What Are the Basic Systems of Construction?

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. " –Frank Lloyd Wright

Architecture Systems

Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures. A wider definition often includes the design of the total built environment, from the macro level of how a building integrates with its surrounding manmade landscape (see town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture) to the micro level of architectural or construction details and, sometimes, furniture. The term "Architecture" is also used for the profession of providing architectural services.

Architects are primarily driven by the creative manipulation of mass, space, volume, texture, light, shadow, materials, program, and pragmatic elements such as cost, construction and technology, in order to achieve an end which is aesthetic, functional and often artistic. This distinguishes architecture from engineering design, which is driven primarily by the creative manipulation of materials and forms using mathematical and scientific principles.

Separate from the design process, architecture is also experienced through the senses, which therefore gives rise to aural, visual, olfactory, and tactile architecture. As people move through a space, architecture is experienced as a time sequence. Even though our culture considers architecture to be a visual experience, the other senses play a role in how we experience both natural and built environments. Attitudes towards the senses depend on culture. The design process and the sensory experience of a space are distinctly separate views, each with its own language and assumptions

Architecture Elements and Forms Video

  • Balloon Frame Construction
    • Framing, in construction known as light frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal joists and sloping rafters or manufactured roof trusses covered by various sheathing materials
       
    • Until the mid-19th century, houses were of shell construction, made of brick or stone, with load-bearing or post and lintel structures. Heavy timbers were assembled by notching and joinery, sometimes with wooden pegs. Nails, if any, had to be fabricated by hand and were very expensive.
      The Industrial Revolution introduced other construction materials, mass-produced nails, and improved methods for milling lumber. First, the builder erects a framework, or skeleton, by nailing together sturdy but lightweight boards (studs), then adds a roof and sheaths the walls. Glass for windows do not interrupt the wood structure, since the sheathing plays little part in holding the building together. This method is still the most popular for homes in Western countries. The term “balloon-framing” was meant as sarcastic, as skeptics thought the buildings would soon fall down. Today, virtually all homes are built with this method.
  • barrel vault
  • A masonry roof constructed on the principle of the arch, that is, in essence, a continuous series of arches, one behind the other. A Barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design. The barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault: effectively a series of arches placed side by side, i.e., one after another. As with all arch-based constructions, there is an outward thrust generated against the walls underneath a barrel vault.
  • Nave of Lisbon Cathedral with a barrel vaulted soffit.
  • The Cloisters, New York City
  • basilica
    • In Roman architecture, a rectangular public building, entered on one of the long sides. In Christian architecture, a church loosely based on the Roman design, but entered on one of the short ends, with an apse at the other end. The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa), was originally used to describe a Roman public building (as in Greece, mainly a tribunal), usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.
       
    • Hagia Sophia, exterior
    • St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy.
    • The Basilica of St. John the Baptist
  • cantilever
    • An architectural form that projects horizontally from its support, employed especially after the development of reinforced concrete construction techniques. A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs. This is in contrast to a simply supported beam such as those found in a post and lintel system. A simply supported beam is supported at both ends with loads applied between the supports.
       
    • Bridge
  • Cast-Iron Construction
     
    • Cast-iron architecture is a form of architecture where cast iron plays a prominent role. It was a prominent style in the Industrial Revolution era when cast iron was relatively cheap and modern steel had not yet been developed.
    • The introduction of a new building material, iron, in the 19th century created a breakthrough in structural systems. Iron had not been used in architecture prior to this. In 1851, Joseph Paxton, a designer of green houses, was challenged to house the “works of industry of all nations” under one roof. He raised in Hyde Park a wondrous building framed in cast iron and sheathed in glass—probably the first modern skeleton-and-skin construction. It covered more than 17 acres and reached a height of 108 feet. Because of an ingenious system of prefabrication, the whole structure was erected in just 16 weeks. This design paved the way for 20th-century architecture.
       
    • Gutav Eiffel, a French engineer, created the centerpiece for the Paris World’s Fair of 1889. The Eiffel Tower rises on four arched columns, which curve inward until they meet in a single tower, thrusting up boldly above the Parisian cityscape. It was a skeleton that proudly showed itself without benefit of any cosmetic embellishment, or skin. Metal in and of itself can make beautiful architecture, as well as a solid framework for a very large structure.
  • colonnade
    • A row of columns set at regular intervals around the building and supporting the base of the roof. In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, as in the famous elliptically curving colonnades that Bernini added to the façade of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, which embrace and define the Piazza. Compare the sequence of baluster forms that go to make a balustrade.
    • Enormous colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg.
  • column
    • A vertical architectural support, consisting of a shaft topped by a capital, and sometimes including a base.
  • Corbelled Arch and Dome
    • A corbel arch (or corbeled / corbelled arch) is an arch-like construction method which uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge.
    • A corbel arch is constructed by offsetting successive courses of stone at the springline of the walls so that they project towards the archway's center from each supporting side, until the courses meet at the apex of the archway (often capped with flat stones). For a corbeled vault covering the technique is extended in three dimensions along the lengths of two opposing walls.
    • Indian architecture is based on post-and-lintel construction. To create arch- and dome-like forms, Indian architects used a technique called corbelling.
  • dome
    • A dome is an architectural structure in the shape of a hemisphere or half globe; it is also an arch rotated 360 degrees on its axis. The stresses in a dome spread in a circle around the dome’s perimeter, unless it is buttressed from all sides.
    • The interior dome of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
    • The interior dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence
       
    • Domes do not have to be perfectly spherical in cross-section, however; a section through a dome may be an ellipse. If the baseline is taken parallel to the shorter of an ellipse's two diameters, a tall dome results, giving a sense of upward reach. A section across the longer axis results in a low dome, capping the volume instead. A very low dome is classified as a saucer dome. All the surfaces of any dome are curved.
       
    • In contrast, the drum of this palace is extended, creating the illusion of a floating, weightless dome. Its majesty is not intended to be obscured, but highlighted. The Taj Mahal was built by the Muslim emperor of India, Shah Jahan, as a tomb for his beloved wife. The graceful pointed arches, pointed dome, and four slender minarets, all point upward. The white marble surface creates a shimmering mirage mirrored in the reflecting pool.
  • entablature
    • The part of a building above the capitals of the columns and below the roof.
    • An entablature is a major element of classical architecture, the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above the columns, resting on their capitals. Entablature is commonly divided into the architrave—the supporting member carried from column to column, pier or wall immediately above; the frieze—an unmolded strip that may or may not be ornamented; and the cornice, the projecting member below the pediment.
    • Entablature of the Doric order
    • Ionic entablature
    • Corinthian entablature
  • entasis
    • The slight swelling in a column design to make the column appear straight to the eye. In architecture, entasis is the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes. Its best-known use is in certain orders of Classical columns that bulge slightly in the middle.
    • Diagram of a Corinthian column
  • fluting
    • The shallow vertical grooves or channels on a column
  • flying buttress
    • On a Gothic church, an exterior arch that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or vault, as in a barrel vault, arching inward toward the exterior wall from the top of an exterior column or pier.
  • groined vault
    • A masonry roof constructed on the arch principle and consisting of two barrel vaults intersecting at right angles to one another.
  • Geodesic Domes
    • This structural system can be attributed to a single individual, the American architectural engineer, R. Buckminster Fuller. The geodesic dome is a bubble formed by a network of metal rods arranged in triangles and further organized into tetrahedrons (a three dimensional figure having four faces). This framework can be sheathed in any lightweight material, including wood, glass, and plaster. It is very light in weight, and amazingly strong because its structure rests on a mathematical, sophisticated use of the triangle. It requires no interior support, and is based on a modular system of construction that can be prefabricated for quick assembly. Fuller patented the geodesic dome in 1947, but it was not until the Montreal World’s Fair, Expo ’67, that the public’s attention was awakened. Sheathed in translucent material, this 250 foot diameter dome lit up the night sky.
  • Load-Bearing Construction
     
    • A load-bearing wall is one in which a wall of a structure bears the weight and force resting upon it, as opposed to a curtain wall, which uses the strength of a sub-wall and superstructure to carry the weight. The materials most often used to construct load-bearing walls in large buildings are concrete, block, or brick.
       
    • Load-bearing walls are one of the earliest forms of construction. With the advent of Gothic architecture, and its vast expanses of windows and high vaulted ceilings, flying buttresses were employed to keep the weight of the building properly distributed. Notre Dame Cathedral has a load-bearing wall structure with flying buttresses.
       
    • The birth of the skyscraper era, the concurrent rise of steel as a more suitable framing system, and the limitations of load-bearing construction in large buildings led to a decline in the use of load-bearing walls in large-scale, commercial structures.
       
    • The Great Friday Mosque at Djenne in Mali is constructed of adobe and coated with mud plaster. This sculptural building shows the tapering and small windows characteristic of this construction. The protruding wooden poles serve to anchor the scaffolding that is erected every few years for restoring the plaster. 
  • platform
    • The base upon which a column rests.
  • pointed arch
    • An arch that is not semicircular but rather rises more steeply to a point at its top.
      The round arch had drawbacks. For one thing, a round arch, to be stable, must be a semi-circle. Therefore, the height of the arch is limited by its width. Barrel vaults are literally and visually heavy, requiring huge masses of stone for stability. Barrel vaults exert an outward thrust all along their base, requiring massive walls not weakened by light-emitting openings.
       
    • These problems were solved during the Gothic period in Europe with the pointed arch. Because the sides arc up to a point, weight is channeled down to the ground at a steeper angle, and therefore the arch can be taller. The vault constructed from peaked arches can also be much taller. The major points of intersection were reinforced with ribs, rather than massive walls. Gothic builders strove to open the walls for large stained glass windows and clear glass. A profusion of these windows required reinforcement from the outside with buttresses, piers, and flying buttresses, depicted in the exterior shot of the Cathedral of Le Mans.
  • post-and-lintel
    • A system of building in which two posts support a crosspiece, or lintel, that spans the distance between them.
    • Stonehenge
       
    • This method is based on two uprights (the posts) supporting a horizontal cross piece (the lintel, or beam). This configuration can be continued indefinitely, supporting one very long horizontal at critical points with vertical posts to carry its weight to the ground. The most common materials for this construction are stone and wood, which do not have great tensile strength, so posts must occur at close intervals. This type of construction has been a favorite method for at least 4,000 years. This ancient Egyptian temple has columns capped by stylized papyrus-flower buds to support heavy stone lintels. Each lintel spans two columns, which in turn support wooden roof beams and roofing. These closely spaced structures are hypo-style halls for the Greek word for “beneath columns.” Ancient Egyptians associated hypo-style halls with the primal swamp of creation, believed to represent the first mound of dry land at the dawn of the world.
       
    • Greek architects developed and codified three major architectural styles, knows as the Greek Orders. The Doric style column, the earliest, has no base separating it from the floor, or lintel below it. The capital is a plain stone slab above a rounded stone. The Ionic style developed a century later and gradually replaced the Doric. This column has a stepped base and a carved capital in the form of two graceful spirals, known as volutes. The Corinthian style appeared in the fourth century B.C.E. and is more elaborate, with a detailed base and a capital carved as a styled bouquet of acanthus leaves.

       
    • The most famous work of Greek architecture, the Parthenon. Here we look at the smaller Temple of Athena Nike, which stands nearby on the Acropolis. The columns are an example of the Ionic style. The stone lintels of Egypt are elaborated into a compound structure, called an entablature, comprised of the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice. The frieze is ornamented with sculpture in relief. The entablature, in turn, supports the triangular pediment, crowned by a cornice. The pediment would have also been ornamented with sculpture in relief. We are familiar with this style, known as Classical, as banks, museums, universities, government buildings, and churches are often built to its standards. 

       
    • The architectural style developed in China around the same time provides a good contrast. Standard material here was wood. This style was adopted by Japan as evidenced by this palace, converted to a Buddhist shrine. The gracefully curved roof rests seemingly lightly on slender wooded columns, creating a floating effect. An invention known as bracket sets allows for this illusional construction. These bracket sets distribute the weight of the roof and large, overhanging eves evenly onto the columns, allowing each column to bear up to five times the weight it could support directly. The curving profile of East Asian roofs is made possible by a stepped truss system that varies the height of each level of the truss to control the pitch and curve of the roof.
  • Reinforced Concrete
    • Late in the 19th century, a method was developed for embedding iron rods inside concrete before it hardens, also known as ferroconcrete. This greatly increases the tensile strength of this otherwise brittle material. Ferroconcrete works like a shell and can form structures that are self-sustaining. Precast, reinforced sections of ferroconcrete were used to create these shell-like forms. The construction difficulties required that necessary technology be invented as the project went along. A symbol of the great port city, it gives the impression of a great clipper ship at full sail. The forms required new material and new techniques. 
  • revitalization
    • To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; or the coming again into activity and prominence.
  • rounded arch
    • We attribute the perfection of the round arch to the Romans in the second century B.C.E. It is an attractive form that enables the architect to open up fairly large spaces in a wall, admitting light, reducing the weight of the walls, and decreasing the amount of material needed. Wedge shaped pieces of stone that meet at an angle are kept perpendicular to the curve of the arch. Because of tensions and compressions inherent in the form, the arch is stable only when the top-most stone, the key stone, has been set in place. During construction, arches must be supported by a wooden framework until they are completed. 

      When the arch is extended in depth by layering many arches behind one another, the result is called a barreled vault. Vault construction makes it possible to create large interior spaces. These large spaces were essential for housing large numbers of people, such as in churches, in the Middle Ages. The Church of Saint Foy is in the Romanesque style, characterized by not only rounded arches, but the massive and heavy stone walls required to support them.

  • shell system
    • In architecture, one of the two basic structural systems in which one basic material both provides the structural support and the outside covering of a building
  • skeleton-and-skin system
    • In architecture, one of the two basic structural systems, which consists of an interior frame, the skeleton, that supports the more fragile outer covering of the building, the skin.
  • Steel-Frame Construction
    • The modern sky-scraper required two late-19th century inventions, the elevator and steel-frame construction, another true skeleton-and-skin arrangement. Builders first erect a steel “cage” that is capable of sustaining the entire weight of the building; then they apply a skin of some other material. The first genuinely modern building, shown here, employed a steel framework sheathed in masonry. Sullivan broke new ground by making his sheathing light. Regular bays of windows are separated by strong, vertical lines, echoing the vertical piers on the four corners. 
       
    • As modern sky-scrapers began to take over cityscapes, ordinances had to be passed to prevent blocking out sunlight from the streets below. If a building filled a city block, it could rise for only a certain number of feet or stories before being “stepped back,” or narrowed. It could rise again for only a specified number of feet before being “stepped back” again. The resulting structures became known as “wedding cake” buildings.
       
    • The International Style emphasized clean lines, geometric form, and an avoidance of superficial decoration. The Lever House is an example of this style with understated form. The building is comprised of two shimmering rectangles, one stacked on top of the other. This design raised the upper rectangle and surrounded it with free space. The base does not rest on the ground, but on thin supports, to allow for open plazas and passage-ways. This graceful form was a welcome relief in quickly growing and crowding American cities.
  • suburb
  • A usually residential area or community outlying a city.
  • suburbs The usually residential region around a major city; the environs.
    Suburbs are commonly defined as residential areas on the outskirts of a city or large town. Most modern suburbs are commuter towns with many single-family homes. Many suburbs have some degree of political autonomy and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods. 
  • The concept of suspension bridges was developed late in the 19th-century. The weight of the structure is suspended from steel cables supported on vertical pylons, driven into the ground. The long sweeping curves and slender lines are among the most graceful in architecture. A suspension bridge is a type of bridge where the main load-bearing elements are hung from suspension cables. While modern suspension bridges with level decks date from the early 19th century, earlier types are reported from the 3rd century BC. Simple suspension bridges, for use by pedestrians and livestock, are still constructed, based upon the ancient Inca rope bridge.