Paired Corinthian pilasters on the county courthouse in Springfield, Ohio. The Corinthian order is one of the Classical orders of Greek and Roman Architecture, characterized Springfield is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Clark County.

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting flattened column built into or applied to the face of a wall. A column in Structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural In discussing Leon Battista Alberti's use of pilasters, which Alberti reintroduced into wall-architecture, Rudolf Wittkower wrote, "The pilaster is the logical transformation of the column for the decoration of a wall. Leon Battista Alberti ( February 14, 1404 &ndash April 25, 1472) was an Italian author artist Architect, Poet Rudolf Wittkower (1901 - October 11 1971) was a German art historian It may be defined as a flattened column which has lost its three-dimensional and tactile value. "^[1]

A pilaster appears with a capital^[2] and entablature, also in "low-relief" or flattened against the wall. In several traditions of Architecture including Classical architecture, the capital (from the Latin caput 'head' forms the crowning member An entablature (ɛnˈtæblətʃɚ Latin, and tabula, a tablet) refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above A relief is a Sculptured Artwork where a modeled form is raised (or alternatively lowered from a flattened background without being disconnected from it

The pilaster is an architectural element in classical architecture used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. The term Classical architecture has a specific Archaeological meaning relating to the architecture of Classical Greece A column in Structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural In contrast, an engaged column or buttress can support the structure of a wall and roof above. 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 A buttress is an architectural structure built against (a counterfort) or projecting from a Wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall ^[3]

Pilasters often appear on the sides of a door frame or window opening on the facade of a building, and are sometimes paired with columns or pillars set directly in front of them at some distance away from the wall, which support a roof structure above, such as a portico. A facade or façade (fəˈsɑːd is generally one side of the exterior of a Building, especially the front but also sometimes the sides and rear A portico is a Porch that is leading to the entrance of a building or extended as a Colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway supported by Columns These vertical elements can also be used to support a recessed archivolt around a doorway. An archivolt is is an ornamental molding or band following the curve of the underside of an arch The pilaster can be replaced by ornamental brackets supporting the entablature or a balcony over a doorway. A bracket is an architectural member made of wood stone or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight

As with a column, a pilaster can have a plain or fluted surface to its flattened rectangular profile (cross section) and can be represented in the mode of any of the classical orders. In Geometry, a cross section is the intersection of a body in 2-dimensional space with a line or of a body in 3-dimensional space with a plane etc A classical order is one of the ancient styles of building design in the classical tradition, distinguished by their proportions and their characteristic profiles and details In the giant order pilasters appear as two-storeys tall, linking floors in a single unit. In Classical architecture, a giant order is an order whose Columns or Pilasters span two (or more stories

The fashion of using this element from Ancient Greek and Roman architecture was adopted in the Italian Renaissance and later Greek Revival architecture. Architecture was extinct in Greece from the end of the Mycenaean period (about 1200 BC to the 7th century BC when urpeppeeban life and prosperity recovered The Architecture of Ancient Rome adopted the external Greek architecture for their own purposes which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries predominantly in northern Europe and the United States

See also

• Archivolt
• Buttress
• Post and lintel
• Engaged column
• Classical architecture
• List of classical architecture terms

A pilaster in civil engineering is a vertical rectangular member that is structurally a pier, and architecturally a column. An archivolt is is an ornamental molding or band following the curve of the underside of an arch A buttress is an architectural structure built against (a counterfort) or projecting from a Wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall For lintel as a decorative element see Lintel (architecture For beam as load-bearing member see beam 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 The term Classical architecture has a specific Archaeological meaning relating to the architecture of Classical Greece This is a list of terms used in Classical architecture. Building elements Acroterion - ornament mounted at the apex of the pediment of a building Pilasters are used to decrease the slenderness ratio for the height of masonry walls - L/R<120.

Notes

• Lewis, Philippa and Gillian Darley, Dictionary of Ornament (1986) NY: Pantheon

Gallery

Simple wood pilaster strips flank a blue door

Pilaster and capital, Frankfurt, Germany

Puerta de la colegiata, Lerma, Spain

Badami Cave Temples,India