What is Greek entasis?
Entasis is Greek for swelling or tension and relates to a convex curve incorporated into upright structures like columns and spires, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. If a column does not have entasis it will not appear to be straight particularly in very large buildings.
Why do columns have entasis?
Architectural experts generally agree: Entasis is the “swelling given to a column in the middle parts of the shaft for the purpose of correcting a disagreeable optical illusion, which is found to cause their outlines to seem concave instead of straight”- Penrose (1888).
Why do Greek columns bulge in the middle?
Greek designers were very careful when they measured these columns. They knew that columns standing in a long row often looked as though they curved in the middle. To prevent this optical illusion, they made their columns bulge slightly in the middle. As a result, Greek columns look perfectly straight.
What are smooth columns called?
The Greek Doric column was fluted or smooth-surfaced, and had no base, dropping straight into the stylobate or platform on which the temple or other building stood.
What is a Stylobate in Greek architecture?
In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate (Greek: στυλοβάτης) is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the floor of the temple).
What is echinus in architecture?
parts of column …or more narrow grooves; the echinus, a circular block that bulges outward at its uppermost portion in order to better support the abacus; and the abacus itself, a square block that directly supports the entablature above and transmits its weight to the rest of the column below.
What is entasis and where would you find it?
entasis, in architecture, the convex curve given to a column, spire, or similar upright member, in an attempt to correct the optical illusion of hollowness or weakness that would arise from normal tapering. Entasis is almost universal in Classical columns.
What are the parts of an entablature?
The entablature is usually divided into three main sections: the lowest band, or architrave, which originally took the form of a simple beam running from support to support; the central band, or frieze, consisting of an unmolded strip with or without ornament; the top band, or cornice, constructed from a series of …
What is pediment in architecture?
pediment, in architecture, triangular gable forming the end of the roof slope over a portico (the area, with a roof supported by columns, leading to the entrance of a building); or a similar form used decoratively over a doorway or window.
Which term describes the slight bulging of Greek columns that creates an optical illusion of straight lines?
#1. Which term describes the slight bulging of Greek columns that creates an optical illusion of straight lines? Entasis.
What are the grooves in columns called?
Fluting, also known as reeding, is a series of regular, concave grooves or convex ridges running vertically or spirally along a surface. Typically, the term 'fluting' refers to the grooves found on a column shaft or pilaster.
What are tops of columns called?
Capital. The capital comprises the uppermost elements of a column.
What are triglyphs and metopes?
Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are called metopes.
What is an entablature in architecture?
Definition of entablature : a horizontal part in classical architecture that rests on the columns and consists of architrave, frieze, and cornice.
What is the echinus of a column?
parts of column …or more narrow grooves; the echinus, a circular block that bulges outward at its uppermost portion in order to better support the abacus; and the abacus itself, a square block that directly supports the entablature above and transmits its weight to the rest of the column below.
What is a urchin mean?
Definition of urchin 1 archaic : hedgehog sense 1a. 2 : a mischievous and often poor and raggedly clothed youngster street urchins. 3 : sea urchin.
What is entasis quizlet?
Entasis. A bulge in the body of the column that makes it appear straight, even from a distance.
What was a tholos used for?
In the Mycenaean period, tholoi were large ceremonial tombs, sometimes built into the sides of hills; they were beehive-shaped and covered by a corbeled arch. In classical Greece, the tholos at Delphi had a peristyle; the tholos in Athens, serving as a dining hall for the Athenian Senate, had no outside columns.
What is architrave?
Definition of architrave 1 : the lowest division of an entablature resting in classical architecture immediately on the capital of the column — see column illustration. 2 : the molding around a rectangular opening (such as a door)
Is an entablature a lintel?
The entablature is essentially an evolution of the primitive lintel, which spans two posts, supporting the ends of the roof rafters.
What is a cupola in architecture?
cupola, in architecture, small dome, often resembling an overturned cup, placed on a circular, polygonal, or square base or on small pillars or a glassed-in lantern. It is used to crown a turret, roof, or larger dome. The inner vault of a dome is also a cupola.
What is the triangle on top of columns called?
pediment, in architecture, triangular gable forming the end of the roof slope over a portico (the area, with a roof supported by columns, leading to the entrance of a building); or a similar form used decoratively over a doorway or window. The pediment was the crowning feature of the Greek temple front.
What is a Roman peristyle?
In Hellenistic Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (/ˈpɛrɪstaɪl/; from Greek περίστυλον) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard.
What are parts of a column called?
A column consists of a shaft together with its base and its capital. The column supports a section of an entablature, which constitutes the upper horizontal part of a classical building and is itself composed of (from bottom to top) an architrave, frieze, and cornice.
What is a column flute called?
A fluted column is one that has shallow grooves carved into the surface of the shaft. These grooves are referred to as flutes. Doric order columns typically have 20 flutes, while Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite columns have 24. Tuscan columns never use fluting.
What is a shaft on a column?
parts of column The shaft, which rests upon the base, is a long, narrow, vertical cylinder that in some orders is articulated with fluting (vertical grooves). The shaft may also taper inward slightly so that it is wider at the bottom than at the top.
What are metopes and friezes?
In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order.
What is a metope and a pediment?
The metopes were carved stone slabs fitted in between the triglyphs. A pediment can also free-standing projection above a roof line. In baroque architecture it more likely to be curved than straight sided, but still in the general shape of a triangle, as in this example from a church in Querétaro, Mexico.
What are the parts of a column?
A column consists of a shaft together with its base and its capital. The column supports a section of an entablature, which constitutes the upper horizontal part of a classical building and is itself composed of (from bottom to top) an architrave, frieze, and cornice.
What is the echinus?
Definition of echinus 1 : sea urchin. 2a : the rounded molding that lies directly beneath the abacus in the capital of a column in the Greek Doric order. b : a similar member in other orders.