Pagoda (pronounced puh-goh-duh)
(1) In South Asia and the Far-East, a temple or sacred
building, often a pyramid-like tower and typically having upward-curving roofs
over the individual stories.
(2) An ornamental structure imitating the design of the
religious building, erected since the eighteenth century in parks and gardens.
(3) In fashion, a flared sleeve, most popular in the
1850s.
(4) A unit of currency, a coin made of gold or half-gold,
usually bearing a figure of a pagoda temple, issued by various dynasties in
medieval southern India and later by British, French, and Dutch traders.
(5) An image or carving of a god in South and South East
Asia; an idol (sixteenth century use, usually as pagod, now extinct).
(6) Term applied to the first of the two generations of
Mercedes-Benz SL (W113 & R107) roadsters to use a pagoda-themed roof.
1580-1585: From the Portuguese pagode, via Tamil from the Sanskrit भगवती (bhagavatī (name
of a goddess, feminine of bhagavat (blessed,
adorable) from bhagah (good fortune))
from the primitive Indo-European root bhag-
(to share out, apportion; to get a share) or भागवत (bhāgavata), (follower
of the Bhagavatī). The alternative etymology suggests pagoda was
either a corruption of the Persian butkada
(from but (idol) + kada (dwelling) or perhaps from or influenced
by the Tamil pagavadi (house
belonging to a deity), itself from the Sanskrit bhagavatī. There’s also the
suggestion it’s derived a South Chinese pronunciation of the term for an
eight-cornered tower (八角塔), a use influenced by the adoption by European visitors
to China of the name of a noted pagoda in the Guangzhou region, the Pázhōu tǎ (琶洲塔). Finally, it may be from the Sinhala dāgaba, from the Sanskrit dhātugarbha or the Pali dhātugabbha (relic, womb or chamber; reliquary
shrine (ie stupa)) which made its way
into other languages through Portuguese.
Given the uncertainty, it’s not impossible pagoda emerged
in its modern form under more than one influence. The related (pagod) and alternative (pagode
& pagody) forms are now rare,
occurring almost exclusively in historic texts.
The noun plural is pagodas.
Pagoda Sleeve Pagoda sleeve describes any funnel
shaped sleeve and the style is still seen, though its impracticality tends to
confine it to cat-walks and casualwear. Briefly popular in the US during the late 1850s, it
appears abruptly to have vanished, an 1870s revival on not so extravagant
a scale not lasting; function again triumphing over fashion. The original design was narrow at the
shoulder and very wide at the wrist, worn often with an under-sleeve, made
usually of a lighter cotton or linen fabric, matching the bodice’s chemisette
or collar.
Layered Pagoda SleeveThe variation of the pagoda sleeve which most closely emulated
the architectural motif was tailored with layered tiers. It may not have been co-incidental that the pagoda
sleeve’s decline in popularity was at the time of the US Civil War, conflicts
often imposing austerity in fashion as in other parts of the economy. The style didn’t entirely vanish but
certainly became restrained, the replacement “bishop” and “bell” sleeves both
of a more severe cut but all three terms were often used interchangeably.
Yellow Crane Pagoda, near Wuhan, ChinaIn architecture, a Pagoda is an Asian temple, rendered usually
as a pyramidal tower with one or more upward curving roofs. Although most associated with structures
created for Buddhist religious purposes, the first may actually have been built
in China, even before Buddhism spread there.
Whether these early buildings used the motifs of the pagoda as a stylistic
embellishment or for some function purpose such as rigidity or water drainage
isn’t known but it does seem the technique improves resistance
to the stresses imposed by earthquakes. In
Buddhism, the structure’s original purpose was to house relics and sacred
writings but the style soon extended to other sacred and secular sites. Made from wood, brick, or stone, they can
have as many as fifteen stories, each with an up-curved, overhanging roof and
the tradition, in the East, was always to build with an uneven number of
levels, a convention not always followed in Europe.
Grand Pagoda, Kew Gardens, LondonBuilt in 1762 and designed by Sir William Chambers
(1723-1796), the Grand Pagoda at Kew Gardens, London, is an example of what in
the eighteenth century came to be called “follies”, the term referring to the tendency
of increasingly rich plutocrats to build grandiose structures fulfilling no
purpose. A gift for Princess Augusta, founder
of the botanic gardens and the first building to offer an aerial view of
Greater London, it’s a ten-storey octagonal structure. Although based on the fifteenth-century
Porcelain Tower in Nanking, it’s thought Chambers based his design on a woodcut which
erroneously showed ten floors. Happily,
despite not having the requisite uneven number of levels thought in the East to
bring good luck, the Grand Pagoda still stands and is a fine example of chinoiserie (a loanword from the French from the Chinese chinois ), used to describe the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and
other East Asian artistic traditions.
Pagodas almost always have a central staircase and, in
common with many architectural styles, consist of a base, a body, and a top
although, because of the origin in sacred representational form, pagodas tend
not to be optimized for the functional maximization of interior space, whether circular,
square, or polygonal. Because of their
height, they’ve always attract lightning strikes, something which may have played
a role in the perception of worshipers of them being spiritually charged places
but the electrical propensity proved useful in the modern age, lightning rods
and cabling often added.
Mercedes-Benz SL W113 (230, 250 & 280) 1963-1971
The pagoda roof on the 1963 230 SL was initially misunderstood. The designer didn’t lower the roof’s centre;
it was actually the side windows which were raised. The engineering advantage was a strengthening of the structure and, when in place, the hardtop, although un-stressed, became an
integral part of the passenger "safety-cell" introduced in 1959. It had the additional benefit of making
ingress and egress slightly easier. All that was of interest to designers and engineers but for most, it was the delicacy of line which drew the eye and women especially proved loyal and often repeat customers. There were those who hoped for more and when the 2.3 litre 230 SL made its debut in 1963, thought it was too much the replacement for the 190 SL (R121; 1955-1963), and not sufficiently a successor to the 300 SL (W198) which as both the gullwing coupé (1954-1957) and roadster (1957-1963) was one of the supercars of the era. In that the critics were of course correct but it wasn't that the factory had failed, it was that it had abandoned that market, its priorities now to pursue objectives which lay in other directions.
By the late 1960s however, Mercedes-Benz understood the gusty, high-revving straight-sixes, on which they'd re-built the brand's post-war reputation, were technologically bankrupt and that success in the next decade would be delivered by a range of larger-capacity, mass-market V8s, the known concerns then mostly about pollution rules rather than a rise in the price of oil. The events of October 1973 would change that but while US$2 a barrel oil was being pumped in abundance the engineer's attention remained fixated on poise, power and performance and the W113 even played a small part in the development of the new, bigger engines. Although, bizarrely, one W113 had been fitted with the 6.3 litre (M100) big-block V8 used in the 600 and 300 SEL 6.3 (presumably because the engineers wondered what would happen), a more plausible prototype was the one which used the new 3.5 litre V8 (M116). That was a more satisfactory machine but the limitations of the old platform meant even it couldn't be considered for production. All the V8 W113s were scrapped once testing was complete as was the even more unusual test-bed which used a Wankel engine, something for which (never realized) high hopes were once held.
Over its life, although the appearance didn't change, the W113 was subject to constant product development, the engine growing first to 2.5 and later 2.8 litres but the emphasis always was more on improving low and mid-range torque rather than outright power although, by 1968 when production began, the 280 SL was usefully quicker and even a little faster than its predecessors. It wasn't sportier though, the stiff suspension of the original softened as the decade grew into middle-age though the addition of disk brakes at the rear was a welcome improvement. More attention however was devoted to creature comforts because things like the seats and air-conditioning were more important to the target market than ultimate cornering performance, something indicated by the majority being sold with automatic transmissions, sales of the four-speed manual declining year-by-year while the optional ZF five-speed was rarely specified.
Almost all were sold with both a folding fabric soft-top and the pagoda hard-top but one interesting variation concocted for the US market was the "Californian Coupe" which was actually just a W113 outfitted with the standard removable hard-top but no soft-top, a folding bench-seat fitted in the space the deletion made available. That made the California Coupe a genuine (if cramped) 2+2, something rather more accommodating than the rarely-seen option of a transverse seat for one. Of course without a folding top, the thing was suitable only for days when it didn't rain but, as everyone in Stuttgart knew, California had plenty of those. Available both as a 250 and 280 SL, the California Coupe was one of three occasions the SL was sold without a folding top, the others being the original 300 SL Gullwing and the AMG SL 65 Black Series (2008-2012), on the R230 (2001-2012) platform. The Black Series was some 250 kilograms (551 lb) lighter than the 604 horsepower AMG SL 65 AMG (made famous in 2005 when Lindsay Lohan crashed one) and rated at about 10% more powerful (although those numbers are thought conservative). The weight-loss programme included substituting some metal components with carbon-fibre units but of greater significance was the deletion of the folding aluminium roof, replaced by a fixed structure in carbon-fibre, something which produced the additional benefit of a lower centre of gravity. Only 350 were built (tales of 400 seem to be an internet myth).
The pagoda roof was retained when the R107 was
introduced in 1971 but, despite the contours, it was only ever its predecessor which was known as "the pagoda". Because of concerns impending
US legislation would outlaw convertibles, Daimler-Benz didn’t develop open
versions of their new (W116) S-Class platform so the R107 SL remained in production for
close to two decades as the marque’s only drop-top. The factory claimed the pagoda roof was the
strongest ever offered and, like the W113's pagoda, a slight aerodynamic advantage was
claimed, directional stability said to be improved. Strongest or not, made from steel and glass,
it was certainly one of the heaviest. SL actually stands for “super light” which was sort of true when first it was used in 1952 but by 1971 was misleading at least, the R107 no lightweight and a grand tourer rather than a sports car. For years, the factory never much discussed what the abbreviation "SL" stood for and the assumption had long been it meant Sports Light (Sports Leicht), based presumably on the SSKL of 1929-1931 (Super Sports Kurz (short) Leicht) but the factory documentation for decades used both Sports Leicht and Super Leicht. It was only in 2017 it published a 1952 paper discovered in the corporate archive confirming the correct abbreviation is Super Leicht. However defined, the R107 is heavy, the removable hard-top famously so.
The first R107 sold in the US was the 350 SL but it was fitted with a long-stroke, 4.5 litre engine, the 3.5 sold in the rest of the world lacking the torque characteristics known to be preferred by American drivers and it was anyway soon to be too toxic to meet the stricter emission regulations. In time, as the bigger engine was made available in other markets, the 450 SL badge was applied to all such machines. The R107 was thus an early example of the once (usually) logical nomenclature of Mercedes-Benz beginning the path to confusion which the reorganization of the mid-1990s substantially fixed before in the twenty-first century descending to the point where the model designations are now merely indicative of a place in the hierarchy. It was a footnote in engineering too, the 350 SL (along with the SLC & SE) in 1980 the last occasion the factory would offer a manual transmission behind a V8 engine. In truth, using the clunky Mercedes-Benz four-speed was not all that satisfying an experience but the rarity of the small number of 350 SLs so equipped has made them something of a collector's item among the survivors of the 227,000-odd produced and (as automatics) they were for decades the preferred (one suspects almost the obligatory) transport for types such as interior decorators, Hollywood starlets, successful hairdressers and the wives of cosmetic surgeons.
Over its unexpectedly long life, the appearance changed little except for a mid-life revision to the size and design of the aluminium wheels but over the eighteen-odd years, eight different engines and several transmissions were fitted and the biggest offered was the 5.6 liter V8 in the 560 SL. The factory had never intended to develop the 5.6 but two factors forced their hand, the first being the news BMW were unexpectedly reviving their 5.0 litre V12 project, shelved in the 1970s when the political and economic atmosphere proved unfriendly. The other was pressure from the US where dealers were losing sales because the largest engine Mercedes-Benz were then offering (the 3.8 litre V8) was thought inadequate and the volume of "grey-market" sales of 5.0 litre cars (500 SL, SEL & SEC) was troublesome. With their own V12 years from readiness and the 5.0 V8 not suitable for modification to comply with US emission rules, the solution was obvious; thus the 560 range, offered only in the US, Japan and Australia, then the markets with (1) a taste for big engines and (2) the toughest anti-emission laws.
However, although it packed the biggest engine, the 560 SL wasn't the fastest R107, that honor accorded to the 500 SL which used a modified version of the 5.0 litre V8 first offered in 1977 in the 450 SLC 5.0 (the C107, a long-wheelbase coupé based on the SL). Used (improbably but successfully) as the factory's entry in long-distance rallies, the 450 SLC 5.0 was a homologation special produced only to ensure the bits and pieces needed to make the thing competitive in motorsport (the all-aluminium engine and some light-weight body & structural components) could lawfully be used. Toxic though it was at the tail-pipes, by the standards of the 1980s, the 500 SL was a genuine high-performance car.
Mercedes-Benz SL R129 (280, 300, 320, 500, 600) 1989-2002.
By 1989, improvements in metallurgy and structural
engineering meant the pagoda curves were no longer required to achieve the
desired strength, it being now possible to render an even stronger roof in aluminum
with the advantage of a significant weight reduction. It’s not known if a pagoda roof was
considered but the late 1980s was the last era at Mercedes-Benz during which engineers held sway over salesmen so a mere styling gimmick would likely have been vetoed. Much admired as it had been, by 1989 the origins of the R107 as a design of the late 1960s were looking obvious; it had after all been on the market for what would usually have been two-three model cycles so hopes for the new SL were high.
The R129 didn't disappoint. Introduced in 1989 as the 500 SL, it was based on the fine platform of the W124 (which had proved its competence as the 500 E) and as well as the 5.0 litre V8, would be offered also with 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2 litre sixes, the larger of which, for general use, proved remarkably effective alternatives to the big-engined versions which tended to attract most publicity. That was certainly the case in 1993 when the 600 SL was released with the new 6.0 litre V12 (M120). The M120 would prove to be one on the best engines Mercedes-Benz ever made and it made headlines at the time as the company's first road-going V12 (their previous V12s were all for racing or the Luftwaffe and the planned 600K programme was scrapped in 1940 because German industry suddenly had other priorities). Some purists thought the front-heaviness detracted somewhat from the fine balance achieved by the six and eight-cylinder cars but it was the beginning of the emergence of AMG as a major player in the high-performance market and for them, the M120 was a base the like of which few other manufacturers offered and in time, 7.0, 7.1 and 7.3 litre SLs would appear with the AMG badge, offering a naturally-aspirated driving experience (including aurally) very different from the turbo-charged competition. The AMG V12 SLs were a reminder of the way things used to be done, done faster. That the Citroën XM (a car hardly as innovative as the DS, SM or CX had in their day been) won the 1990 European Car of the Year can be explained only by dark hints about the undue influence (or worse) of French journalists. The R129 was runner-up and remains, unlike the XM, fondly remembered and much admired.
Temple
of the 500 Lohan, Kijiang, Riau Islands Province, Indonesia. Many Buddhist temples use the pagoda root as
an architectural feature and despite the traditional appearance, the Temple of the 500 Lohan is a recent construction.
Lindsay Lohan in pagoda-themed skirt.
Not etymologically or in any other way connected with Lindsay Lohan, in Buddhist theology a Lohan
is an individual who had achieved Enlightenment and was a true follower of
Buddha. The Lohans are also known as the
Arhat, Arahat or Arahant while in the Far East, the transliteration was often
phonetic and in the Chinese 阿羅漢 (āluóhàn) it was often shortened to 羅漢
(luóhàn) and, via the Raj, this was picked up in English as Lohan or luohan
whereas in Japanese the pronunciation of the Chinese characters was arakan (阿羅漢) or
rakan (羅漢).
