Problem
In all the world’s traditional and historic buildings, the columns are expressive, beautiful, and treasured elements. Only in modern buildings have they become ugly and meaningless.
Solution
Make the columns in the form of filled hollow tubes, with a stiff tubular outer skin, and a solid core that is strong in compression. Give the skin of the column some tensile strength—preferably in the skin itself, but perhaps with reinforcing wires in the fill.
Related Patterns
… if you use Root Foundations (214), the columns must be made at the same time as the foundations, since the foundation and the column are integral. The height, spacing, and thickness of the various columns in the building are given by Final Column Distribution (213). This pattern describes the details of construction for the individual columns.
As you already know, it is best to build the columns integral with Root Foundations (214) on the ground floor, or integral with the Floor-Ceiling Vaults (219) on upper floors, and to fill them in one continuous pour. Once the columns are in position, put in the Perimeter Beams (217), and fill the beams at the same time that you fill the upper part of the column. If the column is free standing, put in column braces or column capitals - Column Connections (227) - to brace the connection between the two. And make the columns especially thick, or build them in pairs, where they are free-standing, so that they form a Column Place (226) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 1012.