architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, intercolumniation is the proportional spacing between

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. ...

s 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 ...

, often expressed as a multiple of the column diameter as measured at the bottom of the shaft. In Classical,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, and

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...

, intercolumniation was determined by a system described by the first-century BC

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

architect

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...

(Vitruvius, ''

De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide f ...

'', iii.3.3-10). Vitruvius named five systems of intercolumniation (Pycnostyle, Systyle, Eustyle, Diastyle, and

Araeostyle Araeostyle (Latin: ''araeostylos,'' from grc, ἀραιόστυλος, from αραιος, "weak" or "widely spaced", and grc, στυλος, "column") is one of five categories of intercolumniation (the spacing between the columns of a colonnade) ...

), and warned that when columns are placed three column-diameters or more apart, stone

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 ...

s break. According to Vitruvius, the Hellenistic architect

Hermogenes Hermogenes is a Greek name (), meaning "born of Hermes". It may refer to: * Hermogenes (potter) (fl. c. 550 BC), Attic Greek potter * Hermogenes (philosopher) (fl. c. 400 BC), Greek * Hermogenes of Priene (fl. c. 200 BC), Greek architect * Hermog ...

(ca. 200 BC) formulated these proportions ("''symmetriae''") and perfected the Eustyle arrangement, which has an enlarged bay in the center of the

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

Standard intercolumniations

The standard intercolumniations are: ; Pycnostyle : One and a half diameters ; Systyle : Two diameters ; Eustyle : Two and a quarter diameters (and three diameters between middle columns front and rear); considered by Vitruvius to be the best proportion. Vitruvius, ''De architectura'', iii.3.6. ; Diastyle : Three diameters ; Araeostyle : Four or more diameters, requiring a wooden

rather than one of stone ; Araeosystyle : Alternating araeostyle and systyle Vitruvius's definitions seem to apply only to examples with which he was acquainted in Rome, or to Greek temples described by authors he had studied. In the earlier

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

temples the intercolumniation is sometimes less than one diameter, and it increases gradually as the style developed; thus in the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

it is in the Temple of Diana Propylaea at Eleusis, and in the portico at Delos, 2. The intercolumniations of the columns of the

Ionic Order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

are greater, averaging 2 diameters, but then the relative proportion of height to diameter in the column has to be taken into account, as also the width of the peristyle. Thus in the temple of Apollo Branchidae, where the columns are slender and over 10 diameters in height, the intercolumniation is notwithstanding its late date, and in the Temple of Apollo Smintheus in Asia Minor, in which the peristyle is

pseudodipteral Pseudodipteral describes an ancient Greek temple with a single peristyle surrounding the cella at the distance of two intercolumns and one column. Unlike peripteral temples, there is a greater space between the columns of the peristyle and the cell ...

, or double width, the intercolumniation is just over 1. Temples of the

Corinthian Order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

follow the proportions of those of the Ionic Order.

References

Colonnades {{architecturalelement-stub

Standard intercolumniations

See also

References