the Greek theatre was one of the most successful typology of the ancient age. Its Roman variation was exported in the whole Mediterranean Basin during the Republic and the Empire and then it was used as a constant reference for the architects of the Renaissance until contemporary age. The evolution process of this type started in the VI century b.C. for ending in the III a.D. and was carried out in order to comply with a complex and heterogeneous cultural scenario: theatres were converted, enlarged and in many cases changed their shape with the aim to extend their usage to different kinds of spectacles. Architects had to manage lots of practical and theoretical problems when having to design or redesign such complex and huge buildings: capacity, ergonomics, acoustics, safety and correct visual perception for the public, legislative update, just to mention a few of them. In De Architectura Vitruvius provided reading keys for the interpretation of the main aspects that characterized the design process of Latin theatre, but due to the intentionally theoretical nature of his treatise, he gave just few information about practical aspects, focusing his text on more conceptual issues about the relation between acoustic and geometrical patterns. Measures and standards to adopt for calculating the capacity of the cavea are just briefly mentioned although they were the starting condition for launching the “algorithm” that led to the definition of the frons scaenae. It is very difficult to apply these rules to the remains of ancient building with the aim to confirm Vitruvius’ theories, but thanks to the synergy between architectural designing techniques and ancient mathematical formulas it is possible to glimpse the cause-effect relation that led architects carrying out variations and enlargements of theatres. Orchestra, cavea and frons scaenae were involved during every intervention in a complex redesign process that can be explained by means of archaeological methods, but also with the complementary reading key explained in this paper.
Design and dimentioning criteria for the interpretation of ancient theatre development process
FANTINI, FILIPPO
2013
Abstract
the Greek theatre was one of the most successful typology of the ancient age. Its Roman variation was exported in the whole Mediterranean Basin during the Republic and the Empire and then it was used as a constant reference for the architects of the Renaissance until contemporary age. The evolution process of this type started in the VI century b.C. for ending in the III a.D. and was carried out in order to comply with a complex and heterogeneous cultural scenario: theatres were converted, enlarged and in many cases changed their shape with the aim to extend their usage to different kinds of spectacles. Architects had to manage lots of practical and theoretical problems when having to design or redesign such complex and huge buildings: capacity, ergonomics, acoustics, safety and correct visual perception for the public, legislative update, just to mention a few of them. In De Architectura Vitruvius provided reading keys for the interpretation of the main aspects that characterized the design process of Latin theatre, but due to the intentionally theoretical nature of his treatise, he gave just few information about practical aspects, focusing his text on more conceptual issues about the relation between acoustic and geometrical patterns. Measures and standards to adopt for calculating the capacity of the cavea are just briefly mentioned although they were the starting condition for launching the “algorithm” that led to the definition of the frons scaenae. It is very difficult to apply these rules to the remains of ancient building with the aim to confirm Vitruvius’ theories, but thanks to the synergy between architectural designing techniques and ancient mathematical formulas it is possible to glimpse the cause-effect relation that led architects carrying out variations and enlargements of theatres. Orchestra, cavea and frons scaenae were involved during every intervention in a complex redesign process that can be explained by means of archaeological methods, but also with the complementary reading key explained in this paper.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
