5 ms·
I think a big reason ancient towers didn't really exist is less because they couldn't be built, and more that nobody wanted to climb up 5 or 10 floors if they c
by fiblye 9y ago
I think a big reason ancient towers didn't really exist is less because they couldn't be built, and more that nobody wanted to climb up 5 or 10 floors if they could avoid it. No sane person would go up and down 20 floors if they could avoid it.
The colosseum is 150 feet tall, which isn't exactly short. Beyond that point, I think a big problem is getting the resources up high enough to keep building, as well as convincing people to climb that far up.
- sbierwagen 9y agoThe only multistory residential buildings of antiquity I know of is the old city of Sana'a: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sana%27a#Old_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sana%27a#Old_City Five to nine stories tall, made of rammed earth, not even concrete! (Not enough water for concrete in Yemen) Continuously inhabited for ~2500 years. @idlewords went there back in 2014, before the Saudis invaded: http://idlewords.com/2014/07/sana_a.htm http://idlewords.com/2014/07/sana_a.htm
- vacri 9y agoRome had multistorey (3 to 4 of them) residential buildings, and opposite to today, the lower floors were the prestige floors - less climbing, more robust materials. The top floors were generally poorly constructed, out of lightweight materials.
- dankohn1 9y agoIn Manhattan, buildings over 100yo have taller ceilings on the first couple floors (where the retail shops would be and the owners would live), and then low ceilings on the highest floors for the scriveners and production workers. Of course, it's an issue today when lots of software companies want light (i.e., high floor) and high ceilings. People don't realize what a paradigm shifting technology elevators were.
- caf 9y agoThe Secret Life of Machines - The Lift (Elevator): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBLa105TQeg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBLa105TQeg
- andrewvc 9y agoThese were called insulae[1]. Part of the reason the lower floors were higher prestige was due to the constant risk of fire. In the event of a fire those on the upper floors were in a far worse position in terms of survival. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insula_(building) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insula_(building)
- pouetpouet 9y agoAppart from the the ground floor (for business), it wasn't until the invention of elevators that the top floors were made prestige floors. The bel étage or piano nobile [1] was the first floor above ground level (for relative privacy from the street level). Top floors were not penthouse flats they were attics or lower class housing [2] The first proto skyscrapers were built in the late 19th century. The Equitable Life Assurance Building (1870) and the Home Insurance Building (1885) were office buildings. The idea of a Penthouse appartment [3] dates from the 1920s. And as buildings are only slowly built and renovated, the first floors were still prestige floors well into the 20th century. 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_nobile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_nobile 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambre_de_bonne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambre_de_bonne 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penthouse_apartment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penthouse_apartment
- jaclaz 9y agoYep, and the scheme remained more or less the same in Italy where traditional homes (for the wealthy) have been till the 1900's organized as follows: At ground floor (usually with higher celings than the rest of the house) dining room, sitting room, library, study, most of the "luxury" (marble, columns, paneling, paintings, etc.) was there, as they were the only parts of the house that visitors would see. In the basement the kitchen and cellar (where cook and other servants worked). On first floor (what probably our US friends will call second) the bedrooms for the owners. On second (last) floor, right under the roof, usually with a reduced height AND extremey cold in winter and extremely hot in summer, the servant quarters.
- distances 9y agoThanks for the idlewords link. His writing is very capturing, I've been reading the blog for hours.
- meric 9y agoMaybe it's lightning? The Yonging Pagoda was 138 metres high. It was destroyed in 534 when it was struck by lightning and caught fire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongning_Pagoda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongning_Pagoda
- matco11 9y agoAnother example of tall Roman buildings still standing today is Roman aqueducts. Examples: http://0.tqn.com/d/ancienthistory/1/S/U/I/Rome_5.jpg http://0.tqn.com/d/ancienthistory/1/S/U/I/Rome_5.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z_W3YC_mG0Y/Tb55AUhJ0dI/AAAAAAAAAEI/ZZntfveff-o/s1600/Roman+Aqueduct.JPG http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z_W3YC_mG0Y/Tb55AUhJ0dI/AAAAAAAAAE...
- Someone 9y agoAnd, of course, the Pantheon, at 43 meters. It was the largest dome in the world for over 1300 years (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_domes#Worldwide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_domes#Worldwid...)
- pouetpouet 9y agoThe Nerja Aqueduct was built in the 19th century. But yes roman aqueducts were impressive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard was 48.8m high (160feet).
- BurningFrog 9y agoThe skyscraper was primarily made practical by elevators.