Columns

Noun;

1. An upright pillar supporting an arch or other structure or standing alone as a monument.
2. A line of people or vehicles moving in the same direction.
3. A vertical division of a page or text.
4. A regular section of a newspaper or magazine on a particular subject or by a particular person.
5. An upright shaft used for controlling a machine.

— DERIVATIVES columnar adjective columned adjective.

ORIGIN Latin columna ‘pillar’.

Although light forms much of the contextual basis for this project it is also important to consider the structural form that the light will be presented in, a column.

I primarily decided to use a column due to the architectural connotations, playing into the idea of rigidity and solidity. I also felt that a column stretching the height of a room would be visually stunning and extremely dramatic. The light will also appear to be dissecting the space.

It is important to consider these initial ideas further, as well as examining other meanings that are attached to columns. In order to fully understand columns, I have decided to inspect them throughout the ages beginning with Ancient Egypt.

The use of columns dates back to as early as 2600 BC in Ancient Egypt, where columns were carved to reflect the organic form of bundled reeds. The early columns were constructed of one large piece of stone, usually by turning on a lathe-like apparatus. Another method of column manufacture is to make multiple sections of stone, and dry fitting or mortaring them together. It is common to find columns with a centre hole or a depression that have been pegged together using either stone or metal pins.

The majority of columns incorporate entatis, which is the inclusion of a convex curve on the sides of the column, producing a bulge in the middle of the column. This combined with a reduction in the diameter at the top of the column, mimics the parallax effects which the eye expects to see and tends to makes columns look taller straighter than they actually are. Modern columns are generally constructed out of steel, poured or precast concrete, or brick. They may then be clad in an architectural covering (or veneer), or left bare.

When columns are used for practical uses there are several complicated calculations that must be considered regarding the load that the column is supporting. Although, such calculations are extremely important to the construction of a column it is not necessary to implement them for this project, as although I do want the connotations of the column to be attached to the light, it is in essence a decorative piece.

As mentioned earlier the column has been used in construction and architecture for many years. As with anything that has been used over such a vast time period, there have been various adaptions and adjustments to achieve a different effect. The most significant changes can be considered in terms of classical orders.

The Doric order:

Often considered to be the oldest and simplest of classical orders. Vitruvius, the Roman author, spoke of how Greeks had developed their Doric order from techniques for building in wood, in which a stone cylinder replaced smoothed tree trunks. The columns of the Doric order composed of a vertical cylinder that is wider at the bottom, generally without a base or a detailed capital (the section where the column meets the horizontal mass that it supporting).

The Greek Doric, developed in the western Dorian region of Greece, is the heaviest and most massive of the orders. It rises from the stylobate without any base; it is from four to six times as tall as its diameter; it has twenty broad flutes; the capital consists simply of a banded necking swelling out into a smooth echinus , which carries a flat square abacus; the Doric entablature is also the heaviest, being about one-fourth the height column. The Greek Doric order was not used after c. 100 B.C. until its “rediscovery” in the mid-eighteenth century.

Tuscan order
The Tuscan order, also known as Roman Doric, is also a simple design, the base and capital both being series of cylindrical disks of alternating diameter. The shaft is almost never fluted. The proportions vary, but are generally similar to Doric columns. Height to width ratio is about 7:1.

Ionic order
The Ionic column is considerably more complex than the Doric or Tuscan. It usually has a base and the shaft is often fluted (it has grooves carved up its length). On the top is a capital in the characteristic shape of a scroll, called a volute, or scroll, at the four corners. The height-to-thickness ratio is around 9:1. Due to the more refined proportions and scroll capitals, the Ionic column is sometimes associated with academic buildings.

Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is named for the Greek city-state of Corinth, to which it was connected in the period. In fact, the oldest known Corinthian capital was found in Bassae, dated at 427 BC. It is sometimes called the feminine order because it is on the top level of the Colosseum and holding up the least weight, and also has the slenderest ratio of thickness to height. Height to width ratio is about 10:1.

Composite order
The Composite order draws its name from the capital being a composite of the Ionic and Corinthian capitals. The acanthus of the Corinthian column already has a scroll-like element, so the distinction is sometimes subtle. Generally the Composite is similar to the Corinthian in proportion and employment, often in the upper tiers of colonnades. Height to width ratio is about 11:1 or 12:1.

Solomonic:
Solomonic columns were inventions of Baroque architects in Europe. They were not used in antiquity, but were called “Solomonic” by baroque architects because they were based on a description of columns in the great temple of King Solomon in the Old Testament. A Solomonic column begins on a base and ends in a capital, just like a classical column, but the shaft twists around the usual parameters of a column, producing a dramatic, serpentine effect of movement. The most famous use of Solomonic columns is in the baldacchino designed by Bernini for Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City.

Trajan’s Column:
Designed in honour of the Roman emporer Trajan, this column was constructed by architect Apollodorus of Damascus. It is completed from 113 freestanding columns and is particularly famous for its spiral bas relief. The column is 30 meters high and made from a series of 20 large marble drums, each with a diameter of 3.7 meters. The column belongs to the Roman Doric order.

Alexandar Column:
Built between 1830 and 1834 by French architect Auguste de Montferrand, The Alexander Column is the tallest of its kind in the world. The column is 47.5 meters high and is made from a single piece of red granite. The granite column is 25.45 meters tall and is topped with a statue of an angel holding a cross with a great likeness to Emperor Alexander I.
The granite was transported from Finland on a boat specifically designed for the columns buiding. Weighing 600 tones, the architects did not have the use of modern machinery and so the column was erected by 3000 men in less than 2 hours.

The above highlights how columns have varied throughout the many years that they have featured in architecture. It is important to understand how columns have developed, and the significance that they have had within architecture. As well as being useful from an engineering prospective, columns have also been used throughout the ages as decorative pieces. This obviously has more relevance to my work, as although I want the structural properties to be present the columns will be purely decorative. As I have already mentioned the above columns are all examples of cylindrical columns and consequently will not resemble my columns, so it is vital to consider how rectangular columns have been used, and other ideas that are attached to the use of columns.