Cruciform

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Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.

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Cruciform architectural plan

Etchmiadzin cathedral Present-day plan of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral.png
Etchmiadzin cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral PeterPlanDehio.jpg
Peterborough Cathedral

Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform architecture. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross, with arms of equal length or, later, a cross-in-square plan.

In the Western churches, a cruciform architecture usually, though not exclusively, means a church built with the layout developed in Gothic architecture. This layout comprises:

In churches that are not oriented with the altar at the geographical east end, it is usual to refer to the altar end as "liturgical east" and so forth.

Methodist tabernacles also have a cruciform shape. [1]

Cruciform DNA

Humfrey Wanley by Thomas Hill, 1711.jpg
Librarian Humfrey Wanley holding a facsimile copy of a cruciform Greek manuscript (Lectionary 150)

DNA can undergo transitions to form a cruciform shape, including a structure called a Holliday junction. This structure is important for the critical biological processes of DNA recombination and repair mutations that occur in the cell.

Cruciform joint

A cruciform joint is a specific joint in which four spaces are created by the welding of three plates of metal at right angles.

Cruciform manuscript

A cruciform manuscript was a form of Anglo-Saxon / Insular manuscript written with the words in a block shaped like a cross.

Cruciform melody

In music, a melody of four pitches where a straight line drawn between the outer pair bisects a straight line drawn between the inner pair, thus forming a cross. In its simplest form, the cruciform melody is a changing tone, where the melody ascends or descends by step, skips below or above the first pitch, then returns to the first pitch by step. Often representative of the Christian cross, such melodies are cruciform in their retrogrades or inversions. Johann Sebastian Bach, whose last name may be represented in tones through a musical cryptogram known as the BACH motif that is a cruciform melody, employed the device extensively. The subject of the fugue in c-sharp minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I is cruciform. See also: Cross motif.

Cruciform tail

Jetstream 31 with cruciform tail Jetstream31.jpg
Jetstream 31 with cruciform tail

Some airplanes use a cruciform tail design, wherein the horizontal stabilizer is positioned midway up the vertical stabilizer, forming a cruciform shape when viewed from the front or rear. Some examples are the F-9 Cougar, the F-10 Skyknight and the Sud Aviation Caravelle.

The cruciform tail gives the benefit of clearing the aerodynamics of the tail away from the wake of the engine, while not requiring the same amount of strengthening of the vertical tail section in comparison with a T-tail design.

Cruciform sword

Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Swiss Sword.jpg
Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century

The plain sword used by knights, distinctive due to the flat bar used as a guard. The overall shape of the sword when held point down is that of a cross.

It was very popular due to the protection it offered to the hand and certain attacks that rely on the cross to trap the blade of the enemy. See Sword.

Cruciform web design

Cruciform web designs use a cross-shaped web page that expands to fill the width and height of the web browser window. There are a number of different approaches to implementing them.

Cruciform product design

In addition to common cross-shaped products, such as key chains and magnets, certain designers have gone so far as to create cruciform devices and accessories. For example, the mass-produced cruciform MP3 player "Saint B", or the "iBelieve", an accessory that converts the original iPod Shuffle into a cross shape designed by Scott Wilson in 2005. The cruciform MP3 players often come preloaded with audio files of the New Testament, but are mainly purchased for users to proudly display their faith. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross</span> Geometrical figure

A cross is a compound geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a saltire in heraldic terminology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tailplane</span> Small lifting surface of a fixed-wing aircraft

A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes. Not all fixed-wing aircraft have tailplanes. Canards, tailless and flying wing aircraft have no separate tailplane, while in V-tail aircraft the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and the tail-plane and elevator are combined to form two diagonal surfaces in a V layout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of cathedrals and great churches</span>

Cathedrals, collegiate churches, and monastic churches like those of abbeys and priories, often have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. They also tend to display a higher level of contemporary architectural style and the work of accomplished craftsmen, and occupy a status both ecclesiastical and social that an ordinary parish church rarely has. Such churches are generally among the finest buildings locally and a source of regional pride. Many are among the world's most renowned works of architecture. These include St Peter's Basilica, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cologne Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Antwerp Cathedral, Prague Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica of San Vitale, St Mark's Basilica, Westminster Abbey, Saint Basil's Cathedral, Antoni Gaudí's incomplete Sagrada Família and the ancient cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, now a mosque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baptismal font</span> Church furniture holding water for baptism

A baptismal font is an ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of infant and adult baptism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V-tail</span> Aircraft tail that incorporates rudder and elevators in a V shape

The V-tail or vee-tail of an aircraft is an unconventional arrangement of the tail control surfaces that replaces the traditional vertical and horizontal surfaces with two surfaces set in a V-shaped configuration. It is not widely used in aircraft design. The aft edge of each twin surface is a hinged control surface called a ruddervator, which combines the functions of both a rudder and elevator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transept</span> Architectural element

A transept is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectural traditions, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave. Each half of a transept is known as a semitransept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin cross</span> Symbol of Christianity

A Latin cross or crux immissa is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, giving the cross four arms. Typically the two horizontal and upper vertical arm are the same length, although sometimes the vertical is shorter, however the lower vertical arm is always much longer than any other arm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empennage</span> Tail section of an aircraft containing stabilizers

The empennage, also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow. The term derives from the French language verb empenner which means "to feather an arrow". Most aircraft feature an empennage incorporating vertical and horizontal stabilising surfaces which stabilise the flight dynamics of yaw and pitch, as well as housing control surfaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church architecture</span> Branch of architecture focused on church buildings

Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as churches, chapels, convents, seminaries, etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions. From the Early Christianity to the present, the most significant objects of transformation for Christian architecture and design were the great churches of Byzantium, the Romanesque abbey churches, Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance basilicas with its emphasis on harmony. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns and countryside in which they stood. However, far more numerous were the parish churches in Christendom, the focus of Christian devotion in every town and village. While a few are counted as sublime works of architecture to equal the great cathedrals and churches, the majority developed along simpler lines, showing great regional diversity and often demonstrating local vernacular technology and decoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruciform tail</span> Aircraft tail configuration

The cruciform tail is an aircraft empennage configuration which, when viewed from the aircraft's front or rear, looks much like a cross. The usual arrangement is to have the horizontal stabilizer intersect the vertical tail somewhere near the middle, and above the top of the fuselage. The design is often used to locate the horizontal stabilizer away from jet exhaust, propeller and wing wake, as well as to provide undisturbed airflow to the rudder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stabilizer (aeronautics)</span> Aircraft component

An aircraft stabilizer is an aerodynamic surface, typically including one or more movable control surfaces, that provides longitudinal (pitch) and/or directional (yaw) stability and control. A stabilizer can feature a fixed or adjustable structure on which any movable control surfaces are hinged, or it can itself be a fully movable surface such as a stabilator. Depending on the context, "stabilizer" may sometimes describe only the front part of the overall surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Orthodox church architecture</span> Type of church building

Eastern Orthodox church architecture constitutes a distinct, recognizable family of styles among church architectures. These styles share a cluster of fundamental similarities, having been influenced by the common legacy of Byzantine architecture from the Eastern Roman Empire. Some of the styles have become associated with the particular traditions of one specific autocephalous Eastern Orthodox patriarchate, whereas others are more widely used within the Eastern Orthodox Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross-in-square</span> Architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches

A cross-in-square or crossed-dome plan was the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches. It featured a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross, topped by a dome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelikan tail</span> Type of aircraft tail configuration

The Pelikan tail is an experimental tail design for fighter jets. It was originally conceived by Ralph Pelikan, who was hired by McDonnell Aircraft, later worked for McDonnell Douglas after the merger of McDonnell with Douglas and, after another merger, retired from Boeing. The concept was used in the Northrop YF-23 fighter. However, it has been considered or included in design specifications in the McDonnell Douglas BAE Joint Strike fighter (JSF) design which was eliminated before prototype stage

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holmen Church</span> Church in Copenhagen, Denmark

The Holmen Church is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having hosted the wedding between Margrethe II of Denmark, queen of Denmark between 1972 and 2024, and Prince Henrik in 1967. It is the burial site of such notabilities as naval heroes Niels Juel and Peter Tordenskjold, and composer Niels Wilhelm Gade, and contains artwork by, among others, Bertel Thorvaldsen and Karel van Mander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross motif</span>

In music, the cross motif is a motif.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skien Church</span> Church in Telemark, Norway

Skien Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Skien Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the town of Skien. It is the church for the Skien parish which is part of the Skien prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The red brick church was built in a cruciform design in 1894 using plans drawn up by the architect Hagbarth Martin Schytte-Berg. The church seats about 1,050 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octagonal churches in Norway</span>

An octagonal church has an octagonal architectural plan. The exterior and the interior may be shaped as eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides or only the nave is eight-sided supplemented by choir and porch attached to the octagon. This architectural plan is found in some 70 churches in Norway. Among these Hospitalskirken in Trondheim is the oldest. This type of church plan spread from the Diocese of Nidaros to other parts of Norway. Virtually all octagonal churches in Norway are constructed as log buildings mostly covered by clapboards. Some of the largest churches in Norway are octagonal and the list includes important cultural heritage monuments such as Trinity Church (Oslo), Sør-Fron Church, and Røros Church.

This is the bright and solemn church room of classicism, whether it is such a large building [as Røros Church] or the modest rural log churches, the interior is covered and interconnected by cheerful colors of the Roccoco in marbling and ceiling. This was our last independent contribution to ecclesiastical architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churches in Norway</span>

Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave Church and Lom Stave Church there are traces of older post churches. Post churches were later replaced by the more durable stave churches. About 1,300 churches were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in what was Norway's first building boom. A total of about 3,000 churches have been built in Norway, although nearly half of them have perished. From 1620 systematic records and accounts were kept although sources prior to 1620 are fragmented. Evidence about early and medieval churches is partly archaeological. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. There are about 1620 buildings recognized as churches affiliated with the Church of Norway. In addition, there are a number of gospel halls belonging to the lay movement affiliated with the Church of Norway as well as churches belonging to other Christian bodies. Until the 20th century, most churches were built from wood. 220 buildings are protected by law, and an additional 765 are listed as valuable cultural heritage.

References

  1. Lanier, Gabrielle M.; Herman, Bernard L. (19 June 1997). Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic: Looking at Buildings and Landscapes. JHU Press. p. 275. ISBN   9780801853258 . Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. Gorman, Carma R. (2009). "Religion on Demand: Faith-based Design". Design and Culture. 1 (1): 9–22. doi:10.2752/175470709787375715. S2CID   143513427.