MORAL TEACHINGS OF THE FOUNDATIONS DESIGN

INTRODUCTION

The importance of the successful foundation of any kind of construction has been very early understood to all engineers and constructors as well as to the non-specialists. Also, the process of founding a structure has been very inspiring, as the terms "foundation", "founded", "fundamental", "founder" etc. are allegorically used whenever we either positively or negatively express something extraordinary (physical or mental), describing an underlying basis or principle or to emphasize something significant.

PRINCIPLES OF FOUNDATION DESIGN

As a "foundation" is described mainly the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level, that is transmitting the loads of the upper structure to the ground. Also, this term includes the subsoil affected by them. Design of the foundation is the calculation of the minimum dimensions of the footing that provides the required strength as well as keeping the implementation cost to the lowest level.

The 1^st feature of the design is the wideness of the footing as this provides a better distribution of the load to the subsoil minimizing the compression of it. This part of the design is based upon the soil characteristics.

 The 2^nd feature is the calculation of the optimum height of the footing, so as to have enough strength for not to be deformed and to provide a uniform distribution of the loads to the subsoil.

The 3^rd feature is the strength class of the materials, mainly concrete and steel reinforcing bars. This affects to the total strength and the load capacity of the footing.

 

The 4^th feature is the practical design of the foundation, so as to make easier the implementation at the construction site. The engineer chooses the most proper type of structure considering the local conditions of the site. 

The 5^th feature relates to the subsoil itself. All types of soils are not good enough to afford the mounting of any construction. Sometimes it is necessary to improve some of their characteristics by removing any unsuitable material, or by compacting, using various methods. Another solution is the replacement of the unsuitable material with other called "borrowed" that they have better properties.

Last, but not least, is the interaction between the isolated footings of the construction, as well as the whole foundation with the subsoil, establishing the best performativity for the whole construction.

MORAL TEACHINGS OF THE DESIGN OF THE FOUNDATIONS

1. The wideness of the isolated footing is equivalent with the openness of the mind. Open-minded people usually have the willingness of learning new things as well as improved socialization. In contrast, non-open-minded people are annoying and a bad influence to the people around them. Of course, as in the design of the foundation exist the risk of a non-economical solution; socially we must avoid the risk of the uncritical acceptance of everything or to believe that we know everything better than anyone.

2.   The height of the footing may well be connected with the knowledge that features an individual. All open-minded spirits have to be supported by substantial knowledge otherwise they will be damaged just like thin and fragile discs. Therefore, the open spirit must always try to acquire more knowledge.

3.   The strength class of the materials of the footing matches to the morality of an individual. Just as the use of low quality materials and low resistance leads to low quality and performativity of the footing, the immorality destroys their personality and leads both the openness of the mind and the knowledge background to the path of the wrong usage.

4.   The practical feature: each community has her own needs, so the usefulness of an individual has to be in accordance with them.

In example, a doctor or a school teacher will be more useful in a poor region than an astrophysicist or a lawyer.

5.  All the social groups are not perfect. Sometimes they need improvement of their own social characteristics, by the treatment of defects, by the removal of bad components, or by importing useful characteristics of other social groups.

6.   In the previous part, we have also seen the feature of the interaction. For the proper operation of a foundation, all the individual footings have to achieve an excellent cooperation between them as well as with the subsoil. Equivalently all the good units have to work collectively and this collective operation has to be in accordance with the special needs of the society.

THE FREEMASONRY POINT OF VIEW

Freemasonry has always been inspired of all those. It could not be otherwise as the Architecture and Construction have affected more than anything else the symbolic teaching.

The society with the various social layers is the ground on which the social building has been founded and the ground is not always good enough to get the loading. Sometimes it needs improvement as we already said and careful study of the Masonic rituals “elevates the inner mind and the heart and makes the insiders able to improve themselves and addicts their spirit to the achieving of the high ideas of glory, virtue and duty”. The basic principles of Freemasonry which are the Brotherly Love, the Charity and the Truth, which are interrelated, sets the conditions to obtain the subsoil the properties that would make it good enough to safely mount thereon the Masonic edifice. The Fraternity requires from all Freemasons to strictly comply with the laws of the country where they live and work, and the principles of the Freemasonry encourage them to diligently perform public and private duties. That way, they become the excellent units that when required they are acting collectively to optimize their social work.

“Freemasonry is progressive and puts no limit to the seeking for the truth”. Requires of its members to be open-minded, encourages them to investigate for the truth and keeps them away from the dogmatism. It provides the opportunity to exchange different point of views between the members and a generous sharing of knowledge and experiences in order to improve the Mason’s knowledge background. It demands from the members to live and operate in accordance with the principles of morality, so to always improving themselves as individuals and to promote the proper operation of the society. Freemasons are inspired from the practicality of the design and implementation of the constructing works and the corresponding tools so that the background knowledge and skills of any individual will be used properly to serve both themselves and the society. Recognizes the must of social action and provides to the members of the Fraternity the Square, the Level and the Plumb Rule so they will act into the morality and the respect of equality and justice as they will be able to distinguish the correctness of their actions. Freemasonry also provides the working tools which are: The 24-in gauge for the optimum time organizing, the common gavel that represents the force of conscience and the chisel which shows us the advantages of educa­tion, by which means alone we are rendered fit members of regularly organized Society.

In addition to those that mentioned to our Rituals, Freemasonry as a mystagogical Fraternity familiarizes the insiders with the using of the symbolism and the allegories and enables them to see beyond the typical meaning and the definition of the mathematical principles and theorems as well as the laws of nature, science and technology, to get moral conclusions from them and to discover the social facts that applies to the human life, designing all new paths.

Freemasonry keeps its members away from any kind of dogmatism and fundamentalism and even it seems a paradox, it accomplishes this by the respectfully compliance to the rituals. Those who have truly understand the meaning of the Masonic rituals, knows that they are not just lists of actions to be performed without the intellectual and critical participation of the Freemason. In contrast, as Broher Spyridon Nagos (+) notes, “…the execution of the Masonic Rituals on the one hand invites the spiritual power to assist the brothers and on the other hand awakes the consciousness of all bystanders by pouring the mystagogical streams of the higher worlds...”. Freemasonry respects the religious, political, philosophical or scientific choices of each member as well as the right to research in any field that satisfies their own interests. The adherence of the Rituals is holding anyone who is willing to seek and find the truth to the right path. The truth that perhaps will not find out ever, but sometimes the journey is more interesting and useful than the destination itself.