The Classical Orders are the basis for the organization and proportion of all good traditional design. As long as there has been masonry architecture, buildings have been based on the post and lintel (or column and architrave) model.

The Greeks spent millennia refining the idea of the ‘correct’ proportions of a column. It needed to be strong enough to bear great weight but slender enough to create an expansive feeling of space between them.

The Romans created towering monuments to the height of their power and further refined the shape of the columns, through forced perspective, to make them feel even more magnificent and imposing.

The Renaissance expanded the Classical vocabulary and Gothic cathedrals pushed columns to the limit by trying to build high enough to reach the sky while still admitting heavenly light.

In modern Classical designs we rarely use columns in these ways, but their rhythm and balance still gives us a feeling of stability and permanence. In addition, there is a rich lexicon of architectural elements: capitals, corbels, buttresses, bases, crowns, and cornices to choose from when composing a design.

It’s hard to argue with 5000 years of experience

thumbnails

Marblehead, MA

Custom Furniture

(click to enlarge)

Weston, MA