Column partly projecting from the surface of a wall
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,[1] 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[1] of
pseudoperipteralRoman 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.[1]
Gallery
Engaged columns of the House of the North, detail of papyrus-shaped capitals, in the
Heb-sed court,
Djoser's funerary complex,
Saqqara,
Egypt, unknown architect, 2667-2648 BC[2]
^Robertson, Hutton (2022). The History of Art - From Prehistory to Presentday - A Global View. Thames & Hudson. p. 90.
ISBN978-0-500-02236-8.
^Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat (2017). Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Ordinul Arhitecților din România. p. 37.
ISBN978-973-0-23884-6.
^Woinaroski, Cristina (2013). Istorie urbană, Lotizarea și Parcul Ioanid din București în context european (in Romanian). SIMETRIA.
ISBN978-973-1872-30-8.
^Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat (2017). Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Ordinul Arhitecților din România. p. 62.
ISBN978-973-0-23884-6.
^Ghigeanu, Mădălin (2022). Curentul Mediteraneean în arhitectura interbelică. Vremea. p. 360.
ISBN978-606-081-135-0.
Stierlin, Henri The Roman Empire: From the Etruscans to the Decline of the Roman Empire,
TASCHEN, 2002