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 construction, constructi ...

, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an extent of wall. As an ornament it consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall surface, usually treated as though it were a column, with a capital at the top, plinth (base) at the bottom, and the various other column elements. In contrast to a Classical pilaster, an engaged column or buttress can support the structure of a wall and roof above. In human anatomy, a pilaster is a ridge that extends vertically across the

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

, which is unique to modern humans. Its structural function is unclear.

Definition

A pilaster is foremost a load-bearing architectural element used widely throughout the world and its history where a structural load is carried by a thickened section of wall or column integrated into a wall. It is also a purely ornamental element used in Classical architecture. As such it may be defined as a flattened column which has lost its three-dimensional and tactile value.".

In Classical architecture

In discussing Leon Battista Alberti's use of pilasters, which Alberti reintroduced into wall-architecture, Rudolf Wittkower wrote: "The pilaster is the logical transformation of the column for the decoration of a wall. A pilaster appears with a capital. and entablature, also in "low-

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

" or flattened against the wall. Generally, a pilaster often repeats all parts and proportions of an order column; however, unlike it, a pilaster is usually devoid of entasis. Pilasters often appear on the sides of a door frame or window opening on the facade of a building, and are sometimes paired with columns or pillars set directly in front of them at some distance away from the wall, which support a roof structure above, such as a portico. These vertical elements can also be used to support a recessed archivolt around a doorway. The pilaster can be replaced by ornamental

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

supporting the entablature or a balcony over a doorway. When a pilaster appears at the corner intersection of two walls it is known as a canton. As with a column, a pilaster can have a plain or fluted surface to its profile and can be represented in the mode of numerous architectural styles. During the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

architects used a range of pilaster forms. In the giant order pilasters appear as two storeys tall, linking floors in a single unit. The fashion of using this decorative element from

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and Roman architecture was adopted in the Italian Renaissance, gained wide popularity with

Greek Revival architecture Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, and continues to be seen in some modern architecture.

Gallery

Fragment, Pilaster (France) (CH 18169495).jpg, Two fragments of French pilasters, made of oak, in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York City) Print (Germany) (CH 18244161).jpg, Illustrations of Ionic pilasters with festoons on their capitals, from Germany, in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Print (Germany) (CH 18244365).jpg, Illustrations of Corinthian pilasters, from Germany, in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Vieux-raisin-decor (3).jpg, Part of a

Corinthian pilaster of the Hôtel du Vieux-Raisin (

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, France) File:Strasbourg rJuifs 11d.JPG, Pilaster in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

(France), being Renaissance and Louis XIV style at the same time Lyon - 20 rue Gasparin - Lion ailé.JPG, A pair of pilasters flanking a door in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

(France) 4 Vynnychenka Street, Lviv (10).jpg, Two pilasters in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, (

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) 6 Zavodska Street, Lviv (04).jpg, Capital of a Doric pilaster from

GrottaferrataSNiloIngressoPortalePart1.jpg, Corinthianesque capital of a pilaster from Grottaferrata (Italy) File:Colossal order 8 avenue Opera Paris.jpg, Colossal order of Composite pilasters. 1st and 2nd floors of a 19th-century building, 8 avenue de l'Opéra (Paris) 1RueStDominique-P7-007.jpg, Two pairs of Ionic pilasters flanking a door in Paris Hôtel de Castries (Montpeller) - Porta.jpg, A pair of Doric pilasters flanking a door in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

(France) Snouck van Loosen - tuinmuur, Enkhuizen 02.jpg, A pair of Doric pilasters flanking a door in Enkhuizen (the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) Noard5 Workum.jpg, House from 1663, decorated with Corinthian pilasters, in Workum (the Netherlands) File:Biserica_romano-catolica_din_Sibiu1.jpg, Doric pilasters on the Jesuit Church of Sibiu (

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

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 ...

) 2 Place du Caire, Paris (03).jpg, Egyptian Revival hathoric pilaster on the Foire du Caire building (Paris)

Notes

References

* Lewis, Philippa, and Gillian Darley (1986). ''Dictionary of Ornament''. New York: Pantheon.

External links