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.