In these Monday meanderings, perhaps of late, I have I waxed too philosophical, too focused on the world of the state-of-things, rather than architecture. 
 
I repent (sort of).  
 
(Since you are all reading your screen, you're all in the first row. People who sit in the front row, as I did in college, do so for one or more of three reasons: 1) They really are that interested, 2) They want to impress the professor and 3) Being so close up forces them to stay awake. Whatever your reason, cool. As my professors used to say, "If you'll hang in there and just get through this, it'll be worth it. It was and maybe this will be too!)
 
Let us talk today of one of the most important elements of architecture, the column. In the same manner as my formal education, we will start with a brief history of the column, moving to the Classical Order of columns and then, time permitting, we will explore the role of columns today.
 
Finally, the gorillas left the jungle on two legs remembering, vaguely, how trees held up the shady forest canopy. As they explored and moved into more permanent residence, caves, the stalactites and stalagmites, merging from the ceilings and the floors, reminded them of the columnar trees that held up their long lost forest home. But caves were dark and except for the occasional deaf bat, these no longer vertically challenged hominids had to emerge from their dens to forage for food. Their protruding brow-ridge, like a portable stone overhang, connected to a steeply back-sloping forehead, fitting and befitting the smaller brain, of course. As wanton evolution would have it, however, the prior began to recede as the latter advanced, their brains growing in proportion to the need for speed. They had to catch the critters they wanted to eat. Eyebrow hair, of course, became thicker, in an effort to compensate for the sudden overabundance of sunlight. Their eyes, heretofore cast in shadow by the now, fully receded brow and because the hat had not yet been invented, longed for the canopy of the forest, the roof of the cave. Then one day, a bigger brained bloke, realized he could make his own canopy by mounting on tall, thin wood things, other wood things, then more branches with leaves and voila! Post and Beam Construction. The column is born. The role of architect, assured!
 
Let us now shift forward some fifty thousand or two hundred fifty thousand years (depending on whom you don't believe). We find the Egyptians constructing columns out of stone, really big stone. By then, of course, hats had been invented. Humankind had portable shading devices but the desire to be back in the protection, the wonder, the womb of the jungle remained. Only priests and masons (the architects), commanded the magic of the making of forest.

Fast forward. I can tell I'm losing some people, even in the front row!
 
So the Greeks steal the column from the Egyptians and, believing they must be fundamentally different than the Egyptians, they reinterpret the column into their own architectural style. Wanting to make the columns feel more alive and flowing, like the sheer gowns they wore (when they wore anything at all), they invented fluting. Ah, but not so fast! The Greeks actually adopted fluting from the Egyptians too, for the first fluted columns date back to Egypt's Middle Kingdom (2040 - 1640 BC). And if we take an even closer look at the Fathers of Western Thought, the principle architectural ornamentation used by the Greeks was borrowed from their Southern predecessors.

And from the Greeks we remember three principal orders of columns, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.

The Doric column is the oldest, dating back to around 600 BC. The Doric column has no base. It was placed directly on the stylobate (the top step of the temple floor). It has a fluted shaft, which tapers toward the top, and a capital consisting of a simple curved member upon which sits a square block called the abacus. The top section of the shaft and the capital were cut from one block of stone. The transition from the shaft to the capital was at first defined by a concave molding. As the style evolved this feature was replaced by three or four projecting bands.

The Ionic column developed in the late fifth century BC. Its shaft is more slender than the shaft of the Doric column and the capital is distinguished by a pair of volutes (which look like rams' horns) back and front beneath which the necking is generally embellished. While the flutings of the Doric columns meet in a sharp angle, the flutings of the Ionic column are separated from each other by a narrow flat band. The Ionic column has a clearly defined base with carved moldings which sits on the stylobate. On the whole, the look of the Ionic column is more graceful than the Doric.

The Corinthian column is even more highly ornamented than the Ionic. Its capital is further embellished with a single or double row of stylized acanthus leaves. On some Corinthian columns, volutes appear to grow out of the leaves. The base is similar to the Ionic, but more refined. The Corinthian column evolved in the second century BC and continued to be a popular element in Roman architecture.

Tuscan columns were a Roman development and the Romans, of course, are known as the best copiers in the world. By Roman times, any memory of the primeval forest was long lost in lusty living. Romans made columns faster and cheaper and they put them on everything, including walls that didn't need columns. We call these, pilasters. Tuscan columns, in many ways, evoke a return to the simplicity of the Doric column. Their shafts are generally tapered but left unfluted. The base and capital are virtually unembellished. And here, I speculate. The reason for the return to the Doric order was because the Tuscan column is easier to construct and therefore, cheaper.

But what is this? (This will wake you all up!)
 
On the same sea as sailed the Egyptians, the Greeks and later the Romans, pre-existed a "lost" civilization, the Minoans. The Minoans turned the whole idea of columns upside down, artistically and literally.  The Minoa column evokes the primeval jungle sojourn more than any other column.
 
Minoan columns are wider at the top and more narrow at the bottom. We call these columns "inverted" because Greek columns are wider at the bottom and in false perspective, seem to thrust higher the ceiling and roof architecture. The Minoan column, on the other hand, visually brings the canopy closer to the occupant, a more intimate connection. So we pose the question: Which is the truly inverted column? I suggest we make a case that the Greek were indeed the upside down columns.
 
The Minoan columns were usually constructed of wood, painted red almost always. Red, the compliment of forest green. A pillowing, round capital graced the top, suggestive of billowing canopy. The Art of Expression.
 
The art of Minoan expression speaks of a society of joyous disposition, in touch with their environment and in awe of the logical and natural order. Above all, Minoan expression reveals a people with a high degree of self-respect and a keen eye for observing, adopting and adapting to their physical and natural environment.

Bueno! Hey, wake up there! Our history lesson is over for today.
 
Class is almost over, but let's first do a quick check-in on columns today, before we check-out.
 
 Looking up "classical columns" on the internet, the top sites were, "Columns under $138!" and "Column Finder - Any Column, Any Style, Any Size. Cheap!"
 
Don't you just love it?
 
We can now copy any column style in history and we can have them manufactured out of just about anything, we can order them, on line and cheap. I bet, we could even find an "Inverted Minoan Column in Red, Bearing or Non-Bearing" (meaning, "able to hold something up or fake").

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Choose by Column Style

Round Tapered Columns
Fiberglass Round Tapered Columns: Plain & Fluted
Polymer Stone Round Tapered Columns: Plain & Fluted
Polyurethane Round Tapered Columns: Plain & Fluted
Stain-grade Wood Round Tapered Columns: Plain & Fluted

Round NON-Tapered Columns
Fiberglass Round NON-Tapered Columns: Plain & Fluted
Polyurethane Round NON-Tapered Columns: Plain & Fluted

Twist Columns or Rope Columns
Polymer Stone Rope Columns
We have twist columns available from High Density Polyurethane but they are not pictured on our website. Please call or email for more information.

 
Square Tapered Columns
Fiberglass Square Tapered Columns

We have Square tapered columns available from Cellular PVC (come in 4 interlocking sections; not loadbearing) but they are not pictured on our website. These are ideal for installation around structural members i.e. wood posts and lally columns. We can manufacture custom square tapered columns from our Polymer Stone line. Please call or email for more information.

Square Non-Tapered Columns
Fiberglass Square Columns: Plain, Panel, Fluted
Polyurethane Square Columns: Plain, Panel, Fluted

Let's reflect just before the bell.
 
Column "styles" of Polyurethane, fiberglass and polymer stone.
 
I wonder. A column supports something. A column is a pillar.

May we end this Monday with a question?
 
As pillars in our communities, of what materials are we made, of what style are we cast? What do we support and against what, do we stand?
 
Aren't columns grand?