COLUMN 



1507 



COLUMN 



ILJLJJJLii 



c 



THE THREE STANDARD COLUMNS IN ARCHITECTURE 

 From left to right, the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian. For further illustration of parts, see page 324. 



form of government. The public utilities 

 owned by the city are the lighting plant, the 

 water works and garbage collection and reduc- 

 tion plants. 



March 25, 1913, Columbus suffered - from a 

 disastrous flood which caused the death of 

 nearly 100 persons and a total property loss 

 amounting to over $20,000,000. D.K.M. 



COLUMN, kol'um, in architecture, a vertical 

 structure, or pillar, designed chiefly to form a 

 means of support for a weight above, usually 

 serving both to strengthen and adorn. It may 

 be constructed of any material stone, wood, 

 metal, marble or brick. The typical column 

 consists of three parts, the base, shaft and cap- 

 ital. The shaft, which is the central, upright 

 portion, is usually cylindrical in shape, though 

 it may be modeled on any regular geometrical 

 figure. The base is the lowest part, supporting 

 the shaft, which is crowned by the capital. 



In ancient architecture the column appeared 

 in a great variety of sizes and forms. The 

 Egyptians, who used this architectural feature 

 from a very early period, favored the heavy 

 and massive type of column, represented by 

 the great central pillars of the Hall of Karnak, 

 which were seventy-five feet high and fifteen 

 feet in diameter (see full-page illustration, 

 EGYPT). The Persian column was generally 

 tall and slender, in this respect resembling the 

 Greek. 



The Greek Orders of Architecture. Among 

 the Greeks the column was developed to a 

 high degree of perfection, the styles of base, 

 shaft and capital conforming to special rules 



which made possible their classification into 

 the three classic orders of architecture, the 

 Doric, the Ionic and the Corinthian. These 

 are picturesquely described in Thompson's Ode 

 to Liberty: 



First, unadorned 



And nobly plain, the manly Doric rose ; 

 The Ionic then, with decent matron grace, 

 Her airy pillar heaved ; luxuriant last, 

 The rich Corinthian spread her wanton wealth. 



Doric Column. This, the oldest and simplest 

 of the three types, has a plain shaft which 

 tapers slightly upward, the height of this being 

 from five to seven times its lower diameter. 

 Along the shaft are sixteen to twenty vertical, 

 shallow grooves, or flutes, which meet in sharp 

 edges. The capital has two parts of equal thick- 

 ness. The upper, a square block, or plinth, 

 called the abacus, rests upon the lower, a circu- 

 lar tablet called the echinus. Above the capi- 

 tal is a structure known as the entablature, con- 

 sisting of three parts : the architrave, directly 

 above the column ; the frieze, or middle portion ; 

 and the cornice, or highest part. One of the 

 most celebrated examples of Doric architecture 

 was the stately Parthenon, on the Acropolis of 

 Athens (see PARTHENON). 



Ionic Column. The slender Ionic column, in- 

 vented by the Asiatic Greeks, is a more grace- 

 ful and decorative structure than the Doric. 

 Its shaft, in height from seven and one-half to 

 nine and one-half times its diameter, rises from 

 a circular base to a capital adorned with scrolls, 

 or volutes, connected by a horizontal band. 

 Along the shaft are twenty-four flutes, sep- 

 arated by narrow, flat surfaces. Among the 

 finest examples of Ionic architecture were the 

 Temple of Diana at Ephesus and the Erech- 

 theum at Athens. 



Corinthian Column. The most ornamental 

 column is the Corinthian. It is a variation of 

 Ionic, having a slender, fluted shaft, but a more 



