Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
C.
Geometry of Ancient Building Design
It is obvious that the proceedure for setting out plans of buildings on the ground
depends in part on the nature/complexity of these plans. In a basic sense this
relates to what geometrical constructions are required to establish their form, with
the concern being the simplicity of the required operation. In practice the import
of this is that setting out plans by measuring distance is a simpler operation than
measuring out various angles. Certainly the equipment required for measuring
distances is simpler than that for measuring (sighting) dif erent angles. If the plans
of ancient buildings are examined in this light, two generalisations can be made.
Geometri-
cal forms
employed
in ancient
building
(1) It is possible to set out all ancient building plans fairly readily by measuring
out distances alone. In no instance is an instrument for sighting out horizontal
angles a necessity.
(2) h ere is an overall chronological development in the geometric construction
required to set out plans, beginning with the simplest in earliest Neolithic
time and proceeding to the most complicated in Roman times—i.e. there is a
uniform development extending over ca 8 millenia.
h is is made evident by noting the following analytical categories of building plans
according to the geometrical form on which they are based.
(1) Round (circular) building.
(2) Rectangular building.
(3) Non-rectangular, centralised polygonal building.
(4) Non-circular curvilinear building.
h ese categories come into use one at er the other at quite well dei ned junctures
,
but do not totally oust one another. Each category has remained in use to some
degree. However rectangular building replaced round building as the norm, while
polygonal plans and complex curved plans have always been reserved for special
types of (monumental) building. h is is the background to Vitruvius' insistance
that an architect must be familiar with (simple) geometry (I,I,4) and the terms of
his remarks indicate that the requirement applies equally to designing buildings
and to setting out the design on the ground.
1.
Round Building
h e oldest type of solid (load bearing) building in the ancient world (the Middle
East “Round House”, ca 8000 BC) was the simplest imaginable building to set out
21
