Fluting in
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
consists of shallow
grooves running along a surface.
The term typically refers to the grooves (flutes) running vertically on a
column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
shaft or a
pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications. If the hollowing out of material meets in a point, the point (sharp ridge) is called an
arris. If the raised ridge between two flutes is blunt, the ridge is a .
Purpose
Fluting promotes a play of light on a column which helps the column appear more perfectly round than a smooth column. As a strong vertical element it also has the visual effect of minimizing any horizontal joints.
Greek architects viewed rhythm as an important design element. As such, fluting was often used on buildings and temples to increase the sense of rhythm. It may also be incorporated in columns to make them look thinner, lighter, and more elegant.
There is debate as to whether fluting was originally used in imitation of ancient woodworking practices, mimicking
adze
An adze (; alternative spelling: adz) is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing ...
marks on wooden columns made from tree trunks, or whether it was designed to imitate plant forms. Either way, it was not invented by the Greeks of the classical period who popularized it, but rather passed down or learned from the
Mycenaeans or the
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
.
Maximilian armour
Maximilian armour is a modern term applied to the style of early 16th-century German plate armour associated with, and possibly first made for the Emperor Maximilian I. The armour is still white armour, made in plain steel, but it is decorated ...
, a style of German
plate armour
Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, ...
, used fluting as a means to imitate the pleated clothing that was fashionable at the time. The fluting may also have helped to deflect weapon strikes during a fight, and to increase the structural strength of the plates.
Applications
Fluted columns styled under the
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...
of architecture have 20 flutes.
Ionic,
Corinthian, and
Composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...
columns traditionally have 24. Fluting is never used on
Tuscan order
The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with ...
columns.
Fluting is always applied exclusively to the shaft of the column, and may run either the entire shaft length from the base to the capital, or only on the upper two thirds of the column shaft. The latter application is used to complement the
entasis of the column, which begins one third of the way up from the bottom of the shaft.
Fluting might be applied to freestanding, structural columns, as well as
engaged column
In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached. Engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then ...
s and decorative
pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s.
Cabled fluting
If the flutes (hollowed-out grooves) are partly re-filled with
moulding, this form of decorated fluting is cabled fluting, ribbed fluting, rudenture, stopped fluting or stop-fluting. Cabling refers to this or
cable molding.
When this occurs in columns, it is on roughly the lower third of the grooves.
[ This decorative element is not used in Doric order columns. Cabled fluting may have been used to prevent wear and damage to the sharp edges of the flutes along the bottom part of the column.
]
Examples
Classical architecture
While Greek temples employed columns for load-bearing purposes, Roman architects used columns more often as decorative elements.[“Architectural Styles and Language.” Roman Architecture: An Expert Visual Guide to the Glorious Classical Heritage of Ancient Rome, by Nigel Rodgers, Southwater, 2006, pp. 38–39.] Fluting was used in both Greek and Roman architecture.
File:Parthenon west front.jpg, Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, Acropolis at Athens, Greece
File:Pantheon wider centered.jpg, Fluted columns and pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s inside The Panthéon, Paris, France.
File:Maison carree side.jpg, The Maison Carrée
Maison (French for "house") may refer to:
People
* Edna Maison (1892–1946), American silent-film actress
* Jérémy Maison (born 1993), French cyclist
* Leonard Maison, New York state senator 1834–1837
* Nicolas Joseph Maison (1771–1840), Ma ...
(Roman), Nîmes, France
Persian architecture
Persian-style columns do not follow the Classical orders, but were developed during the Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
in ancient Persia. These columns are usually characterized as fluted columns with long capitals featuring two highly decorated animals. Examples can be most clearly seen in the ruins of Persepolis
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, Iran.
File:Persian column.jpg, Persian columns at Persepolis
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, Iran
File:Nasir ol Molk Mosque, Shiraz 03.jpg, Spiral fluting on columns in the Nasir-ol-molk Mosque
The Nasir al-Mulk Mosque ( fa, مسجد نصیر الملک ''Masjed-e Nasir ol-Molk''), also known as the Pink Mosque (مسجد صورتی ''Masjed-e Surati''), is a traditional mosque in Shiraz, Iran. It is located near Shāh Chérāgh Mosqu ...
in Iran
Egyptian architecture
One of the earliest remaining examples of fluting in columns can be seen at Djoser's necropolis in Saqqara
Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memph ...
, built by Imhotep
Imhotep (; egy, ỉỉ-m-ḥtp "(the one who) comes in peace"; fl. late 27th century BCE) was an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, possible architect of Djoser's step pyramid, and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopol ...
in the 27th century BC. These columns are made of limestone and used fluting with the intention of looking like bundles of plant stems.
File:Rear of funerary complex of Djoser Saqqara.jpg, Fluted engaged columns at Djoser's funerary complex in Saqqara, Egypt
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought ...
, built between the 14th and 17th centuries in Europe, centered on a revival of classical architectural elements, including Classical order
An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform.
Coming down to the present from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization, the arc ...
columns.
File:016San-Pietro-in-Montorio-Rome.jpg, Altarpiece of the Raimondi Chapel at San Pietro, Montorio, Rome
File:Sagrestia Vecchia, Basilica of San Lorenzo (Florence).jpg, Fluted pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s inside the Sagrestia Veccia, Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence
Neoclassical architecture
The Neoclassical is a Classical revival beginning in the 18th century and continuing today. This style is exemplified throughout many government buildings and monuments in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, as it was popular during the American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.
File:Lincoln Memorial (6).jpg, Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...
, Washington, D.C., USA
File:US Supreme Court.JPG, Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
building, Washington, D.C., USA
File:District of Columbia War Memorial in 2012.JPG, War Memorial, Washington D.C., USA
See also
* Fluting (geology)
* Solomonic column
* Gadrooning: the opposite of fluting
* Reeding: the opposite of fluting
*Molding (decorative)
Moulding (spelled molding in the United States), or coving (in United Kingdom, Australia), is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled woo ...
References
External links
University of Pittsburgh
- "fluting" from the Medieval Art and Architecture glossary
Architectural elements
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