In
this sense, in the fourth century B.C. wood, adobes and tiles were used for the
construction of normal houses. There were small windows for ventilation that
when it was cold or rain were clogged with anything. The walls of the houses
were simply lined with lime and only in the richest houses were mosaics or wall
paintings.
In
general, the houses were built facing south, to take advantage of the sun. The
furniture was made with wood, although the seats of chairs and stools were
usually made with rope or with leather. The houses used to have baths made of
clay, stone or brick for adults and smaller containers for children.
About
the construction of temples, although the ancient Greeks already used cranes,
the main problem to solve was that sometimes the marble blocks were too heavy,
for example between 5 and 10 tons. To solve it, ramps with sandbags were built.
In addition, as they could not be transported with cars, a very ingenious
transport system was used that consisted of fixing the columns to central
pivots within a round wooden structure, so that the oxen pulled it as if it
were an immense roller. The handling of the blocks was facilitated by leaving a
kind of projections on the outside, which were made of handles and polished
once placed in place.
We
can observe the use of technology was essential to improve all the mechanisms
and to offer nice buildings. Technological evolution is analyzed in XXV Cable and Broadband Catalonia
Congress (CECABLE, Auditorium Blanquerna in
Barcelona, 31 March-1 April 2020). Come in and happy 2020!
