Pilaster

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Pilaster

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column

Column

File:National Capitol Columns - Washington, D.C..jpgA column in structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through physical compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below....
built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile.

In discussing Leon Battista Alberti's use of pilasters, which Alberti reintroduced into wall-architecture, Rudolf Wittkower

Rudolf Wittkower

Rudolf Wittkower was a Germany art historian.He was born in Berlin and moved to London in 1934. He taught at the Warburg Institute, University of London from 1934 to 1956 and then at Columbia University from 1956 to 1969 where he was chairman of the Department of Art History and Archaeology....
wrote, "The pilaster is the logical transformation of the column

Column

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A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column

Column

Rudolf Wittkower

Column

Capital (architecture)

In several traditions of architecture including Classical architecture, the capital forms the crowning member of a column or a pilaster. The capital projects on each side as it rises, in order to support the abacus and unite the form of the latter with the circular shaft of the column....
and entablature

Entablature

An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capital . Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave—the supporting member carried from column to column, pier or wall immediately above; the frieze&md...
, also in "low-relief

Relief

A relief is a sculptured artwork where a modelled form is raised, or in sunken-relief lowered, from a flatish background plane without being disconnected from it....
" or flattened against the wall.

The pilaster is an architectural element in classical architecture

Classical architecture

Classical architecture is the set of building styles and techniques of Classical Greece, as used in ancient Greece, the Hellenistic period, and the Roman empire....
used to give the appearance of a supporting column

Column

Engaged column

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....
or buttress

Buttress

A buttress is an architecture structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, especially in Germany, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral forces arising out of the roof structures that lack adequate bracing....
can support the structure of a wall and roof above.

Pilasters often appear on the sides of a door frame or window opening on the facade

Facade

A facade or fa?ade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The Word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of a building, and are sometimes paired with columns or pillar

Pillar

A pillar is similar to a column which is a vertical support structure in architecture, but the base section is any shape but circular.Pillar may also refer to:...
s set directly in front of them at some distance away from the wall, which support a roof structure above, such as a portico

Portico

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 or enclosed by walls....
. These vertical elements can also be used to support a recessed archivolt

Archivolt

An archivolt is an ornamental molding or band following the curve of the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental Molding s surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the architrave in the case of a rectangular opening....
around a doorway. The pilaster can be replaced by ornamental brackets

Bracket (architecture)

A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf....
supporting the entablature or a balcony over a doorway.

As with a column, a pilaster can have a plain or fluted surface to its profile (cross section

Cross section (geometry)

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....
) and can be represented in the mode of any architectural style. In the giant order

Giant order

In Classical architecture, a giant order is an Classical order whose columns or pilasters span two stories. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the storeys that are embraced by the giant order....
pilasters appear as two-storeys tall, linking floors in a single unit.

The fashion of using this element from Ancient Greek and Roman architecture was adopted in the Italian Renaissance

Italian Renaissance

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 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe....
, gained wide popularity with Greek Revival architecture

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States....
, and continues to be seen in modern architecture.

Pilaster

See also

Gallery