Pillar

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. The term column applies especially to a large round support (the shaft of the column) with a capital and a base or pedestal which is made of stone, or appearing to be so. A small wooden or metal support is typically called a post, and supports with a rectangular or other non-round section are usually called piers. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression members are often termed 'columns' because of the similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. In architecture, 'column' refers to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative features. A column might also be a decorative element not needed for structural purposes; many columns are 'engaged', that is to say form part of a wall.Illustration of papyriform capitals, in The Grammar of OrnamentIllustration of various types of capitals, drawn by the egyptologist Karl Richard LepsiusColumns with Hathoric capitalsPapyriform columns in the Luxor TempleMinoan columns at the West Bastion of the Palace of KnossosIllustration of the end of a Mycenaean column, from the Tomb of AgamemnonIllustration of the Tuscan orderIllustration of the Doric orderIllustration of the Ionic orderEvolution of the Corinthian orderIllustration of the Composite orderByzantine columns in Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)Romanesque columns from the 12th centuryGothic columns of a church from Neuwiller-lès-Saverne (France)Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak, EgyptColumns found at the Temple of Apollo in DelphiModern column grid in a car park or parking garageAt right, two of the Solomonic columns brought to Rome by Constantine, in their present-day location on a pier in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. In the foreground at left is part of Bernini's Baldachin, inspired by the original columns.Ionic capitalTuscan columns can be seen at the University of VirginiaChurch of San Prospero, Reggio Emilia, ItalyConstruction of Sigismund's Column in Warsaw, detail of the 1646 engraving.These are composed of stacked segments and finished in the Corinthian style (Temple of Bel, Syria)The pillars of Bankstown Reservoir, SydneyReused Roman columns and capitals in the Great Mosque of Kairouan A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. The term column applies especially to a large round support (the shaft of the column) with a capital and a base or pedestal which is made of stone, or appearing to be so. A small wooden or metal support is typically called a post, and supports with a rectangular or other non-round section are usually called piers. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression members are often termed 'columns' because of the similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. In architecture, 'column' refers to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative features. A column might also be a decorative element not needed for structural purposes; many columns are 'engaged', that is to say form part of a wall. All significant Iron Age civilizations of the Near East and Mediterranean made some use of columns. In Ancient Egyptian architecture as early as 2600 BC the architect Imhotep made use of stone columns whose surface was carved to reflect the organic form of bundled reeds, like papyrus, lotus and palm; in later Egyptian architecture faceted cylinders were also common. Their form is thought to derive from archaic reed-built shrines. Carved from stone, the columns were highly decorated with carved and painted hieroglyphs, texts, ritual imagery and natural motifs. Egyptian columns are famously present in the Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak (circa 1224 BC), where 134 columns are lined up in 16 rows, with some columns reaching heights of 24 metres. One of the most important type are the papyriform columns. The origin of these columns goes back to the 5th Dynasty. They are composed of lotus (papyrus) stems which are drawn together into a bundle decorated with bands: the capital, instead of opening out into the shape of a bellflower, swells out and then narrows again like a flower in bud. The base, which tapers to take the shape of a half-sphere like the stem of the lotus, has a continuously recurring decoration of stipules. Some of the most elaborate columns in the ancient world were those of the Persians, especially the massive stone columns erected in Persepolis. They included double-bull structures in their capitals. The Hall of Hundred Columns at Persepolis, measuring 70 × 70 metres, was built by the Achaemenid king Darius I (524–486 BC). Many of the ancient Persian columns are standing, some being more than 30 metres tall. Tall columns with bull's head capitals were used for porticoes and to support the roofs of the hypostylehall, partly inspired by the ancient Egyptian precedent. Since the columns carried timber beams rather than stone, they could be taller, slimmer and more widely spaced than Egyptian ones. The Minoans used whole tree-trunks, usually turned upside down in order to prevent re-growth, stood on a base set in the stylobate (floor base) and topped by a simple round capital. These were then painted as in the most famous Minoan palace of Knossos. The Minoans employed columns to create large open-plan spaces, light-wells and as a focal point for religious rituals. These traditions were continued by the later Mycenaean civilization, particularly in the megaron or hall at the heart of their palaces. The importance of columns and their reference to palaces and therefore authority is evidenced in their use in heraldic motifs such as the famous lion-gate of Mycenae where two lions stand each side of a column. Being made of wood these early columns have not survived, but their stone bases have and through these we may see their use and arrangement in these palace buildings. The Egyptians, Persians and other civilizations mostly used columns for the practical purpose of holding up the roof inside a building, preferring outside walls to be decorated with reliefs or painting, but the Ancient Greeks, followed by the Romans, loved to use them on the outside as well, and the extensive use of columns on the interior and exterior of buildings is one of the most characteristic features of classical architecture, in buildings like the Parthenon. The Greeks developed the classical orders of architecture, which are most easily distinguished by the form of the column and its various elements. Their Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders were expanded by the Romans to include the Tuscan and Composite orders (see below). Columns, or at least large structural exterior ones, became much less significant in the architecture of the Middle Ages. The classical forms were abandoned in both Byzantine architecture and the Romanesque and Gothic architecture of Europe in favour of more flexible forms, with capitals often using various types of foliage decoration, and in the West scenes with figures carved in relief. During the Romanesque period, builders continued to reuse and imitate ancient Roman columns wherever possible. Where new, the emphasis was on elegance and beauty, as illustrated by twisted columns. Often they were decorated with mosaics.