While I'll save myself the trouble of uploading pictures of all of my favorite domes, if you're not completely busy or want to procrastinate from your finals work(as seen here.), you can check some of these out on Google. A few of the coolest: My own West Virginia State Capitol(It has been called the best state capitol ever built by several notable experts. I'm a bit bias. 50% of the pride I have for my state comes from this building. Cass Gilbert does the state well.) It's a 52 foot dome on pendentives, which was built to mimic the L'Hotel National des Invalides in Paris. Don't tell all those proud mountain people that their dome is actually a french creation..
Also of course the most commonly thought of examples like the Rotunda of (my) University of Virginia. Conceived by Jefferson and company(Jefferson sought the advice of collegiate trained architects,William Thornton and Benjamin Harry Latrobe although this is hard for any WAHOO to admit.)The dome uses a complex system of Guastavino tiles, a system originally designed for vaulting. Since we've already brought him up- Benjamin Harry Latrobe knew a thing or two about domes, and wanted to build one for the US capitol building, but a lass he was only the second architect on the project and spent most of his time working on the reconstruction from damages done during the war of 1812. Rather Charles Bulfinch would begin the Capitol's first dome in 1822 of copper(finished a year later), which would later be replaced by Thomas Walter(the fourth architect) with the one we know today. It's cast iron and is 96 feet in diameter and around 288 feet tall. Don't let the apotheosis of Washington fool you, just beneath the surface is a complex system of iron structure that makes it light, strong, and fire proof(the biggest seller to congress after the 1812 disaster.)Bulfinch also did a great dome at the Massachusetts State House (let me warn you- it's gold.) I couldn't say I've done the topic justice if I didn't mention Hagia Sophia, 102 ft in diameter,and 182 ft. high setting on pendentives(although several get caught up in the illusion that it is floating.)The dome was completed by physicist Isidore of Miletus and mathematician Anthemius of Tralles, who are believed to have no prior architectural knowledge(THIS IS MIND BLOWING.) Further, there is St. Paul's Cathedral in London by Sir Christopher Wren, which used to own London's skyline.
The breath taking Il Duomo in Florence, which physicists are still trying to explain.
As well as two great domes in Rome, The Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica. All of these deserve similarly adequate attention, so check them out.
Finally a dome that never got built. It was planned to be the largest in the world. The dome was planned as a part of the Chicago redesign after the 'Great' Chicago fire(started by a cow.) The hands of Daniel Hudson Burnham are still visible today in one of my favorite cities(Chi-town.) His plan was meant to include a new city hall that was suppose to be around forty stories tall (between 400 and 500 feet.) Obviously the dome was never built, but it would have been Burnham's crowning achievement just before the plan of chicago and the Washington Mall.
No comments:
Post a Comment