ago.
(Pic shamefully nicked from this excellent website: http://www.emory.edu/HISTORY/tburns/Trier/TrierPart1.html )
Well, that's enough background gibberish for now, we'd better get on with it! For the lighthouse article, I skipped over the first stages as I had already done most of the groundwork well before I started writing the project up. For this project, we'll focus more heavily on the basics to begin with. Later on we'll get more into the basics of how to break down your parts and so on (something I've still got a lot to learn about, so you'll get to laugh at my mistakes!) I may chuck in some general asides about Roman architecture, plus a bit of history too...I know, I know, excitement-plus, huh?!
The first stage of the project is of course research and drawing. Fortunately I have a number of books on the topic and was able to get good information from them for dimensions and so on. Sadly it doesn't seem that elevation drawings are common however, so obviously I was going to need to draw my own. Fortunately, I did find a good floor plan, so was able to take that plus published height data as a basis.
I use the vector illustration program Corel Draw 9, kindly donated to me
by a friend when he upgraded to something else (Adobe Illustrator I think).
It's old, but hey, it was free! Also, I know it well and it is a pretty reliable
program. The learning curve for any vector drawing program is steep, but once
you master it, you'll never consider going back to pen and ink. (My drafting
board has been rusting in my shed for years now!) Here's a screen shot of the
drawings at their current stage of progress:
On to the actual output:
This of course is the facade. Sadly, in real life the aforementioned pink
monstrosity is still grafted to much of this side like a barnacle to a ship.
(The basilica looms over the bishop's palace like something from the Lord of
the Rings!) Nonetheless, my model will depict the basilica alone, freed of this
encumbrance. There'll also be a base, have I mentioned previously I like bases?
You almost never see a "real" architectural model without a base of some kind
- it helps "anchor" a model, I think. On the right is the side elevation. Both
long sides of the building are pretty much identical, so the same construction
and piece of artwork can be used for each. Computers make this kind of duplication
so easy, it's almost embarrassing!
And here's what we'll be working towards. I did mention it was big, didn't I? Really, really big!
The base will be a bit tricky, as the ground around the basilica is not level. Hey, let's choose a scale! How about 1/100? That would give us a model around 2 feet long. A bit large - large is good, but this size may need thicker card than I like. Perhaps 1/200? That's no good - one foot - too small. I'm going to go with 1/144 I think. It's a "regular" scale, and the model will be about 48 cm long and 25 cm high. Juicy!
Well, that's as far as I've got so I'll leave off here till next time (probably
the March issue). As you will have noticed, the drawings so far are very basic
only and there is a lot of detail yet to be incorporated. We also need an elevation
of the apse end as well as a roof plan view. So, for next month: more new drawings,
checking the drawings-so-far for accuracy, some detail drawings and time allowing,
even some preliminary "experimental" parts breakdowns and layouts. See you then!
Photo credits: pics in screenshot - various sources. Colour reconstruction - Emory University (presumably). Monochrome pic - scanned from "Roman Imperial Architecture" by J B Ward-Perkins, Pelican, 1981. Other drawings - author