The concatenation (enchainement) is an architectural composition that unites chaining parts together—as with separate elements in long façades, with the fronts being brought forward or recessed.

Overview

The concatenation articulates the wall by superimposing elements of the

architectural order An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. Coming down to the present from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization, the arc ...

, such as

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s or

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, inside which a round arch or a series of arches open. Two hierarchical orders are usually superimposed: the minor order supports the arch, which, in turn, is framed under the entablature of the major order. The concatenation is different from the

serliana A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian ar ...

that usually employs a single order on which both the arches and the architrave rest.

History

As an element of architectural language, the concatenation was common in the Roman architecture both in an isolated form (

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cro ...

es) and in series. It was also widely used in multi-level buildings, such as

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world t ...

. As a compositional element, it saw new interest in the first half of the 15th century, becoming a fundamental syntagm of the classical architecture. In the

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

, the concatenation was widely used in all types of buildings, internal courtyards, and cloisters.

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, bu ...

and other Palladians favoured concatenated façades for their articulation.

Gallery

RomeConstantine'sArch03.jpg,

Arch of Constantine The Arch of Constantine ( it, Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milv ...

, Rome Arc de Triomphe d'Orange.jpg,

Triumphal Arch of Orange The Triumphal Arch of Orange (french: Arc de triomphe d'Orange) is a triumphal arch located in the town of Orange, southeast France. There is debate about when the arch was built, but current research that accepts the inscription as evidence fav ...

Parione - palazzo Riario o Cancelleria nuova 1628.JPG, Façade of the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome Venezia - Ospedale - Foto G. Dall'Orto, 2 lug 2006 - 03.jpg,

Scuola Grande di San Marco The Scuola Grande di San Marco is a building in Venice, Italy, designed by the well-known Venetian architects Pietro Lombardo, Mauro Codussi, and Bartolomeo Bon. It was originally the home to one of the Scuole Grandi of Venice, or six major con ...

Grande Claustro e Fonte.jpg, Cloister of the

Convent of Christ The Convent of Christ ( pt, Convento de Cristo/Mosteiro de Cristo) is a former Catholic convent in Tomar, Portugal. Originally a 12th-century Templar stronghold, when the order was dissolved in the 14th century the Portuguese branch was turned in ...

Tomar Tomar (), also known in English as Thomar (the ancient name of Tomar), is a city and a municipality in the Santarém district of Portugal. The town proper has a population of about 20,000. The municipality population in 2011 was 40,677, in an a ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, (1557–1591), Diogo de Torralva and

Filippo Terzi Filippo Terzi (1520–1597) was an Italian military and civil architect and engineer, born in Bologna, who went to Lisbon in 1577 and the following year joined the disastrous military expedition to Morocco where he was taken prisoner at the Battl ...

References

{{classical orders Architectural elements