I.

Introduction

Column, pillar used in architecture to support the superstructure of a building and, also, occasionally as a freestanding monument. Columns may be circular or polygonal in cross section and are at least four times taller than they are wide. The first columns appear to have been constructed from tree trunks or bundled reeds. The influence of these early types can be seen in the style of the stone columns used by the ancient Egyptians and in the columns found in the ancient Mediterranean cities of Knossos (Knosós), Mycenae, and Tiryns.

II.

Classical Columns

In classical architecture a column consists of a shaft, which usually rests on a base and is surmounted by an enlarged section known as a capital. The capital forms a visual and structural transition between the vertical shaft and the horizontal wall of masonry, the entablature, under the roof. In most cases several columns are placed in line so as to form a colonnade.

The ancient Greeks developed three distinctive, carefully proportioned styles of columns—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. The Doric column, first used in the 7th century bc, has no base, and the heavy shaft is tapered upward to the capital. The surface of the shaft, which has a slight convex curve, is indented with shallow, vertical channelings or flutings, features also found in the Ionic and Corinthian orders. The Doric capital consists mainly of an undecorated, square slab resting on a rounded disc of stone that tapers down to the top of the shaft. In the 6th century bc the Ionic order was introduced into Greece from Asia. The Ionic column, which is more tapered than the Doric, rises from a richly molded circular base. The capital is distinguished by projecting stone spirals known as volutes. In the 4th century bc the Corinthian order was introduced as a variant of the Ionic. The Corinthian shaft is slender, and the capital is carved in the shape of an inverted bell, ornately decorated with volutes and acanthus leaves.

The Romans added two types of columns to the classical orders, the Tuscan, an unfluted modification of the Doric, and the Composite, which had the Ionic shaft and a more ornate Corinthian capital. A single pillar, such as Trajan's Column, in Rome, was sometimes erected to commemorate an event or to honor a person.

III.

Later Columns

The Romanesque churches of early medieval Europe had heavy stone columns, sometimes decorated with spiral bands of carving. They bore capitals salvaged from Roman ruins or carved in simple blocks, sometimes richly adorned with foliage and figures. In Gothic churches, columns tended to be tall and slender, often grouped together in clusters. Some had naturalistically carved capitals, others a narrow molding. The slender columns of Muslim mosques were often modifications of Roman Corinthian style. Indian temples had heavy stone columns with horizontal bands of carving and capitals carved with religious symbols. Chinese and Japanese temples were supported by wooden columns topped with an elaborate system of carved brackets.

The Renaissance in 15th- and 16th-century Europe heralded a revival of the ancient classical orders and other elements of classical architecture. This neoclassical style continued in the West into the 20th century. Columns are occasionally used in modern architecture, but they are constructed of materials such as steel and reinforced concrete or masonry and stone, and are usually undecorated and strictly functional.