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Dome -
Dome is a common
structure object of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half
of a sphere. Domes don't have to be perfectly spherical in
cross section, however; a dome may be a section through 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 a saucer dome (see below). All the surfaces
of any dome are curved. A spectacular innovation, one that is at the
heart of Baroque style, is the oval dome, which gives axial direction
and movement to the space beneath it. Though the oval dome is identified
with churches of Bernini and Borromini, the first oval dome was erected
by Vignola for a small chapel, Sant'Andrea in via Flaminia often called
Sant'Andrea del Vignola, which was commissioned in 1552 by Julius III,
and finished the following year, the biggest oval dome was built in the
basilica of Vicoforte by Francesco Gallo.
Domes that have been disproportionately influential in later
architecture are those of the Great Stupa in Sanchi (actually, a solid
mound with stone facing), the Pantheon in Rome, Hagia Sophia in
Istanbul, and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. In Western
architecture, the most influential domes built since the Renaissance
have been those of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and Jules
Hardouin-Mansart's dome at Les Invalides in Paris. The dome of St.
Paul's Cathedral in London was the inspiration for the United States
Capitol in Washington, which in turn inspired domes of most of the US
state capitols. See further influential domes below.
A cathedral is often referred to as a duomo in Italian or "dom" in
German, not because so many are crowned with crossing domes over the
space where transepts intersect the nave, but from the Latin "domus",
house, in this case the "domus dei", the house of God. A dome is a mark
of palatial ambitions whenever it is seen crowning a residence. The
first residential domes were seen in Nero's Domus Aurea that covered the
slope of the Palatine Hill, built after the Great Fire of Rome of AD 64
with a lavishness that scandalized the senatorial class.
In the 20th century, thin "eggshell" domes of pre-stressed concrete by
architect-engineers such as Nervi opened new directions in fluid vaulted
spaces enclosed beneath freeform domed space which now might be
supported merely at points rather than in the traditional constricting
ring.
Saucer
dome
A saucer dome is the
architectural term used for a low pitched shallow dome. Described
geometrically as being of circular base and a segmental (less than a
semicircle) section.
Gaining in popularity from the 18th century onwards, the saucer dome is
often a feature of interior design, viewed from below it resembles the
shallow concave shape of a saucer. The dome itself being often contained
in the space between ceiling and attic is invisible externally. These
domes are usually decorated internally by ornate plaster-work,
occasionally they are frescoed.
They are seen occasionally externally in Byzantine churches and mosques.
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