Fluted Column and Pillar Basics

A column or pillar is divided into a shaft, a base and a capital. In classical building architecture, the horizontal structure that is supported on the columns like a beam is called an entablature. The entablature is commonly divided into the architrave, the frieze and the cornice. The capital is used as the most distinct characteristics of columns and pillars.

A complete column and entablature consist of a number of uniquely distinct parts. At the bottom, the stylobate is the flat pavement on which the columns are placed. Above the stylobate is the plinth, a square or circular block which forms the lowest part of the base. The remainder of the base may contain many circular moldings with architecturally stylistic profiles. Some examples are the convex torus and the concave scotia, separated by fillets or bands.

The main part of a column and pillar is the shaft. The shaft is mainly cylindrical in shape and both long and narrow. The shaft is often decorated with vertical hollows of fluting. Architectural columns are most often wider at the bottom than at the top, because of an entasis, beginning a third of the way up. This makes the column slightly more slender at the top.

The top of the column or pillar's shaft is the capital. Architectural columns have a load-bearing function, which concentrates the weight of the entablature, but it primarily serves an decorative purpose. The Doric capital is the simplest capital and consists of three parts. The necking is often visually separated by one or many grooves. The echinus lies above the necking. The echinus is a circular block that supports the abacus (a square block that supports the entablature).

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