Chapter 3
Architecture
Architecture and Human Needs
1. Some buildings are designed to shelter
life (house, apartment buildings)
2. House Governments (Capitol Building)
3. House commercial or business activities
(skyscrapers)
4. Provide space devoted to worship gods
5. Designed to honor leaders (Lincoln
memorial)
Post and Lintel
• Earliest and simplest methods of
building with stone.
• Involves placing a horizontal beam or
lintel across the open space between
two posts or other vertical supports.
• Earliest examples from Egyptian
temples dating back to 2700 B.C.
• Tensile strength – the capacity of a
material to withstand bending.
Arch and Vault Construction
• Early architects discovered they
could span larger areas by placing a
round arch made of stone on top of
two supports.
• Barrel Vault several arches placed
front to back to enclose space.
• Made it possible to construct
buildings with stone roofs that could
span a wide space.
Arch and Vault Construction
• Early architects discovered they
could span larger areas by placing a
round arch made of stone on top of
two supports.
• Barrel Vault several arches placed
front to back to enclose space.
• The barrel vault would weaken if
holes were made for windows, so the
interiors of these buildings were
dark and gloomy.
• Barrel Vaults of the Basilica Nova 312 AD. Roman Forum,
Rome
Groin Vault
• Roman builders began using a groin
vault, two barrel vaults placed at
right angles.
• This architecture allowed for four
openings to the interior space.
Groin Vault
Flying Buttresses
• Middle Ages church builders sought
other solutions to the problem letting
light into the interior.
• Plus the height of churches meant
power and closer to God
• A pointed arch was introduced to
achieve both height and light.
• Flying Buttresses were required to
create a thrust-counterthrust to
support the walls and weight of the
roof
• The use of flying
buttresses
allowed the
builders to fill the
spaces between
the supporting
piers with
spectacular
stained-glass
windows
Dome Construction
• A Dome is a hemisphere placed on
walls that enclose a circular or
square space.
• Developed first in the Middle East
then later in ancient Rome.
• Pantheon - Rome
Modern Construction Processes
• Wood Framing – originally based on
the post and lintel system.
• Changed dramatically beginning in
the 1800’s when metal nails were
manufactured in quantities and
sawmills provided lumber in standard
sizes.
• Balloon Framing – heavy posts and
beams built a self supporting system
• Strength is added as the building
comes together.
Iron and Steel Construction
• 19th century brought the development of
iron technology.
• Metal was used more frequently to build
the framework of large buildings and
monuments, such as the Eiffel Tower.
• Steels great strength allowed vast interiors
and lots of glass.
• Steel has great tensile strength.
• Steel skeletons are self-supporting
skeletons.
• By 20th century steel was used throughout
the world, leading to skyscrapers.
Reinforced Concrete Construction
• Concrete, an important building
material in ancient Rome, was not
used again until the end of the 18th
century.
• Used to build lighthouses.
• 19th century builders realized they
could reinforce it with metal rods
before it hardened.
• Known as ferroconcrete, or
reinforced concrete.
Lightweight Structural Systems
• Lightweight metals and plastics offer
contemporary architects new and
exciting materials.
• Internal frames made of intricate
metal rods with spaces between filled
with metal, glass, plastic or some
other material.
Review facts
• In what way is the barrel arch an
improvement over the post and lintel?
• Why is it possible to only span narrow
space with stone?
• How is the barrel vault constructed?
Why were buildings constructed with
barrel vaults dark and gloomy?
• What brought about the dramatic
change in the wood construction in the
19th century?
• What was the purpose of a Flying
Buttress?