Glossary · P
Podium
The high platform on which a Roman temple stands, with a flight of steps only at the front, in contrast to the Greek crepidoma, stepped on every side.
See also: Crepidoma
Rules that use the word
The scene: twice the orchestra. Make the scaena twice as long as the orchestra is wide; raise its podium a twelfth of the orchestra diameter, its lower columns a quarter, their entablature a fifth of the columns; above, a parapet half the podium and columns a quarter shorter than those below.
People above, traffic below. In a dense centre, give the ground to vehicles and service, and build a continuous pedestrian level above it (a podium and highwalks joining the buildings) so that people never meet the traffic.
The temple raised above the city. Set the principal temple where it can be seen, standing free in its own open space, and raise it on a podium reached by steps, so that it stands above the ordinary business of the town.
Where it appears in the book
In the chapters Stairs, The Temple, The Classical World.
A feature of Ancient Roman, Brutalism architecture.
Nearby in the glossary
Plate tracery · Pleaching · Plinth · Poché · Pointed arch · Pointed architecture · Polygonal masonry · Polylobed arch