Impost (architecture)
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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 ...
, an impost or impost block is a projecting block resting on top of a column or embedded in a wall, serving as the base for the
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or lowest
voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
of an
arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
.


Ornamental training

The imposts are left smooth or profiled, and "then express a certain separation between abutment and arch." The Byzantine fighters are high blocks, which are sometimes referred to as pulvino. The Romanesque designed the impost ornamentally or figuratively, similar to the capitals. In the Gothic period, the fighter almost completely disappeared from the calyx bud capital. The architecture of the Renaissance returns to the formation of the imposts of the ancient column orders.


See also

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Capital (architecture) In architecture the capital (from the Latin ''caput'', or "head") or chapiter forms the topmost member of a column (or a pilaster). It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's support ...
*
Abacus (architecture) In architecture, an abacus (from the Greek ''abax'', slab; or French ''abaque'', ''tailloir''; plural abacuses or abaci) is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, above the bell. Its chief function is to ...
*
Pulvino A pulvino (or impost block) is an architectural structural element ( dosseret) having the shape of an inverted pyramid cushion, which is placed between the column capital and the arch base. Overview Usually decorated with fretwork or relief orname ...


References

Architectural elements {{architecturalelement-stub