On 2005-02-15 Ryan Green, Calgary wrote: William L. MacDonald presents an unpretentious and sound survey of Rome´s most famous yet least understood architectural icon. For those with a keen but novitiate interest in the Pantheon, or casual readers of Roman history, this book is ideal; it´s not overwhelmingly fact-laden and it´s as assimilable as an afternoon snack. For those interested in the engineering, logistics and constitution of the Pantheon I would suggest some of the recent work by the Engineer David Moore. Historically MacDonald´s ideas are consistent with previous analyses and include an interesting metaphysical supposition for the Pantheon´s ambitious dimensions (´to unify unities...is the Pantheons ultimate meaning´ - pg. 88). The final chapter offers an insightful survey of similar designs from ancient Mycenae to Neoclassical American, showing how influencing, and influenced, Hadrian´s rebuilt Pantheon was as a western idiom and architectural paragon.
All-in-all I enjoyed reading this book and wouldn´t hesitate to recommend it!
. And summed up by saying Tastily Edifying . Currently The Pantheon: Design, Meaning, and Progeny, Second Edition has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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John Pinto claimed The Pantheon in Rome is one of the grand architectural statements of all ages. This richly illustrated book isolates the reasons for its extraordinary impact on Western architecture, discussing the Pantheon as a building in its time but also as a building for all time. Mr. MacDonald traces the history of the structure since its completion and examines its progeny--domed rotundas with temple-fronted porches built from the second century to the twentieth--relating them to the original. He analyzes the Pantheon´s design and the details of its technology and construction, and explores the meaning of the building on the basis of ancient texts, formal symbolism, and architectural analogy. He sees the immense unobstructed interior, with its disk of light that marks the sun´s passage through the day, as an architectural metaphor for the ecumenical pretensions of the Roman Empire. Past discussions of the Pantheon have tended to center on design and structure. These are but the starting point for Mr. MacDonald, who goes on to show why it ranks--along with Cheops´s pyramid, the Parthenon, Wren´s churches, Mansard´s palaces-as an architectural archetype.
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