Overview

The column is a mediator, a support, and a structuring element at the same time. Resembling the trunk of a tree, in early cultures, the column was associated with the column of life , and combined firmitas - the capability of supporting - with venustas, the elegance of the body. It acts as a mediator between heaven and earth, top and bottom, and if placed in a row as a colonnade, such a row looks like a holed wall (Alberti), a type of perforated wall that allows one to look into another space, opening the view. Together with its crown - the capital - the column forms a unity that symbolizes growth, unfolding and confinement. Comparing the column with the human body was a key aspect of Greek architecture. Set in relation to the shaft, the capital plays a similar role to that of the head to the body. This reference to the head is implicit in the etymology of the capital, which comes from capitulum, meaning small head . Another relevant reference, from Egyptian times onwards, is that of a plant or tree, which symbolizes the natural capacity to grow and to unfold, combining dynamics with proportion and order.

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