# Pilaster > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pilaster > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pilaster.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilaster > Source revision: 1346148566 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Decorative architectural element giving the appearance of a supporting column}} {{for-multi|part of the human [femur](/source/femur)|Linea aspera|the racehorse|Pilaster (horse)|the building material|Plaster}} [[File:Paris 06 - St Sulpice int 01.jpg|thumb|250px|Two decorative [Corinthian](/source/Corinthian_architecture) pilasters in the [Church of Saint-Sulpice](/source/Church_of_Saint-Sulpice%2C_Paris) (Paris)]] In [architecture](/source/architecture), a '''pilaster''' is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or [column](/source/column) integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative [element](/source/%3ACategory%3AArchitectural_elements) in [classical architecture](/source/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](/source/Capital_(architecture)) at the top, [plinth](/source/plinth) (base) at the bottom, and the various other column elements. In contrast to a Classical pilaster, an [engaged column](/source/engaged_column) or [buttress](/source/buttress) can support the structure of a wall and roof above. ==Definition== A pilaster is 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.{{sfn|Drysdale|Hamid|2005|pp=444-445}} It is also a purely [ornamental](/source/Ornament_(art)) element used in [Classical architecture](/source/Classical_architecture). As such it may be defined as a flattened column which has lost its three-dimensional and tactile value.{{cite journal | journal = Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes | title = Alberti's Approach to Antiquity in Architecture | jstor = 750120 | last = Wittkower | first = Rudolf | volume = 4 | number = 1/2: Oct., 1940 - Jan., 1941 | page = 3 | date = 1940 | publisher = Warburg Institute | location = London | doi = 10.2307/750120 | s2cid = 195049595 }} ===In Classical architecture=== In discussing [Leon Battista Alberti](/source/Leon_Battista_Alberti)'s use of pilasters, which Alberti reintroduced into wall-architecture, [Rudolf Wittkower](/source/Rudolf_Wittkower) wrote: "The pilaster is the logical transformation of the column for the decoration of a wall." A pilaster appears with a [capital](/source/capital_(architecture))A useful phrase to identify a section of pilaster without a capital, with only its fluting to identify its relation to a column, is "pilaster strip". and [entablature](/source/entablature), also in "low-[relief](/source/relief)" 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](/source/entasis). Pilasters often appear on the sides of a door frame or window opening on the [facade](/source/facade) of a building, and are sometimes paired with columns or [pillar](/source/Column)s set directly in front of them at some distance away from the wall, which support a roof structure above, such as a [portico](/source/portico). These vertical elements can also be used to support a recessed [archivolt](/source/archivolt) around a doorway. The pilaster can be replaced by ornamental [brackets](/source/Bracket_(architecture)) 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'''.Ching, Francis D. K. (1995). ''A Visual Dictionary of Architecture''. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. {{ISBN|0-442-02462-2}}, p. 266. 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](/source/Renaissance_architecture) and [Baroque](/source/Baroque_architecture) architects used a range of pilaster forms.{{Citation | title= Pilaster Play|author= Mark Jarzombek|author-link= Mark Jarzombek| journal= Thresholds | url= https://web.mit.edu/mmj4/www/downloads/thresholds28.pdf | volume= 28 (Winter 2005)| pages=34–41}} In the [giant order](/source/giant_order) pilasters appear as two storeys tall, linking floors in a single unit. The fashion of using this decorative element from [ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_architecture) and [Roman architecture](/source/Ancient_Roman_architecture) was adopted in the [Italian Renaissance](/source/Italian_Renaissance), gained wide popularity with [Greek Revival architecture](/source/Greek_Revival_architecture), 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](/source/Cooper_Hewitt%2C_Smithsonian_Design_Museum) (New York City) Print (Germany) (CH 18244161).jpg|Illustrations of [Ionic](/source/Ionic_order) pilasters with [festoon](/source/festoon)s on their capitals, from Germany, in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Print (Germany) (CH 18244365).jpg|Illustrations of [Corinthian](/source/Corinthian_order) pilasters, from Germany, in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Vieux-raisin-decor (3).jpg|Part of a [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance_architecture) [Corinthian](/source/Corinthian_order) pilaster of the [Hôtel du Vieux-Raisin](/source/H%C3%B4tel_du_Vieux-Raisin) ([Toulouse](/source/Toulouse), France) File:Strasbourg rJuifs 11d.JPG|Pilaster in [Strasbourg](/source/Strasbourg) (France), being Renaissance and [Louis XIV style](/source/Louis_XIV_style) at the same time Lyon - 20 rue Gasparin - Lion ailé.JPG|A pair of pilasters flanking a door in [Lyon](/source/Lyon) (France) 4 Vynnychenka Street, Lviv (10).jpg|Two pilasters in [Lviv](/source/Lviv) ([Ukraine](/source/Ukraine)) 6 Zavodska Street, Lviv (04).jpg|Capital of a [Doric](/source/Doric_order) pilaster from [Lviv](/source/Lviv) GrottaferrataSNiloIngressoPortalePart1.jpg|Corinthianesque capital of a pilaster from [Grottaferrata](/source/Grottaferrata) (Italy) File:Colossal order 8 avenue Opera Paris.jpg|[Colossal order](/source/Colossal_order) of Composite pilasters. 1st and 2nd floors of a 19th-century building, 8 [avenue de l'Opéra](/source/avenue_de_l'Op%C3%A9ra) (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](/source/Montpellier) (France) Snouck van Loosen - tuinmuur, Enkhuizen 02.jpg|A pair of Doric pilasters flanking a door in [Enkhuizen](/source/Enkhuizen) (the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands)) Noard5 Workum.jpg|House from 1663, decorated with Corinthian pilasters, in [Workum](/source/Workum) (the Netherlands) File:Biserica_romano-catolica_din_Sibiu1.jpg|Doric pilasters on the [Jesuit Church](/source/Jesuit_Church%2C_Sibiu) of [Sibiu](/source/Sibiu) ([Transylvania](/source/Transylvania), [Romania](/source/Romania)) 2 Place du Caire, Paris (03).jpg|[Egyptian Revival](/source/Egyptian_Revival_architecture) [hathor](/source/hathor)ic pilaster on the Foire du Caire building (Paris) ==See also== * [Glossary of architecture](/source/Glossary_of_architecture) * [Classical order](/source/Classical_order) * [Lesene](/source/Lesene) * [Post and lintel](/source/Post_and_lintel) ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==Sources== * {{Cite book |last1=Drysdale |first1=Robert G. |last2=Hamid |first2=Ahmad A. |date=2005 |chapter=Columns and Pilasters |title=Masonry Structures: Behaviour and Design |url=https://archive.org/details/masonrystructure0000drys/page/n1/mode/2up |pages=429–452 |isbn=978-0-9737209-0-7}} * Lewis, Philippa, and Gillian Darley (1986). ''Dictionary of Ornament''. New York: Pantheon. ==External links== {{wiktionary | pilaster|position=left}} {{Commons category|Pilasters|position=left}} {{classical orders}} {{Authority control}} Category:Architectural elements Category:Columns and entablature --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pilaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilaster) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilaster?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.