Long time no see/no speak

I think what is poetic and potentially nice about the internet is its opacity.

The fact that, as you put words out, there they go...where? difficult to know.

As content gets indexed...visits indiscernible between crawling robots or human clicks.

Does it matter?

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Today I wanted to talk about the difference between tectonics and stereotomy.

[Briefly]
Stereotomy:
 "the mature technique of stereotomy (from steros, solid, and tomia, cut), which led to the creation of continuous structures consisting of the sum of various layers of stone, more or less regular, and consistently massive and “enclosing”.

Tectonics:
"Northern Europe – an area with a wealth of forests – saw the greater development of the concept of the tectonic (from the Greek tekton, builder) indicating a direct reference to carpentry"

* The re-edited essay has been taken out from the volume by Alfonso Acocella, Stone architecture. Ancient and modern constructive skills, Milano, Skira-Lucense, 2006, pp. 624.

[More Developed]
The role of the construction principles or system is as important as those of the purpose of the building or its form. If the construction system is massive (mass construction), its elements are more or less isotropic and are both loadbearing and enclosing. In the other hand, a skeletal system is a structure of slender linear members defined by its distinction between loadbearing and enclosing functions. These two systems relate to the architectural theory concepts stereotomy of compressive mass and tectonics of the frame respectively, which were defined by Gottfried Semper [4] as the two different material procedures to divide the built form.

They described the fundamental structural and constructive form of architecture and their principles evoked different meanings to the perceiver. A skeletal system or frame is a structure of slender rod-like members assembled to form a two- or three-dimensional composition in which the loadbearing and enclosing functions are fulfilled by different elements. The linear members are erected first and then the spaces between them have to be filled in to create surfaces. Here, the relationship between the internal and external space is achieved not by the structure itself but by non load-bearing elements. The filling becomes an active element in the overall spatial conception. Since framework and filling tend to be made from different materials, the logical conception of a frame construction leads naturally to formal articulation or contrast, allowing clear symbolic expression of the two elements. The non-loadbearing filling carried the symbolism of nonparticipation through history, at the same time that it could give the loadbearing frame an extra-structural purpose (or functional purpose) as focal element. While the frame and the filling enclose an interior, the functional (or extra-structural) purpose of a frame is defining an interior, and the arrangement of its parts is rhythmic with regard to this purpose.

The stereotomy or tectonics of compressive mass is the second material procedure described by Semper [4] and refers to solid construction. Solid construction is made up by casting a material that solidifies upon drying or with layers of modular materials. (Even though the most common materials have been brick, stone and concrete, mass construction is also a possibility with solid wood, where identical units are piled up constructing the built form.) In stereotomy, solid walls are erected and perforated during the building process to create openings, in such way that the openness of the interior spaces with respect to each other and also to the exterior space is greatly restricted. This is how space is created and enclosed, appearing to be permanent, inflexible and rigid. Also, although compressive mass systems can be divided into many identically or similarly shaped pieces, these are unarticulated because their function is basically (structurally and mechanically) the same. This is a clear difference with the tectonics of the frame, where different kinds of activity resulted in articulation of the different elements (i.e. columns, beams or filling).

Citation: Costa Santos, Sandra (2009) Understanding spatial meaning: Reading technique in phenomenological terms. In: Flesh and Space (Intertwining Merleau-Ponty and Architecture), 9th September 2009, University of Illinois, Chicago.