The Lightwell of the House of the Ladies and its Structural Behavior

This preliminary report on the House of the Ladies deals specifically with some new facts brought to light during recent excavations in the summer of 1987. These concern the lightwell, but may also provide evidence of the structural behaviour of the building in general.

In a forthcoming article (Sali-Axioti, AEphem in press) we argue in detail why we believe the collapse of the House of the Ladies was caused by a greater force exerted on the subsoil along the axis where the internal stairwell adjoins the lightwell, in a west-east direction, and define the forces exerted on various parts of the building, i.e. walls, floors etc., which were damaged in such a way as to prompt the above explanation.

Though excavations are still continuing in the House of the Ladies, the general outline of its plan has been revealed. The so far thought to be one building probably consists of two, because on the south of rooms 8 and 5 there is a double - if not triple - external wall (Fig. 1).

The lightwell (Fig. 2), which was found filled up with rubble, measures 3.00 X 2.80 m, its walls are 0.65 m thick and the actual well, which has four openings, one on each wall, measures 1.10 x 1.50 m.

The House of the Ladies is of particular interest since its ground plan suggest that its architecture is quite different from that of the other buildings so far revealed at Akrotiri. The rooms are not only built in apposition, i.e. communicating with one another through internal doors, but there is an organized plan, as if the House were built to modern design specifications. A central perimetric corridor serves the needs of circulation within.

We have here an 'introvert' building with little lighting; on the first floor, where other buildings have multiple windows - polyparathyra - this one has only skylights and there is no evidence that these windows, which are damaged, were larger. (See Fig. 4; whether in fact this is a window is an open question, cf. S. Marinatos 1974, Pl. 4a.)

The same design concept was applied to the lightwell where we find 'lilliputian' windows with a light surface of 0.06 m². This presents us with the problem whether the dimensions of the lightwell were selected at random or on purpose. We raise this point because the ground plan of the House of Ladies presents all the features of a modern multi-storeyed building, generally held to be the outcome of protracted experience and the application of advanced technological and scientific achievements.

The central position and small dimensions of the lightwell certainly played an important role on the structural adequacy of this building. Its function as an architectural element in the overall organization of the House are beyond the scope of the present paper, which is limited to a consideration of the lightwell as a structural element, as well as its static behaviour.

Given below is an analysis of our observations concerning the lightwell: a)  There is no significant deviation of the walls from the vertical axis. b)  Three windows - the north, east and west - are at the same level and not particularly damaged (therefore the corresponding walls do not lean in any other direction). c)  There do not exist special marks at the north-east and north-west internal corners which indicate that these were disturbed. So, the three aforementioned walls seem to be unharmed. d)  The south wall, though damaged in its lower section, does not actually deviate from its vertical axis nor lean in any other direction.

A closer observation reveals the following information: e)  The stones protruding from the lower part of the south wall probably do not belong to its stonework but are in fact parts of its damaged south window (door?) and the steps of the adjacent staircase (Fig. 5). f)  The lintel of the window of the south wall was found 0.50 m lower than the other three. g)  The steps of the adjoining staircase protrude through the destroyed parts of the window (Fig. 6), probably becoming lodged there because they sank clockwise during the earthquake, at the same time shattering the stones of the window (Sali-Axioti, AEphem in press).

From observations: e), f), g), it could be supposed that the south wall of the lightwell is the only to have sunk, but : h)  There are no cracks in the south-east and south-west corners, which might be expected if this were the case. Furthermore i)  The south window was most probably at a lower level, i.e. not directly beneath the first floor, as probably were the other three, because the staircase prevented its construction there (Fig. 7). We should bear in mind that it was usual for this kind of window to be positioned just below the level of the overlying floor (Palyvou 1988, 330).

These facts suggest that the fourth, south wall behaved in the same manner as the other three.

From the above evidence, it could be supposed that the lightwell whenever it was destroyed functioned as a uniform element (cage-lightwell), reflecting a contemporary designing concept.

-----------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------