A coupled column (also accouplement, twinned or paired

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

) is one of a pair of columns that are installed nearer together and wider with others. The coupled columns should be of the same order and set closer enough to almost touch each other at their bases and capitals. These columns were mostly used in the architecture of the 17th century and later. In a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

, all columns may be coupled or just the outer pairs. Сoupled columns are often installed at the building entrance, on both sides of a window, fireplace, niche, or stair.

Pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and

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. Engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then ...

s can also be paired.

Controversy

The coupling of classical columns was both a recurring motif in French classical architecture and a matter of controversy in structural and aesthetic theory.

Quatremère de Quincy Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy (21 October 1755 – 28 December 1849) was a French armchair archaeologist and architectural theorist, a Freemason, and an effective arts administrator and influential writer on art. Life Born in Paris ...

described the paired columns as a "fault" and a first step to vice (1788). Claude Perrault, in contrast, considered coupled columns to be structurally superior because a composite

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

spanning wide intercolumnation of paired columns rested wholly on the inner column at each end.

Openings

Double bays can also receive this name. Thus a mullioned window is the name of an opening divided into two holes by a mullion or a mullion. It is also sometimes referred to as mullioned arches.

Gallery

Gothic architecture in France, England, and Italy (1915) (14801572593).jpg,

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

, Trinity Chapel. Drawing, Stage Design, Interior of Renaissance Portico, early 19th century (CH 18540979).jpg, Renaissance style portico with coupled columns in park. Trinity Church, Boston (3678106905).jpg,

Trinity Church, Boston Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 4,000 households, was founded in 17 ...

Cathedral-Parishjf6944 11.JPG, St. Paul the First Hermit Cathedral — N. Paulino St, Barangay V-D, Poblacion, San Pablo City, Laguna Province, Philippines. Lincolnshire County Offices 01.jpg, Lincolnshire County Offices, Entrance Portico Louvre Kolonnaden.JPG,

Colonnade of the Louvre The Louvre Colonnade is the easternmost façade of the Palais du Louvre in Paris. It has been celebrated as the foremost masterpiece of French Architectural Classicism since its construction, mostly between 1667 and 1674. The design, dominated by ...

, Paris (1670) Architecture-pilasters.jpg, Paired Corinthian pilasters with high bases on the county courthouse in

Sidney, Ohio Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, located approximately 36 mi (58 km) north of Dayton and 100 mi (161 km) south of Toledo. The population was 20,421 at the time of the 2020 census. It is named after English poet Phili ...

References

Colonnades {{architecturalelement-stub