PANTHEON | Miguel Choi

PANTHEON: BONES OF A MONUMENT

Drawing influence from different styles of architecture is not an uncommon practice for designers. Among these practitioners was 18th-century architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot, a leading figure of Neoclassical building design in France.

Aforementioned design involves combining the spatiality and lightness of Gothic architecture with the pure geometry and order of Greek temple architecture. Soufflot, referred to as “restorer of architecture in France,” used this formula to design a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris; it was later titled as the Pantheon (Braham, 19). It was completed in 1785 in time for the French Revolution, and would eventually be converted into a mausoleum for the nation’s “heroes of humanism,” with iconic figures of France such as writer and philosopher Voltaire (Wells, 101).

Through this Pantheon, Soufflot achieves monumentality by mixing the structural and geometric purity of Greek temple architecture with the transparency and delicacy of Gothic buildings.

Both of these architectural styles were of high importance to Soufflot in regards to building design. For starters, he had a deep fascination in Gothic buildings; so much so that said fascination was regarded as “an obsession with [Gothic] churches,” praising them for their interior lightness and spacious character (Braham, 26). Although he was critical of how the Gothic style involved heavy ornamentation without structural merit, he was intrigued in its delicate yet powerful structural aesthetic, with elements including pointed arches and thinly-built columns. Sources of inspiration include the cathedrals for Saint Jean and Saint Nizier in Lyon, the church of St. Maxence in Venezia, and other ecclesiastical buildings in Milan and Paris (Braham, 26).

Meanwhile, however, Soufflot also saw great value in the proportions and geometric purity of Greek temples; he would make a habit of “applying the latest structural analytical techniques to existing Gothic structures,” which would eventually provide inspiration for the Pantheon’s development (Wells, 101).

Even though, as stated earlier, he held a deep appreciation for the lightness of Gothic architecture, the symmetry and structural consistency of Classical Greek design took on as vital a role in how he approached building design. In fact, one of his successors, another architect named Breblon, claimed that Soufflot’s primary goal in building the church was “to reunite one of the most beautiful forms, the lightness of the construction of Gothic buildings with the purity and magnificence of Greek architecture” (Braham, 36). In other words, Soufflot considered both of these historic yet contrasting styles of building design when creating a monumental and impressive structure.

The Pantheon’s facade is ordered by a Classical, proportional circle-and-square system and bilateral symmetry, drawing influence from Greek temple front designs.

The cadence and rhythm columns in the Pantheon’s interior are comparable to the bones found in an animal’s carcass, being thinly built and evenly distributed along the building’s interior walls (Picon 174).

One way this Pantheon achieves this is through its implementation of Classical Greek planning and geometry. As described earlier, proportion and pure forms are crucial components in Soufflot’s way of designing buildings, believing them to be fundamental in “[provoking] pleasure” through the architecture, as well as likening them to the “perfect relations” in music that involve harmony and synchronization (Braham, 26).

With this in mind, the floor plan of the Pantheon is a Greek-Cross, a deviation from the other churches in France that normally follow the Latin-Cross plan (Hanser, 167). To elaborate, whereas the arms of the cross in most churches in France were unevenly sized, like a crucifix, the arms of the Pantheon’s cross were equal in length.

Along with that, the five domes are placed symmetrically across the floor plan. One dome is placed on each arm of the Greek-Cross plan, equidistant from the central, larger dome built above its crossing (Rykwert, 451). On top of that, the domes themselves are also sized proportionally to one another, with a ratio of two-to-three between the larger central dome and the other four surrounding it (Rykwert, 452). This results in a very uniform and symmetrical floor plan that demonstrates a cohesive and solid scheme.

In regards to the floor plan of the building, much emphasis is placed on establishing even proportions, symmetry, and pure geometry as a means of creating a cohesive and compelling building.

On the other hand, the construction details of the Pantheon rely more on the lightness and transparency of Gothic design than the forms found in Greek temple architecture. For instance, the central dome described earlier was designed to appear and weigh lighter than other traditionally-built ones. It was influenced by the dome of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, designed by British architect Christopher Wren, but part of its purpose was to also surpass the cathedral’s from a construction standpoint (Hanser, 167).

To elaborate, although the dome mimics Wren’s double-shelled construction, advancements in engineering allowed for its walls to be built with less thickness, even compared to the Pantheon located in Rome (Hanser, 167). Because the dome was built with less volume, the columns and piers supporting it were, as a result, built with less bulk as well (Braham, 35).

Natural lighting is facilitated, since the thinness of the supporting columns allowed for more daylight to enter the Pantheon’s interior. Aforementioned interior is further lit by an open oculus installed on the middle of the dome, inspired by the Church of the Invalides, another religious building located in Paris (Braham, 21). These daylighting elements make for an interior that evokes an ethereal and monumental atmosphere, a defining characteristic of Gothic architecture. Although the dome is purely geometric, the transparency associated with Gothic construction is integrated into Soufflot’s design to create a compelling experience for visitors.

The Pantheon’s central dome is a double-shell construction, similar to that of Saint Paul’s Cathedral. but lighter in material; thinner supporting columns allow more natural light inside. The figure towards the bottom is an average 6’-tall person.

Another key element of the Pantheon are the columns, as they embody the building’s balance between Classical Greek order and Gothic transparency. According to author Allan Braham, these columns are “not only an essential part of the classical repertoire, used for the articulation of [Classical Greek] temples, but they also give an effect of spaciousness like that of a Gothic Cathedral (Braham, 35).” The Corinthian-style columns, a staple of Greek temple architecture, are coupled and evenly distributed along the mausoleum’s interior walls, creating a visual “rhythm” that is especially visible from the entrance and the crypt directly on the opposite side of the building (Rykwert, 452).

These columns also support vaults with equally-sized arches on each side of the building’s cross plan, giving the architecture a more potent sense of rhythm and consistency (Rykwert, 452). Elements such as proportion and symmetry once again take on a vital role in the thought process behind the distribution of these columns, giving the building a highly solid and monumental presence that leaves a visual impact.

The interior columns are coupled and distributed equally throughout the four arms of the Pantheon’s Greek Cross plan. The arched vaults (Indicated by the blue, dotted lines) accompanying them on each of the Cross’s arms line the domes on each side.

As stated earlier, however, the designing of the columns is influenced by Gothic architecture as well. They are built with less volume than traditional ones, “springing from low bases to support the vaults of the Church” in order to “offer the least possible resistance to the line of sight that cross and recross the interior” (Braham, 35). Due to their slimness, they admit more light into the building for more atmosphere.

One admirer of Soufflot’s design likened the columns to the ribs of animal skeletons, what with them “[being] tall and slight” and attached to “the small stones and webs which are only four to five inches deep in section being like the flesh of these same animals” (Picon, 174).

The way the columns act as the ribs and the masonry walls act as the flesh connecting said ribs gives the Pantheon’s interior a somewhat organic form and appearance that is compelling for viewers. On the topic of light and Gothic building traits, the solid masonry walls are “closely packed with the windows, which in the absence of side chapels shed their light directly into the interior” (Braham, 35). These windows, along with the oculus on the Pantheon’s central dome, make way for more natural lighting for an increased monumental effect.

[Originally published on February 2018 with additional feedback by Prof. Heinrich Schnoedt.]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Braham, Allan. The Architecture of the French Enlightenment, University of California Press, 1980.

Hanser, David. Architecture of France. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006.

Picon, Antoine. French Architects and Engineers in the Age of Enlightenment. Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Rykwert, Joseph. The First Moderns: The Architects of the Eighteenth Century. MIT Press, 1980.

Wells, Matthew. Engineers: A History of Engineering and Structural Design. Routledge, 2010.

IMAGE CREDITS

Construction drawings (Plans, sections, elevations) are informed by those provided by Wikimedia Commons.

Header photograph taken by Miguel Choi.