Cylinders: More Than Architects’ Pipe Dreams

They may look fanciful, but cylinders can serve practical purposes in architectural designs

In the kit of parts of modern architecture, one finds plenty of boxes (especially glass ones) as well as gables and the occasional curve. But what about cylinders? Hearing of that form in regard to buildings probably brings to mind art deco architecture, a short-lived style that was popular in the early 20th century; it used rounded corners and cylinders to give the appearance of streamlined movement. Going further back in time, cylinders recall the turrets of medieval buildings and the grain silos of vernacular industrial buildings in America.

Nevertheless, cylinders have a place in architectural form making; they’re rare in modern and contemporary architecture but quite a statement when done successfully. This ideabook presents some cylinders from the outside and the inside.