The dome is a remarkable engineering and architectural innovation, perhaps made even more so by the fact that those who first employed it lacked the knowledge and technology advantages of today. By considering how a dome supports itself and its various loads as well as the stresses under which it is subjected, and the structures that allow for this to happen, it is not difficult to determine that the domes of antiquity, such as the Pantheon and Hagia Sophia were incredible structural feats in their own rights.
By its definition, a dome is a hemispherical form-resistant structure of small thickness (Salvadori, 2002). Their impressive stability is due to their continuous, curved shape that allows them to withstand bending, tensile, and compressive
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Originally, the dome, designed by Anthemius of Tralles, was not hemispherical. Most of the design was dictated in the space available to build the church and so Anthemius had to be creative. It was designed to span a rectangular surface and so had a different diameter in its X and Y directions. The dome spanned 31.87 m over its major axis and 30.37 m over its minor axis (Varma, Jangid, & Achwal, 2006). The dome was neither a full dome also, rising only 25 ft from its base whereas it would have risen 45 ft. following common convention. To reinforce this shallow dome, forty meridians were placed around the dome where they merged together at the crown (Varma, Jangid, & Achwal, …show more content…
This was in part due to the fact that his complex arrangement that supported the main dome had never been undertaken before and, therefore, how things would react was not completely understood. Also, while he correctly attempted to support the principal support structure with the secondary features (walls, semi domes, etc.), Anthemius did not foresee the larger than normal hoop stress that developed at the base of the main dome; a result of its shallow rise (Salvadori,
Pantheon and Hagia Sophia Pantheon and Hagia Sophia are two extremely outstanding architectural pieces of their times. They have been built according to the traditions of those particular times. The materials used to built these buildings and the purpose for which they were used are all very important aspects and have been briefly covered in this report. Pantheon The statesman Agrippa built pantheon in 27 B.C. Then it was completely rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian. The Pantheon is remarkable for its size, its construction, and its design. The dome was the largest built until modern times. The present structure was probably originally built as a temple for all the pagan gods. We do hear of it as being a law-court and a reception area for Emperor Hadrian meeting his quests too. Some say that the rotunda of the building was once a Roman bath. Due to all this mystery, the Pantheon is often referred to as the Sphinx of Rome. The visitor will probably not appreciate the construction as much as the Flavian amphitheatre, but it is still a great masterpiece of engineering and well worth a visit. Most Roman and Greek temples at the time of the Pantheon's construction were large, colonnaded, rectangular enclosures with sanctuaries situated in their centers. The Pantheon was different. It consisted of a large circular drum topped with a hemispherical dome. It is a masterpiece of both engineering and art a lasting memory of Ancient Rome’s might. Roman architecture is architecture of wall and enclosed tactile space. Individual column with entablature is no longer the basic architectural unity. Spatially, it shows a development from closed, simple space units and regular articulation to more complex spatial relations, more fluid interpenetrati...
Brunelleschi's design of the dome for Florence's cathedral Actions for 'Architecture: Brunelleschi's design of the dome for Florence's cathedral'
Perhaps, the discovery of the dome for Florence’s cathedral, could be said to have been motivated by prize money. The town’s owners promised to pay the person who could come up with solutions, on how a dome could be constructed on the already existing octagonal walls. This begun the process which led to the discovery of the dome by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The story of the building of Filippo Brunelleschi's dome, begins in 1418 when the town fathers of Florence, Italy, held a contest to chose a design for a dome that would cover the high alter of the basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore. They had grand ideas and set parameters that included: No central support, and eight sided dome, and arched rather than cup shaped.
A solitary triumphal arch can hardly give aesthetic satisfaction unless its proportions are in tune with its surroundings, and the Romans do not seem to have given much thought to that aspect. The true triumphal arches are thus those which support the bridges and aqueducts that have survived (n.d. para. 6).
Structures built using the Romanesque style of architecture include the use of rounded arches in their construction. These arches are known for being relatively durable and versatile in their use. Rounded arches resemble the shape of an upside down letter “u,” utilizing the semicircle at the top for structural integrity. These arches push weight outward to the left and right side, then downward. Rounded arches are visually simple and clean looking. However, they are unable to contribute to the building of extremely large structures. If they are constructed too tall, they will collapse under the weight of the building they are meant to support. Alternatively, Gothic architecture widely uses the pointed arch. Seen as a groundbreaking design at the time of its inception, pointed arches look exactly like they sound, with a pointed tip at the very top. They are favorable to rounded arches since they push weight directly downwards, allowing them to support heavier structures without buckling. These arches were capable of supporting the entire weight of the roof, meaning that the walls could be built significantly thinner than their Romanesque counterparts. Structural engineer and professor Mario Salvadori explains, “The main difference between Romanesque and Gothic arches lies in the pointed shape of the latter, which, besides introducing a new
1). The inner shell consists of a main central dome and pendentives, two flanking semi-domes and their satellite semi-domes, also known as exedrae, together with eight vertical supports or piers, outline the oval vessel of the nave. The surrounding outer shell is about less than half the height of the top of the dome and contains aisles and galleries as well as a buttressing system, which transfers thrust from the superstructure to the ground, leaving the magnificent central area open unhindered. These two rudimentary parts are separated by columns and are differentiated by the presence or absence of interior supports and an extremely substantial change in
The Pantheon’s greatness mainly comes from its unique dome, even today the biggest brick dome ever built. Which was a very big challenge to build as the Romans had not discovered reinforced concrete by this time and bricks were to heavy to hold up the structural integrity of the
Monuments such as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and San Vitale in Ravenna, perform a great importance in Byzantine and Islamic architecture. Both of these structures did not exclusively represent the main place of worship, but most importantly as a symbol of achievement and growth within the current times of construction. Starting in 524, under the influence of Orthodox bishop Ecclesius, the development of San Vitale was to represent the achievements of the emperor Justinian. Julius Argentarius was the sponsor for this structure and it was dedicated by Bishop Maximian in 547. The Dome of the Rock is built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in 692 with the help of Abd al-Malik with the suspected intention to symbolize Islams influence in Jerusalem and its involvement in a highly Jewish and Christian supremacy. Although separated by over 100 yrs, both of these domes share multiple similarity's including a projected confidence of their originating culture.
The Hagia Sophia and the Dome of the Rock are two of some of the greatest and most important monuments in the Eastern and the modern world. The Hagia Sophia is an amazing depiction of the Byzantine architecture. It symbolizes the “Golden era” of the Byzantine Empire and is a symbol of modern day Istanbul. The Dome of the Rock is located in Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock is currently a shrine for Islamic believers and some Jews that believe the grounds are sacred. It holds a great religious significance to the rise of Islam in Jerusalem. Even though these major achievements in architecture were built at different times and were built with different styles, they hold many similarities. These similarities include such fascinating examples of
In the first section of his essay, Oleg Grabar provides proof for and against the two commonly known explanations of the Dome of the Rock’s construction. The first explanation he explores is the conception that the Dome of the Rock was built
Geodesic Dome: The geodesic dome was invented by R. Buckminster Fuller. Around the world, geodesic domes are used, for example, Florida’s infamous Disney World, holds a theme park, namely Epcot. It has an attraction, the Spaceship Earth, and is a geodesic dome. A geodesic dome is essentially a sphere that is hollow, its outside made of triangles. The dome is revolutionary in many ways. For one, it goes against the traditional building style, using triangles rather than rectangles. One of the ways Fuller described the differences in strength between a rectangle and a triangle would be to apply pressure to both structures. The rectangle would fold upon itself, but the triangle withstands the pressure and is much more inflexible compared to the latter. “In fact the triangle is twice as strong. Fuller discovered that if a spherical structure was created from triangles, it would have unparalleled strength due to the fact that all the pressure is being transferred from one triangle to another and then passing it to the ground.” The sphere uses the "doing more with less"”principle that Fuller spent his life pursuing in that it encloses the largest volume of interior space with the least amount of surface area. “Fuller reintroduced the idea that when the sphere's diameter is doubled it will quadruple its square footage and produce eight times the volume.” The spherical structure of a dome is one of the most efficient interior atmospheres for human living quarters because air and
The end of the Geometric period resulted in the beginning of the Orientalizing Period, dated between 700-600 BC. Within this time frame, Greek introduced a new innovation, the Peripteral Temple. For many years prior, a row of colonnade was used on the interior primarily to hold up the roof of the building. In contrast, columns are seen being used on the outside, creating a visual wall around the building exposing parts of the interior. With in the temple existed the megaron style, carried forward from Bronze Age homes. It was also in eastern influenced period, the first real stone temples, and terra cotta roof tiles came to exist to hold the weight on these new stone temples. The population grew drastically, introducing new techniques and styles, which blended to form designs with balance and symmetry. It was during this period, two major Greek designs were developed, the Ionic and Doric order. (Pedley, 2012: pg. 180) The Doric order, being the first and most simple, consisted of baseless columns placed closely together as the Greeks did not know how much weight the shortened columns could hold. Reason behind this was the lack of length in the columns were believed to hold less weight and therefore forced into being placed closer together. This closely set arrangement created a very bold statement in the Doric temple. The Capital, which sat on top of the concaved shaped shaft, was left plain but when grouped alongside others, suggested a bold harmony. In contrast, the Ionic order was less bulky and more delicate than the Doric order. The top of the capital is decorated with two scrolls, also known as volutes, which could have resembled a shell or animal horns. Above the capital, held room for a surrounding frieze depictin...
The strength of a gothic building is made to reside in a finely organized framework rather than in its walls. This framework, which consists of perfectly placed piers, arches and buttresses, frees up any unessential impediment of walls and presents a light feeling. The stability of the building depends only on inert massiveness in its outermost parts, whose opposing forces counteract each other in a perfect stability of thrust and counterthrust. Gothic architecture is an artistic, strategic system of engineering, schemes for building were followed for elevations, termed quadratum (four sided) and triangulorum (three sided). 2 This system allowed them to raise their ideal structures according to symbolic measure and numbers reflecting the geometry of the New Jerusalem and its prototype, the Temple of Solomon. (Figure 1.1)