THE ROMAN COLOSSEUM
FALLINGWATER
Form and function
By Cecilia Carapella
THE ROMAN COLOSSEUM
Construction was funded by the opulent spoils , taken from the Jewish Temple , after the Great Jewish Revolt in 70 AD which led to the Siege of Jerusalem . According to a reconstructed inscription found on the site , " the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheatre to be erected from his general ' s share of the booty ." Along with the spoils , estimated 100,000 Jewish prisoners were brought back to Rome after the war , and many contributed to the massive workforce needed for construction . The slaves undertook manual labor , such as working in the quarries at Tivoli , where the travertine was quarried , along with lifting and transporting the quarried stones 20 miles from Tivoli to Rome . Along with this free source of unskilled labor , teams of professional Roman builders , engineers , artists , painters and decorators undertook the more specialized tasks necessary for building the Colosseum . Construction of the Colosseum began under the rule of Vespasian in around 70 – 72 AD ( 73-75 AD according to some sources ). The Colosseum had been completed up to the third story by the time of Vespasian ' s death in 79 . The top level was finished by his son , Titus , in 80 , and the inaugural games were held in A . D . 80 or 81 . Dio Cassius recounts that over 9,000 wild animals were killed during the inaugural games of the amphitheatre . Commemorative coinage was issued celebrating the inauguration . The building was remodeled further under Vespasian ' s younger son , the newly designated Emperor Domitian , who constructed the hypogeum , a series of underground tunnels used to house animals and slaves . He also added a gallery to the top of the Colosseum to increase its seating capacity .
Today you can visit this amazing historical sight for around $ 40 .
By Cecilia Carapella
FALLINGWATER
Fallingwater or the Kaufmann Residence is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 , in rural southwestern Pennsylvania , 43 miles southeast of Pittsburgh . The home was built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run , in the Mill Run section of Stewart Township , Fayette County , Pennsylvania , in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains . The house was designed as a weekend home for the family of Liliane Kaufmann and her husband , Edgar J . Kaufmann , owner of Kaufmann ' s department store .
From the cantilevered living room , a stairway leads directly down to the stream below , and in a space which connects the main house with the guest and servant level , a natural spring drips water inside , and is then channeled back out . The bedrooms are small , some with low ceilings to encourage people outward toward the open social areas , decks , and outdoors . The staircase leading down from the living room to the stream is accessed by movable horizontal glass panes . In conformance with Wright ' s views , the main entry door is away from the falls . On the hillside above the main house stands a four-bay carport , servants ' quarters , and a guest house . These attached outbuildings were built two years later using the same quality of materials and attention to detail as the main house . The guest quarters feature a spring-fed swimming pool which overflows and drains to the river below . Given the humid environment directly over running water , mold had proven to be a problem . The elder Kaufmann called Fallingwater , " a seven-bucket building " for its leaks , and nicknamed it " Rising Mildew ". Condensation under roofing membranes was also a problem , due to the lack of damp proofing or thermal breaks .
The original estimated cost for building Fallingwater was US $ 35,000 . The final cost for the home and guest house was $ 155,000 , broken down as : house $ 75,000 , finishing and furnishing $ 22,000 , guest house , garage and servants ' quarters $ 50,000 , and architect ' s fee $ 8,000 . From 1938 through 1941 , more than $ 22,000 was spent on additional details and for changes in the hardware and lighting . The total project price of $ 155,000 , adjusted for inflation , is the equivalent of about $ 2.7 million in 2016 . The cost of restoration was estimated to be $ 11.5 million in 2001 .