Correspondence
The Doric Column
The Editor of The Architect & Building News. Sir, — Your correspondent who signs himself “Student” has raised a highly interesting point when he levels a criticism against the Doric Order on the ground that its base is insufficiently articulated. It seems difficult to defend the design of any column which is devoid of a capital or base, for without these adjuncts it lacks what I have described as “Punc
tuation. ” Perhaps I may be permitted to mention that in my book, “Architectural Style, ” where I developed the three formal principles of Number, Punctuation, and Inflection, I had occasion to discuss this very question of the Doric base. Punctuation is a process of design by which one can give to any object a certain consciousness of its own extremities. By means of it the object appears to be saying to itself “Thus far do I extend and no farther. ” Without this formal emphasis of its extremities the object necessarily lacks the essentials of organic unity. Take a plain cylinder, for instance, cut off its top and bottom, and the length of the cylinder would seem to be entirely undetermined, for one is entitled to ask “What reason is there why it should extend farther in either direction? ” Suppose, however, we give this cylinder a base in the form of a group of mouldings running round it, and a capital of some simple form, circular on plan, and having a larger circumference than a section of the cylinder itself, it is clear that the cylinder has acquired an entirely new character; for being provided with these emphatic terminations it is now an integer, whereas before it was but an indeterminate fraction.
If we accept the logic of the foregoing, it seems a little difficult to provide a defence for the Doric column which, in the words of your correspondent, ˮhas the appearance of growing up from the ground, of having been designed to no predetermined height, or of having sunk into a stylobate of not sufficient strength to resist its downward pressure. ” It must be borne in mind, however, that the Doric column is not just a plane cylinder, but its girth rapidly increases towards its base, so it scarcely looks as if it had already sunk into the stylobate for some unknowm depth. Had it done so there would be a cavity in the stylobate all round the base of the column. Neither does it look as if it had been pulled out of the stylobate for an unknown depth, for in this latter case there would be a protuberance round the base of the column, due to a certain quantity of stone on the stylobate which had been raised from its position during the lifting of the column. On the other hand, it is obvious that had this column, devoid of an articulated base, been of equal girth from top to bottom it would actually have had the appearance of instability, for it could have been moved up and down in a cylindrical socket. Thus we may accept the conclusion that the nearer the form of the column approximates to a plain cylinder, that is to say, the less the difference between its girth at top and bottom, the more necessary it becomes to “punctuate” the base.
The Romans, in adopting the Doric Order, recognised this necessity, for they altered the proportion of the column, greatly increasing its proportion of height to diameter and reducing its rate of diminution towards its upper extremity.
The vertical dimension of the Doric column, as designed by the Greeks, was further stabilised by the entasis, which helped to give to the profile of the column an organic quality, and also by its relation to the entablature and stylobate, which was certainly not fortuitous. To prove this latter statement one need only make the experiment of lengthening or shortening the columns to any considerable extent. In the former case the design becomes ‘‘leggy, ’’ and the
tall and bulky columns, considered as a group, seem inadequately punctuated by the stylobate and entablature; in the latter the columns appear crushed because they fail to establish themselves as a central member of a formal trinity of entablature, colonnade and stylobate, and become a mere junction between two elements, having the character of a duality. Thus it may be contended that the Greek Doric Order possesses certain subtleties by virtue of which its “unpunctuated” columns cannot be made subject
to the criticism that can legitimately be applied, for instance, to the columns in the courtyard of the new Town Hall at Stockholm. These latter are divorced from the Order, are nearly cylindrical in form, and, having no articulated bases, obviously appear to be sinking into the ground.
With regard to the practice of bringing the triglyphs to the extreme corners, to which your correspondent takes objection, its justification is derived from the fact that in order to punctuate the range of columns at its lateral extremities it was desirable to reduce the intercolumnation at the corners, and this reduction was conveniently effected by shifting the end columns inwards, so that the end triglyph actually terminated the frieze. If the triglyphs were really nothing more that a representation of the ends of ceiling rafters on the Parthenon, for instance, they should have appeared only on the flanks, and not at all under the pediments. But the Greeks must have recognised the delightful æsthetic characteristic of the triglyphs, inasmuch as these features inflect the frieze so that it takes cognisance of the position of the columns beneath them. Of the three Orders, the Doric alone displays this particular formal subtlety. If, as “Student” suggests, the end triglyphs are placed “constructionally” immediately over the axis
of the comer column, there would be an unpleasant fraction of a metope left over, and this would be a highly unsatisfactory lateral termination for the frieze.
In common with other readers of your journal, I am grateful to your correspondent for starting a discussion upon a subject which is of permanent interest to all students of architecture. — Yours faithfully,
A. Trystan Edwards.
Professional Society
The British Society of Master Glass-Painters
A meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 12, at 5. 30 p. m., in the Hall of the Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, W. C. l. The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, K. T., P. C., President of the Society, will take the chair. Mr. S. L. Brown, of the National Lead Company, New York, will speak on “The Struc
ture of Lead as Related to Stained Glass. ” The Hon. Secretary is Mr. Percy G. Bacon.
Competition Notes Nottingham Market Place
Now that the New Exchange Building is rising at the east end of the famous Market Place at Nottingham, the City Council have decided to remove the market to another site, and the proprietors of The Nottingham Journal are offering a prize of £100 in open competition for the best design for a lay-out of the Market Square.
The Assessors are Mr. J. Woodlatt, F. R. I. B. A., President, and Mr. H. A. Dickman, F. R. I. B. A., Immediate Past-President, Nottingham and Derby Architectural Society; Mr. W. W. Gregory, F. R. I. B. A.; Mr. J. Else, R. B. S., Principal of the Nottingham School of Art; and the Editor of The Nottingham Journal. Illustrated particulars can be obtained from the offices of the paper, Parliament Street, Nottingham, or 170 Fleet Street, London, E. C. 4.
The Doric Column
The Editor of The Architect & Building News. Sir, — Your correspondent who signs himself “Student” has raised a highly interesting point when he levels a criticism against the Doric Order on the ground that its base is insufficiently articulated. It seems difficult to defend the design of any column which is devoid of a capital or base, for without these adjuncts it lacks what I have described as “Punc
tuation. ” Perhaps I may be permitted to mention that in my book, “Architectural Style, ” where I developed the three formal principles of Number, Punctuation, and Inflection, I had occasion to discuss this very question of the Doric base. Punctuation is a process of design by which one can give to any object a certain consciousness of its own extremities. By means of it the object appears to be saying to itself “Thus far do I extend and no farther. ” Without this formal emphasis of its extremities the object necessarily lacks the essentials of organic unity. Take a plain cylinder, for instance, cut off its top and bottom, and the length of the cylinder would seem to be entirely undetermined, for one is entitled to ask “What reason is there why it should extend farther in either direction? ” Suppose, however, we give this cylinder a base in the form of a group of mouldings running round it, and a capital of some simple form, circular on plan, and having a larger circumference than a section of the cylinder itself, it is clear that the cylinder has acquired an entirely new character; for being provided with these emphatic terminations it is now an integer, whereas before it was but an indeterminate fraction.
If we accept the logic of the foregoing, it seems a little difficult to provide a defence for the Doric column which, in the words of your correspondent, ˮhas the appearance of growing up from the ground, of having been designed to no predetermined height, or of having sunk into a stylobate of not sufficient strength to resist its downward pressure. ” It must be borne in mind, however, that the Doric column is not just a plane cylinder, but its girth rapidly increases towards its base, so it scarcely looks as if it had already sunk into the stylobate for some unknowm depth. Had it done so there would be a cavity in the stylobate all round the base of the column. Neither does it look as if it had been pulled out of the stylobate for an unknown depth, for in this latter case there would be a protuberance round the base of the column, due to a certain quantity of stone on the stylobate which had been raised from its position during the lifting of the column. On the other hand, it is obvious that had this column, devoid of an articulated base, been of equal girth from top to bottom it would actually have had the appearance of instability, for it could have been moved up and down in a cylindrical socket. Thus we may accept the conclusion that the nearer the form of the column approximates to a plain cylinder, that is to say, the less the difference between its girth at top and bottom, the more necessary it becomes to “punctuate” the base.
The Romans, in adopting the Doric Order, recognised this necessity, for they altered the proportion of the column, greatly increasing its proportion of height to diameter and reducing its rate of diminution towards its upper extremity.
The vertical dimension of the Doric column, as designed by the Greeks, was further stabilised by the entasis, which helped to give to the profile of the column an organic quality, and also by its relation to the entablature and stylobate, which was certainly not fortuitous. To prove this latter statement one need only make the experiment of lengthening or shortening the columns to any considerable extent. In the former case the design becomes ‘‘leggy, ’’ and the
tall and bulky columns, considered as a group, seem inadequately punctuated by the stylobate and entablature; in the latter the columns appear crushed because they fail to establish themselves as a central member of a formal trinity of entablature, colonnade and stylobate, and become a mere junction between two elements, having the character of a duality. Thus it may be contended that the Greek Doric Order possesses certain subtleties by virtue of which its “unpunctuated” columns cannot be made subject
to the criticism that can legitimately be applied, for instance, to the columns in the courtyard of the new Town Hall at Stockholm. These latter are divorced from the Order, are nearly cylindrical in form, and, having no articulated bases, obviously appear to be sinking into the ground.
With regard to the practice of bringing the triglyphs to the extreme corners, to which your correspondent takes objection, its justification is derived from the fact that in order to punctuate the range of columns at its lateral extremities it was desirable to reduce the intercolumnation at the corners, and this reduction was conveniently effected by shifting the end columns inwards, so that the end triglyph actually terminated the frieze. If the triglyphs were really nothing more that a representation of the ends of ceiling rafters on the Parthenon, for instance, they should have appeared only on the flanks, and not at all under the pediments. But the Greeks must have recognised the delightful æsthetic characteristic of the triglyphs, inasmuch as these features inflect the frieze so that it takes cognisance of the position of the columns beneath them. Of the three Orders, the Doric alone displays this particular formal subtlety. If, as “Student” suggests, the end triglyphs are placed “constructionally” immediately over the axis
of the comer column, there would be an unpleasant fraction of a metope left over, and this would be a highly unsatisfactory lateral termination for the frieze.
In common with other readers of your journal, I am grateful to your correspondent for starting a discussion upon a subject which is of permanent interest to all students of architecture. — Yours faithfully,
A. Trystan Edwards.
Professional Society
The British Society of Master Glass-Painters
A meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 12, at 5. 30 p. m., in the Hall of the Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, W. C. l. The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, K. T., P. C., President of the Society, will take the chair. Mr. S. L. Brown, of the National Lead Company, New York, will speak on “The Struc
ture of Lead as Related to Stained Glass. ” The Hon. Secretary is Mr. Percy G. Bacon.
Competition Notes Nottingham Market Place
Now that the New Exchange Building is rising at the east end of the famous Market Place at Nottingham, the City Council have decided to remove the market to another site, and the proprietors of The Nottingham Journal are offering a prize of £100 in open competition for the best design for a lay-out of the Market Square.
The Assessors are Mr. J. Woodlatt, F. R. I. B. A., President, and Mr. H. A. Dickman, F. R. I. B. A., Immediate Past-President, Nottingham and Derby Architectural Society; Mr. W. W. Gregory, F. R. I. B. A.; Mr. J. Else, R. B. S., Principal of the Nottingham School of Art; and the Editor of The Nottingham Journal. Illustrated particulars can be obtained from the offices of the paper, Parliament Street, Nottingham, or 170 Fleet Street, London, E. C. 4.