Previous Product Reports
BALUSTRADES
Cast, Fabricated, Turned & Molded
Click Here for a List of Balustrade Suppliers
The Classical Balustrade
was an invention of the Renaissance architects, used
primarily as an attractive and emphatic boundary marker on
the perimeter of such things as balconies, loggias,
staircases, and garden areas. The Classical Balustrade
consists of two primary elements: Fat, round balusters (that
are essentially miniature columns) topped with a rail of
some bulk and substance. The baluster-and- rail system is
usually sub-divided into sections by square piers.
Originally, the Classical Balustrade was fabricated from
natural stone. And there are still stone fabricators (some
are on the Supplier List) who can supply stone
balustrades to your specifications using pretty much the
same methods that produced the balustrades for
Michelangelo's grand staircase on Rome's Capitoline Hill.
But there are also less-expensive alternatives: Cast stone,
reinforced molded polymers, turned wood, fabricated metal,
and thin-shell composites. Suppliers for each of these
more-economical types will also be found on the supplier list.
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