Lesene

Lesenes, corner lesenes and arch frieze on the tower of Old St. Martin, Kaarst

A lesene – also called a pilaster strip^[1] – is an architectural term for a narrow, low-relief, vertical pillar in a wall. It resembles a pilaster, but does not have a base or capital.^[2]

Function

Lesenes are used in architecture to divide a facade or other wall surface optically, albeit - unlike pilasters - without a base or capital. Their function is ornamental, not just to decorate the plain surface of a wall but, in the case of corner lesenes, to emphasise the edges of a building.

Gallery

• 

  Lesenes and corbel table on a chapel wall

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  Lesenes and corbel table at the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna (ca. 430 AD)

• 

  Lesene on the staircase tower of the Gernrode collegiate church (before 1000 AD)

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  Lesenes on the Abbey church of Maria Laach (1156)

• Modern and post-modern
• 

  Robin Hood Gardens, London – Lesene-shaped formation on the supporting wall in the Plattenbau style

• 

  Lesenes at Chile House, Hamburg

References

1. Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture
2. Curl, James Stevens (2006). Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 2nd ed., OUP, Oxford and New York, p. 442. ISBN 978-0-19-860678-9.