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 construction, constructi ...

, intercolumniation is the proportional spacing between

column 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 ...

s in a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

, often expressed as a multiple of the column diameter as measured at the bottom of the shaft. In Classical,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, and

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...

, intercolumniation was determined by a system described by the first-century BC

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

architect

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

(Vitruvius, ''

De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Ancient Rome, Roman architect and military engineer Vitruvius, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesa ...

'', iii.3.3-10). Vitruvius named five systems of intercolumniation (Pycnostyle, Systyle, Eustyle, Diastyle, and

Araeostyle Araeostyle (Latin: ''araeostylos,'' from , "weak" or "widely spaced", and , "column") is one of five categories of intercolumniation (the spacing between the columns of a colonnade) described by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Of all the ancient arc ...

), and warned that when columns are placed three column-diameters or more apart, stone

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

s break. According to Vitruvius, the Hellenistic architect Hermogenes (ca. 200 BC) formulated these proportions ("''symmetriae''") and perfected the Eustyle arrangement, which has an enlarged

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

in the center of the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

Standard intercolumniations

The standard intercolumniations are: ; Pycnostyle : One and a half diameters ; Systyle : Two diameters ; Eustyle : Two and a quarter diameters (and three diameters between middle columns front and rear); considered by Vitruvius to be the best proportion. Vitruvius, ''De architectura'', iii.3.6. ; Diastyle : Three diameters ; Araeostyle : Four or more diameters, requiring a wooden

rather than one of stone ; Araeosystyle : Alternating araeostyle and systyle Vitruvius's definitions seem to apply only to examples with which he was acquainted in Rome, or to Greek temples described by authors he had studied. In the earlier Doric temples the intercolumniation is sometimes less than one diameter, and it increases gradually as the style developed; thus in the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...

it is in the Temple of Diana Propylaea at Eleusis, and in the portico at Delos, 2. The intercolumniations of the columns of the

Ionic Order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

are greater, averaging 2 diameters, but then the relative proportion of height to diameter in the column has to be taken into account, as also the width of the peristyle. Thus in the temple of Apollo Branchidae, where the columns are slender and over 10 diameters in height, the intercolumniation is notwithstanding its late date, and in the Temple of Apollo Smintheus in Asia Minor, in which the peristyle is

pseudodipteral Pseudodipteral or Pseudodipteros (, meaning “falsely dipteral”) describes an ancient Greek temple with a single peristyle surrounding the cella at the distance of two intercolumns and one column. Unlike peripteral temples, there is a greater sp ...

, or double width, the intercolumniation is just over 1. Temples of the

Corinthian Order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

follow the proportions of those of the Ionic Order.

References

Colonnades {{architecturalelement-stub

Standard intercolumniations

See also

References