Design and Tradition: A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied artsFenn, Amor
History
Design and Tradition: A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied arts
Fenn, Amor
Architecture; Art; Decoration and ornament; Decoration and ornament -- History
When arcades are used one above the other, the lower order is usually
mounted on a plinth, and the upper furnished with a pedestal. The height
of the pedestal is determined by the balustrading or balcony, the height
of which is governed by its use.
If the Doric is taken as the lower order the centres of the columns are
six and a quarter diameters apart, which gives a frieze of five metopes
with intervening triglyphs. The plinth on which the order stands is
three-quarters of a diameter high. The pilaster supporting the archivolt
projects half a diameter, and the height of the arch is determined by
the impost, which is two-thirds the height of the column inclusive of
the plinth. The base of the pilaster may be moulded, but the top line
should coincide with the top of the plinth.
Above the Doric an Ionic order might be placed, and the die and plinth
of the superimposed order should be kept as narrow as possible so as to
reduce the impression of weight. The pilasters carrying the arch rest on
the plinth of the pedestal, and the plinth mouldings are carried round
the bases. The plinth and rail of the balustrading should not project
but be kept between the pilasters.
The centres of the arches of both tiers are in a line with the tops of
the imposts, and the outer edges of the archivolts may nearly reach the
lower lines of the architraves.
When the Ionic is used as the lower order it may be surmounted by the
Corinthian. The distance between the centres of the lower columns should
then be six and a half diameters. The other proportions can be obtained
in the same way as the preceding.
If a subsidiary order is employed the columns of the principal order are
placed further apart. In the case of the Doric the distance is seven and
a half diameters, and the other orders are increased in proportion.
_Rustication_
The joints of the material used must necessarily be considered, and when
plain piers or plain wall surfaces occur the joints may readily be
accentuated and so turned to decorative account. The edges of the stones
forming the separate courses may be chamfered or moulded. The joints may
also be worked so as to form a square recess.
[Illustration: No. 178. Rustication.]
The surface of the stone is sometimes roughly tooled or frosted, or
worked in an arbitrary pattern, which is termed “vermiculated.” This
treatment probably gave rise to the word rustication.
When rusticated work is used with an order the height of each course of
stone should not be less than half a diameter, and when square recessed
joints are used they can be one-eighth or one-tenth the height of the
course.
Occasionally only the horizontal courses are thus marked, and this has
been objected to as producing a boarded appearance, though undoubtedly
the horizontal effect is at times agreeably in contrast to the vertical
features. A much more usual treatment in Renaissance examples was to
emphasise the vertical joints also.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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