An engaged column is an architectural element in which a column is embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, which may or may not carry a partial structural load. Sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached, engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then only in exceptional cases, but in Roman architecture they exist in abundance, most commonly embedded in the cella walls of pseudoperipteral Roman temples and other buildings. In the temples it is attached to the cella walls, repeating the columns of the peristyle, and in the theatres and amphitheatres, where they subdivided the arched openings: in all these cases engaged columns are utilized as a decorative feature, and as a rule the same proportions are maintained as if they had been isolated columns. In Romanesque work the classic proportions were no longer adhered to; the engaged column, attached to the piers, has always a special function to perform, either to support subsidiary arches, or, raised to the vault, to carry its transverse or diagonal ribs. The same constructional object is followed in the earlier Gothic styles, in which they become merged into the mouldings. Being virtually always ready made, so far as their design is concerned, they were much affected by the Italian revivalists.

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26660- papyrus-shaped capitals at Saqqara.jpg,

Ancient Egyptian Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

engaged columns of the House of the North, detail of papyrus-shaped capitals, in the Heb-sed court of Djoser's Funerary Complex, Saqqara,

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, unknown architect, 2667-2648 BC File:Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara, ca. 2700 BCE (19).jpg, Ancient Egyptian engaged columns in the Heb-sed court of Djoser's Funerary Complex, unknown architect, 2667-2648 BC 4-12 Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta, Bucharest (02).jpg, Engaged columns on the Beaux Arts facade of the University of Bucharest on Strada Edgar Quinet,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, by Nicolae Ghika-Budești, in collaboration with Duiliu Marcu, 1914-1934 56 Bulevardul Dacia, Bucharest (01).jpg, Romanian Revival engaged columns on the C.N. Câmpeanu House on Bulevardul Dacia, Bucharest, by Constantin Nănescu, 1923 1A Piața Revoluției, Bucharest (02).jpg, Engaged Corinthian columns on the Ministry of Internal Affairs Building, Bucharest, by Emil Nădejde, 1938-1941 89 Bulevardul Eroii Sanitari, Bucharest (03).jpg, Mediterranean Revival engaged columns of the Prof. C.A. Teodorescu House on Bulevardul Eroii Sanitari, Bucharest, Ion Giurgea, 1941

References

* Stierlin, Henri ''The Roman Empire: From the Etruscans to the Decline of the Roman Empire'', TASCHEN, 2002 Columns and entablature {{architecturalelement-stub

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References