Ceilings: History and Purpose
A ceiling is the overhead surface or surfaces covering a space, and the underside of a floor or a roof. Ceilings are commonly utilized to hide floor and roof construction. They have been special spaces for decoration from the earliest eras: either in coating the flat surface, by bringing out the structural members of roof or floor, or in commandeering it as an area for an overall pattern of relief.
Not much is understood of ancient Greek ceilings, but Roman ceilings were designed richly with relief as well as painting, as is shown by the vault soffits of Pompeian baths. In the Gothic period, the common tendency to use structural parts decoratively then adapted to the creation of the beamed ceiling, for which large cross-girders support smaller floor beams at right angles to them, beams and girders being richly chamfered and molded and usually painted in beautiful colours.
During the Renaissance, ceiling design was developed to its highest peak of originality and variety. Three types were furthered. The first was the coffered ceiling, in the intricate design of which the Italian Renaissance architects far exceeded their Roman prototypes. Circular, square, octagonal, and L-shaped coffers were popular, with their edges richly carved and the field of every coffer marked with a rosette. The second kind consisted of ceilings entirely or somewhat vaulted, generally with arched intersections, with painted bands showcasing the architectural design and with pictures covering the rest of the area. The loggia of the Farnesina villa in Rome, decorated by Raphael and Giulio Romano, is a prime example of this. In the Baroque period, mystical figures in heavy relief, scrolls, cartouches, and garlands were also used to decorate ceilings of this kind. The Pitti Palace in Florence and many French ceilings in the Louis XIV style demonstrate this. In the third sort, which was markedly iconic of Venice, the ceiling became one huge framed image, as in the Doges’ Palace.
In contemporary architecture ceilings often are split into two major forms — the suspended (or hung) ceiling and the exposed ceiling. With ceilings hung at a distance below the structural members, some architects have sought to conceal super amounts of mechanical and electrical equipment, such as electrical conduits, air-conditioning ducts, water pipes, sewage lines, and lighting fixtures. Many suspended ceilings utilize a lightweight metal grid suspended from the structure by wires or rods to hold plasterboard sheets or acoustical tiles.
Other architects, bringing out the aesthetic of the exposed structural system, take enjoyment in showing the mechanical and electrical equipment. From this design, many structural systems have been put in place that have an expressive power in themselves and become desirable ceilings.
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