Tented roof
A tented roof (also known as a pavilion roof) is a type of polygonal hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak.[1] Tented roofs, a hallmark of medieval religious architecture, were widely used to cover churches with steep, conical roof structures.
In the
A distinctive local adaptation of this roof style was widely used in 16th- and 17th-centuryThe term "tent roof" may also be applied in modern architecture to membrane and thin shell structures comprising roofs of modern materials and actual tents.[3]
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Modern tent roofs at the Denver International Airport using suspended structural membranes.
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A modern tent roof on the Pavilion Hotel in Wagga Wagga, Australia
Russian tent-like churches
The "tent-like church" (шатровая церковь) is a national type of church that was developed in late medieval Russia. It marks a sharp departure from the traditions of Byzantine architecture which never put emphasis on verticality. Sergey Zagraevsky has argued that tented roofs have something in common with European Gothic spires. This architectural development has been described as a Russian parallel to the Gothic architecture of Western Europe. In this local adaptation of the tent roof it took the form of either:
- a polygonal roof made of wood, where wood logs are laid both parallel to the sides of the roof, and across the corners to form squinches, which makes the roof high and rather pointed.
- a roof of similar shape (thin, pointed, nearly conical), made of brick or stone. The lower sections of such a roof are usually constructed of a series of roofed small dormers with gables of semi-circular or onion shape.
Tented roofs are thought to have originated in the Russian North, as they prevented snow from piling up on wooden buildings during long winters. In wooden churches (even modern ones) this type of roof is still very popular. The earliest specimen of such a church was recently transported to an abbey in Vologda. Another notable example is an 18th-century church in Kondopoga, Karelia.
The Ascension church of
Tented roof design has been prone to most unusual interpretations. Some scholars, for example, view hipped roofs of this variety as
Tented churches were exceedingly popular during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Two prime examples dating from his reign employ several tents of exotic shapes and colours arranged in a complicated design. These are the Church of St. John the Baptist in Kolomenskoye (1547) and Saint Basil's Cathedral on the Red Square (1561). The latter church unites nine hipped roofs in a striking circular composition.
In the 17th century tented roofs were placed in a row, sometimes producing astonishing decorative effects. The first instance of this type is the Marvellous Church in
It is said that
See also
References
- ^ a b W. Dean Eastman, Hometown Handbook: Architecture.
- ^ "Tent roof", Illustrated Architecture Dictionary, online at the Buffalo Architecture and History site.
- ^ "Ten-roof" definition on the "Go-Historic" web site Archived 2013-01-24 at archive.today, an encyclopedic travel guide.
- ^ The first stone tented roof church and the origins of the tented roof architecture by Sergey Zagraevsky at RusArch.ru (in Russian)