Bracket (architecture)

Last updated
A classically detailed bracket at the chapel of Greenwich Hospital, London Ceiling bracket detail at chapel, Greenwich Hospital, London.jpg
A classically detailed bracket at the chapel of Greenwich Hospital, London
Bracket for a shelf or hanging items Bracket2 (PSF).jpg
Bracket for a shelf or hanging items

A bracket is a structural or decorative architectural element that projects from a wall, usually to carry weight and sometimes to "strengthen an angle". [1] [2] It can be made of wood, stone, plaster, metal, or other media. A corbel or console are types of brackets. [3]

Contents

In mechanical engineering a bracket is any intermediate component for fixing one part to another, usually larger, part. What makes a bracket a bracket is that it is intermediate between the two and fixes the one to the other. Brackets vary widely in shape, but a prototypical bracket is the L-shaped metal piece that attaches a shelf (the smaller component) to a wall (the larger component): its vertical arm is fixed to one (usually large) element, and its horizontal arm protrudes outwards and holds another (usually small) element. This shelf bracket is effectively the same as the architectural bracket: a vertical arm mounted on the wall, and a horizontal arm projecting outwards for another element to be attached on top of it or below it. To enable the outstretched arm to support a greater weight, a bracket will often have a third arm running diagonally between the horizontal and vertical arms, or the bracket may be a solid triangle. By extension almost any object that performs this function of attaching one part to another (usually larger) component is also called a bracket, even though it may not be obviously L-shaped. Common examples that are often not really L-shaped at all but attach a smaller component to a larger and are still called brackets are the components that attach a bicycle lamp to a bicycle, and the rings that attach pipes to walls.

Uses

Brackets are used in traditional timber framing, including the support of a jettied floor which can be carved. Magdalene Street, Cambridge, England. Sixteenth century Wood carving of satyrt.jpg
Brackets are used in traditional timber framing, including the support of a jettied floor which can be carved. Magdalene Street, Cambridge, England. Sixteenth century

Brackets can support many architectural items, including a wall, balcony, parapets, eaves, the spring of an arch, beams, pergola roof, window box, or a shelf. The term is also used to describe a shelf designed to hold a statue.

In adjustable shelving systems, the bracket may be in two parts, with the load-bearing horizontal support fitting into a wall-mounted slotted vertical metal strip.

Brackets also are an element in the systems used to mount modern facade cladding systems onto the outside of contemporary buildings, as well as interior panels.

Architectural sculptures

Brackets are often in the form of architectural sculptures with reliefs of objects and scrolls. Depending on their material, decorated ones can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be of cast stone or resin-foam materials with faux finishes for use on new buildings in historic revival styles of architecture.

Some brackets and corbels are only ornamental, and serve no actual supporting purpose. [4] [5]

Types

Types of Brackets

  1. Support Brackets: These brackets offer extra support to architectural elements like balconies and canopies. They ensure the weight is properly transferred to the main structure, preventing collapse and other damage.
  2. Corbel: This bracket sticks out from the wall, providing added support to beams, arches, and other architectural features. Corbels are often carved and decorated to enhance their visual appeal, and they can be made from various materials like wood, metal, or stone.
  3. Console Brackets: Similar to corbels but more decorative, console brackets are often used indoors for items like shelves and mantels. They add both support and aesthetic flair to horizontal architectural elements.

There are various other bracket types, including lintel brackets, dentil brackets, gable brackets, balcony brackets, beam brackets, and rafter brackets. [6]

Specialized brackets

Specialized brackets support the coverboards that shield third rails or support the guide bars of rubber-tyred metros

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post and lintel</span> Building system where horizontal elements are held up by vertical ones


Post and lintel is a building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them. This is usually used to hold up a roof, creating a largely open space beneath, for whatever use the building is designed. The horizontal elements are called by a variety of names including lintel, header, architrave or beam, and the supporting vertical elements may be called posts, columns, or pillars. The use of wider elements at the top of the post, called capitals, to help spread the load, is common to many architectural traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantilever</span> Beam anchored at only one end

A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilever can be formed as a beam, plate, truss, or slab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scaffolding</span> Temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials

Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other human-made structures. Scaffolds are widely used on site to get access to heights and areas that would be otherwise hard to get to. Unsafe scaffolding has the potential to result in death or serious injury. Scaffolding is also used in adapted forms for formwork and shoring, grandstand seating, concert stages, access/viewing towers, exhibition stands, ski ramps, half pipes and art projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle frame</span> Main component of a bicycle

A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangle and a paired rear triangle. This is known as the diamond frame. Frames are required to be strong, stiff and light, which they do by combining different materials and shapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crane (machine)</span> Type of machine

A crane is a machine used to move materials both vertically and horizontally, utilizing a system of a boom, hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves for lifting and relocating heavy objects within the swing of its boom. The device uses one or more simple machines, such as the lever and pulley, to create mechanical advantage to do its work. Cranes are commonly employed in transportation for the loading and unloading of freight, in construction for the movement of materials, and in manufacturing for the assembling of heavy equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corbel</span> Piece of masonry jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight

In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the structure. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger" in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornice</span> Horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture

In architecture, a cornice is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a pedestal, or along the top of an interior wall. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown, as in crown moulding atop an interior wall or above kitchen cabinets or a bookcase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boat building</span> Design and construction of floating vessels

Boat building is the design and construction of boats — and their on-board systems. This includes at minimum the construction of a hull, with any necessary propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other service systems as the craft requires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Table (furniture)</span> Piece of furniture with a flat top

A table is an item of furniture with a raised flat top and is supported most commonly by 1 to 4 legs. It is used as a surface for working at, eating from or on which to place things. Some common types of tables are the dining room tables, which are used for seated persons to eat meals; the coffee table, which is a low table used in living rooms to display items or serve refreshments; and the bedside table, which is commonly used to place an alarm clock and a lamp. There are also a range of specialized types of tables, such as drafting tables, used for doing architectural drawings, and sewing tables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Framing (construction)</span> Construction technique

Framing, in construction, is the fitting together of pieces to give a structure support and shape. Framing materials are usually wood, engineered wood, or structural steel. The alternative to framed construction is generally called mass wall construction, where horizontal layers of stacked materials such as log building, masonry, rammed earth, adobe, etc. are used without framing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fly system</span> Rigging above a theater stage

A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of ropes, pulleys, counterweights and related devices within a theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components such as curtains, lights, scenery, stage effects and, sometimes, people. Systems are typically designed to fly components between clear view of the audience and out of view, into the large space, the fly loft, above the stage.

This page is a glossary of architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belt course</span> Continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall

In Jamaican building construction, "Belt course" otherwise called "Belting" refers to a continuous concrete beam or slab that is boxed and cast across the top of the wall spanning the concrete blocks and tying in all columns to provide structural support and to carry the weight of the roof or another story. The slabs or beams across windows and doors are called "Lintel" and are there for structural support.

A sector antenna is a type of directional microwave antenna with a sector-shaped radiation pattern. The word "sector" is used in the geometric sense; some portion of the circumference of a circle measured in degrees of arc. 60°, 90° and 120° designs are typical, often with a few degrees 'extra' to ensure overlap and mounted in multiples when wider or full-circle coverage is required. The largest use of these antennas is as antennas for cell phone base-station sites. They are also used for other types of mobile communications, for example in Wi-Fi networks. They are used for limited-range distances of around 4 to 5 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pallet racking</span> Material handling storage aid system designed to store materials on pallets

Pallet rack is a material handling storage aid system designed to store materials on pallets. Although there are many varieties of pallet racking, all types allow for the storage of palletized materials in horizontal rows with multiple levels. Forklift trucks are usually required to place the loaded pallets onto the racks for storage. Since the Second World War, pallet racks have become a ubiquitous element of most modern warehouses, manufacturing facilities, retail centers, and other storage and distribution facilities. All types of pallet racking increase storage density of the stored goods. Costs associated with the racking increases with increasing storage density.

<i>Dougong</i> Architectural element in East Asian structures

Dougong is a structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, important in traditional Chinese architecture for both its structural capacities and cultural implications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timber roof truss</span> Structural framework of timbers

A timber roof truss is a structural framework of timbers designed to bridge the space above a room and to provide support for a roof. Trusses usually occur at regular intervals, linked by longitudinal timbers such as purlins. The space between each truss is known as a bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelf (storage)</span> Flat horizontal plane used for storage

A shelf is a flat, horizontal plane used for items that are displayed or stored in a home, business, store, or elsewhere. It is raised off the floor and often anchored to a wall, supported on its shorter length sides by brackets, or otherwise anchored to cabinetry by brackets, dowels, screws, or nails. It can also be held up by columns or pillars. A shelf is also known as a counter, ledge, mantel, or rack. Tables designed to be placed against a wall, possibly mounted, are known as console tables, and are similar to individual shelves.

A structural support is a part of a building or structure that provides the necessary stiffness and strength in order to resist the internal forces and guide them safely to the ground. External loads that act on buildings cause internal forces in building support structures. Supports can be either at the end or at any intermediate point along a structural member or a constituent part of a building and they are referred to as connections, joints or restraints.

In radio systems, many different antenna types are used whose properties are especially crafted for particular applications. Most often, the greatest effect is due to the size (wavelength) of the radio waves the antenna is to intercept or produce; one competing second effect is differences in optimization for receiving and for transmitting; another competing influence is the number and bandwidth of the frequenc(y/ies) that any single antenna must intercept or emit.

References

  1. "Bracket | Definition of Bracket". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  2. "Brass,Bronze,Iron Hand rail Brackets". Archived from the original on 23 February 2005. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  3. Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0). Oxford University Press; 2009
  4. "bracket". britannica.com. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  5. Poppeliers, John C. (1983). What Style Is It? . New York: John Wiley & Sons. p.  106. ISBN   0-471-14434-7.
  6. layakarchitect (21 July 2022). "What is Brackets in Architecture? (Types & Uses)". layakarchitect.