A column, one of eight, on Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Italy. This picture shows how massive columns can be.

These are composed of stacked segments and finished in the Corinthian style (Temple of Bel, Syria)

Table showing values of K for structural columns of various end conditions (adapted from Manual of Steel Construction, 8th edition, American Institute of Steel Construction, Table C1.8.1)

Church of San Prospero, Reggio Emilia, Italy

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Columns

A column in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. Other compression members are often termed columns because of the similar stress conditions. more...

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Columns can be either compounded of parts or made as a single piece. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. Column in architecture refers specifically to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative features. A column might not support any major structure but be a decorative or triumphant feature with e.g a statue on top.

History

In the architecture of ancient Egypt as early as 2600 BC the architect Imhotep made use of stone columns whose surface was carved to reflect the organic form of bundled reeds; in later Egyptian architecture faceted cylinders were also common.

Some of the most elaborate columns in the ancient world were those of Persia especially the massive stone columns erected in Persepolis. They included double-bull structures in their capitals. The Hall of Hundred Columns at Persepolis, measuring 70 x 70 meters was built by the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes I (465-424). Many of the ancient Persian columns are standing.

The impost (or pier) is the topmost member of a column. The bottom-most part of the arch, called the springing, rests on the impost.

Structure of columns

Columns vary in design. Some are produced out of single pieces of stone, usually by turning on a lathe-like apparatus. Single-piece columns are among the heaviest stones used in architecture. Other columns are created out of multiple sections of stone, mortared or dry-fit together. In many classical sites, sectioned columns were carved with a center hole or depression so that they could be pegged together, using stone or metal pins. More recently, columns have been constructed out of poured or precast concrete, or even brick, and then faced with stone veneer.

The design of most columns incorporates entasis (the inclusion of a slight outward curve in the sides) plus a reduction in diameter along the height of the column, so that the top is as little as 83% of the bottom diameter. This reduction mimics the parallax effects which the eye expects to see, and tends to make columns look taller and straighter than they are while entasis adds to that effect.

Equilibrium, instability, and loads

As the axial load on a perfectly straight slender column with elastic material properties is increased in magnitude, this ideal column passes through three states: stable equilibrium, neutral equilibrium, and instability. The straight column under load is in stable equilibrium if a lateral force, applied between the two ends of the column, produces a small lateral deflection which disappears and the column returns to its straight form when the lateral force is removed. If the column load is gradually increased, a condition is reached in which the straight form of equilibrium becomes so-called neutral equilibrium, and a small lateral force will produce a deflection that does not disappear and the column remains in this slightly bent form when the lateral force is removed. The load at which neutral equilibrium of a column is reached is called the critical or buckling load. The state of instability is reached when a slight increase of the column load causes uncontrollably growing lateral deflections leading to complete collapse.