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An architectural detail is a small piece of the whole, yet it has the power to characterize and define the entire building.
-from Beyond bolts: architectural details construction, meaning.
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Towers, Turrets and Similar Structures
What is the difference between a tower and a turret? Isn t a turret round? Good questions were posed by Quill readers this week. Here is an attempt to answer those questions.
A tower is a building or structure high in proportion to its lateral dimensions, either isolated or forming part of a building, according to Dictionary.com. Most current definitions of the word tower avoid descriptions of the shape of the structure.
A turret is defined in several dictionaries simply as a small tower. As with the definition of the word tower, current, especially online dictionaries, refrain from describing a turret as either round or square. Here are several more La Harpe buildings that can fit the tower description.
" First, at 801 East Main Street, Banks and Beals Funeral Home features a tower which may also be called a turret. It has a hexagonal gazebo style roof with both a decorative spire and a weather vane at its top. The area between the roof and the top of the upper windows is finished with fish scale shingles.
" The La Harpe United Methodist on North First Street, has a steeple that can fit the tower description. Very simple, geometric in shape, it features the angular cross on top of the conical steeple centered on a rectangle which sits on a square. Its white color contrasts nicely against the brick walls of the church.
The cupola sitting on top of the La Harpe Telephone Company, on North Center Street, is another type of tower. A cupola is defined as a small structure built on top of a roof. The windows of this multi-sided structure are shuttered and a weather vane graces the top of it .
A final tower of sorts is exemplified by the steel grain storage bins at the La Harpe Elevator.
The sleek, metal of the bins, each topped with a conical roof and surrounded by angular machinery ably reflects the efficiency of modern agriculture. Meanwhile, smaller bins, like those shown here, stand as a monument to the individual farmer and the fact that local agriculture helps to feed the world.
Questions about these articles and suggestions for highlighting other architectural details are always welcome.
The tower at Banks and Beals Funeral Home. With hexagonal gazebo style roof and decorative fish scale shingles between the roof and the upper windows.
The steeple of the United Methodist Church is another example of a tower
This cupola is a small version of a tower.
These tower like structures reflect the value of local agriculture both to the community and the people across the world it feeds. \