What does the term atrium mean in architecture? The atrium is the main element of ancient Roman architecture.
Architectural Dictionary
Atrium
(lat. atrium, ater - dark, black)
a closed courtyard in the middle part of the ancient Italian and ancient Roman dwellings, where the rest of the premises went. In the center of the atrium there was a pool (impluvium), above which a hole (compluvium) was left to drain rainwater.
(lat. ater - dark, black) - the middle part of the ancient Italian and Roman dwelling, which is a closed courtyard, with which the rest of the premises were connected. Atrium wings ( ala) - on both sides - were the habitat of household gods ( lares and penates), their images and masks of their ancestors were placed there. In ancient times, there was a hearth in the middle of the atrium, above which there was a hole in the roof for smoke to escape. From this smoke, the walls and ceiling of the atrium were sooty, from which it got its name. In the era of the late republic and empire, the atrium became one of the front rooms of the Roman house and received a rich finish, the place of the former hearth was occupied by a shallow rectangular pool ( impluvium) over which there was still a hole in the roof to drain rainwater ( compluvium).
(Dictionary of terms of architecture. Yusupov E.S., 1994)
a) the central courtyard, the main place of pastime in the Roman house; (b) a courtyard in front of an early Christian or medieval church.
(Architecture: An Illustrated Guide, 2005)
Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms
Atrium
♦ (ENG atrium)
entrance or front yard basilicas, often open in the center and surrounded by a covered colonnade.
Lexicon of a tourist
Atrium
internal light courtyard in the building
The lobby of the luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai is amazing to anyone who sees it for the first time. The height of its open space - about 180 m - is the highest in the world.
In an architectural sense, it is an atrium - this is a direct analogy to the patios that first appeared in houses ancient Italy many centuries ago.
Origin of the term
The courtyard, which had communication with all the premises of the house, was the compositional and semantic center of the ancient Roman house. Two types of patio should be distinguished. One of them is a patio, which is most often located under open sky, and the atrium is a covered space, and in later times such an overlap was made of translucent structures.
The very name of such a technique in the functional organization of the house - atrium - comes from the Latin word ater - black, smoky, which quickly lost its relevance. If at first the atrium was the place where the hearth for cooking was located, gradually it became the space where the main events of the life of the ancient Roman house took place, that is, the atrium acquired splendor and luxury.
The history of architecture distinguishes several types of the ancient atrium. Its space could be limited by columns, the ceiling could be completely absent, or it could have a light hole of various sizes and be shaped to help drain water from the roof. In the atrium of the heyday of the empire, under the opening in the roof, there was a pool, near the wall there was a hearth and altars, furniture for storing the most valuable things and documents, as well as for receiving visitors and long feasts.
A New Look
The interior space of modern atriums comes not only from the architecture of ancient Roman houses, but also from medieval castles and royal residences. A common element of the palace complexes was an internal covered courtyard, square in shape. With the development of technology, glazing systems appeared that made it possible to erect translucent structures over such courtyards, which gave them new functional qualities.
The atrium originated in a climate where there was no need for heating houses, and the open, open space, flooded with natural light, was suitable for everyday year-round living without additional thermal insulation measures. The possibility of the appearance of sufficiently large spaces with a comfortable temperature and creating the effect of being in the open air made atriums relevant for less comfortable climatic zones. Today, the atrium is the architecture of not only the Mediterranean, but also Russia, Scandinavia and North America.
Modern layout element
Large spans connected by glazing supports created a new type of building. They had large public spaces where people could safely, regardless of weather conditions, spend their free time shopping, visiting museum collections. The translucent ceilings of the atrium spaces created volumes of various types - arcades, galleries, arcades, etc. Among them were volumes only for the movement of large masses, there were spaces with the functions of large markets or huge exhibitions.
Residential individual buildings with internal spaces covered with transparent materials are quite an exotic thing, even for a warm climate. Although modern glazing systems, supplemented with the latest engineering equipment, have the ability to create and maintain a comfortable microclimate inside, most developers prefer strong and reliable roofs.
Atriums in high-rise construction
The new time has given rise to the need for buildings of enormous volume, which has led to the emergence of high-rise structures for various purposes. One of the most effective ways to build reasonable functional and communication interactions between the premises and spaces of a modern building was the emergence of a huge total volume, where galleries, passages, panoramic elevators, etc. go. Such an atrium is what is called a “living room” and “entrance hall” huge and prestigious hotels and business centers, at the same time the core of the entire building.
A huge open space, formed using enclosing translucent structures, is often endowed with the functions of a light and air duct, which can stretch to many levels in height. Hence, the main problem that is inherent in a building that has an atrium is fire safety, but modern systems are able to negate such threats.
architectural masterpieces
Modern architects and designers, having at their disposal an impressive field for the application of strength and talent in the form of grandiose open spaces with a comfortable microclimate and filled with sunlight. Often, elements of landscape architecture, waterfalls, grandiose aquariums, fountains, etc. are used for this.
The atriums created in this way have become true masterpieces of the architecture of our time, preserving the essence that they were endowed with by the ancient architects.
The atrium is the central part of the ancient Roman dwelling, the inner court of light, into which the rest of the rooms went. The etymology of the word comes from the Latin atrium, which means "smoky", "black". In ancient dwellings, a constantly burning hearth was located in the atrium; due to the small size of the courtyard, it could be smoky, hence, most likely, its name came from. There was also a reservoir for rainwater runoff.
Such a construction of a characteristic ancient Roman house arose under the influence of the compositions of the folk meetings of the Greek agora and simple folk dwellings. The influence of Etruscan buildings is also felt. For several centuries the house of the Romans had no further development. Even in the era of prosperity of the empire, the atrium remained an essential part of the house. This predominant type of dwelling construction is called atrium-peristyle.
The atrium is the center of the Roman house, an open rectangular space, the compluvium (compluvium). The roof of the atrium, four parts of which fell towards the middle, left an open space in the very center, from which rainwater flowed into the impluvium pond, arranged in the floor. The roof was usually based on four columns standing at the corners of the impluvium.
It was the atrium that gave a peculiar individuality to the Roman house. Its scheme according to Mark Vitruvius, a Roman architect, could differ in two types: a cavedium, or an open-air atrium, the roof of which ran along a circle, and an atrium with a gallery with a continuous ceiling.
Cavedium was divided into 5 types:
- Atrium tuscanicum is the most common type, also known as the Etruscan. It is characterized by a concave roof with a rectangular hole in the middle, its slopes descending to the compluvium. The roof rested on 2 transverse beams located along the edges of the compluvium.
- Atrium tetrastylum was used in the construction of larger rooms. This type was distinguished by partitions perpendicular to the walls, which formed a series of rooms around the courtyard. The roof of the building was based on four columns placed at the corners of the compluvium.
- Atrium corinthium is similar to the previous one, but had a larger compluvium and, accordingly, a greater number of columns. The Corinthian type was an open courtyard with a colonnade supporting a roof that sloped inwards.
- Atrium displuviatum had a roof with a gap in the middle. The skylight was usually protected by a special canopy from the rain.
- Atrium testudinatum - the atrium was completely covered with vaults.
The atrium is open, created in the form of a basilica, with a covered courtyard, bordered by two side porticoes. At the back of the courtyard was a tablinium (wooden gallery) with an open front facade. The tablinium was connected with the inner chambers by a wide span (fauces).
Initially, the courtyard of the atrium was separated from the street by a door, which, according to custom, was open. But later they began to lock her up for constipation. Entrance doors often opened inwards. A hearth was usually located opposite them. In this part of the house the household gathered. Slaves spun here, with whom the mistress herself often worked.
Later, the atrium is already a kind of face of the house. It began to be divided into the official (tablinum - study, atrium, triclinium), front and private part (cubicles, peristyle - bedrooms). The walls of the light courtyard were decorated with frescoes, the floor was laid out with mosaics, and the hearth was replaced with a pool. Marble columns and statues began to decorate the atrium. The house became more pompous.
The passion for colossal structures, which seized the Romans during the heyday of the empire, prompted them to the idea of arranging atriums at public buildings and in temples.
In modern architecture, the meaning of the term "atrium" is somewhat different. The atrium is an open space with translucent ceilings inside the building, several floors high. During construction exhibition complexes, hotels, business centers, offices of the largest companies - this is one of the common elements of architecture.
And the dining room, where there was a hearth and a loom, and at the same time - the sacred core of the dwelling, likened to the central sanctuary of Rome - Mundus of Ceres. The latter was a round vaulted pit, according to legend, dug by Romulus at the foundation of the city and opened three times a year for sacrifices. In this capacity, the atrium, like mundus, symbolized the cosmic axis connecting underworld with heaven. The central place in the atrium was occupied by a pool (impluvium), above which there was a four-slope opening in the roof (compluvium), where rainwater flowed. Behind the impluvium, a little further away, they piled up the hearth in such a way that the fire would not be flooded with rainwater, and the smoke would be pulled out. Later, the hearth disappeared from this room. Initially, the atrium was also a sleeping place for the mother of the family - opposite the entrance to the house there was a deep niche for her bed - lectus adversus ("bed against the doors"). In later periods, this niche lost its original function and was preserved only symbolically - as a sign of the sanctity of marriage. The atrium housed most of belonging to the family of valuable items: a heavy chest with family heirlooms (cash box), an altar-type table - cartibulus(Varro recalled that they still met in his childhood), a special niche ( tablinum), where the documents of the owner and the family archive were kept, and a cabinet (niches) for storing wax masks (imagines) and busts of ancestors, as well as images of good patron spirits - lares and penates (later a separate sanctuary - lararium). The loom as an indispensable element of the atrium furnishing in Old Testament families was preserved until the end of the republic. Then the atrium turned into a public, reception part of the house, a front hall. Here they received guests whom they did not want to introduce into the family circle; here the patron received his clients. The atrium became the most richly furnished part of the house. The surviving cornice rings testify that this hall was divided, if necessary, by curtains and drapes into separate spaces.
The atrium was invariably preserved in other types of residential buildings. ancient rome. The role of the atrium in insuls (multi-storey buildings) was performed by a light courtyard.
Types of atriums according to Vitruvius
- atrium tuscanium("Tuscan") - without columns; the hole in the roof was formed only by rafters (although it was expensive to build such a system, apparently it was the most common type of atrium in the empire);
- atrium tetrastylum("four-column") - four columns, one at each corner of the impluvium;
- atrium corinthium("Corinthian") - similar to the previous one, but the compluvium is larger in size, and the number of columns increases to 12-16;
- atrium displuviatum("rain-removing") - the size of the compluvium was significantly reduced, due to which it was a narrow gap, and the slope of the roof was arranged so that rainwater would flow out of it;
- atrium testudinatum(“covered”) - an atrium completely covered with vaults (without a compluvium), usually arranged in small houses.
With the beginning of the era of luxurious skyscrapers, a kind of "race" for superiority among atriums began - amazing halls, whose vaults go tens and tens of meters up ... LifeGlobe will acquaint you with the most outstanding examples of this interesting architectural element
For a long time, skyscrapers were built according to a common pattern - ordinary high-rise buildings with a bunch of monotonous floors. Until, at some point, in someone's bright head, the idea was born to use the colossal interior space to give the halls of buildings a luxurious and breathtaking look. Mostly, this architectural element is used in expensive hotels, so it is logical to assume that they make up the majority of our list of buildings with the most amazing atriums.
The first on our list is the atrium of the Shanghai Grand Hyatt 5 * hotel, occupying floors 53-88 of the 421-meter Jin Mao Tower in Pudong - the new financial and business center of Shanghai
The atrium is 27 meters in diameter, and the oval ledges on each of the 35 floors of the hotel spiral down, creating an interesting illusion of rotation.
An even more interesting atrium can be seen inside the famous Dubai Sail - 5* hotel
The atrium vault of this Dubai hotel is barely visible at 180 meters, making it the tallest hotel in the world. this moment atrium in the world
In the lobby of the Burj Al Arab there is a picturesque fountain, the jets of which reach a height of 42 meters.
Our next stop will be in Atlanta, at the amazing Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel, whose 143-meter atrium was considered the highest on the planet from 1985 until the moment when the grand opening of the Dubai Sail took place.
The atrium of this American hotel literally mesmerizes visitors with its regular symmetrical shapes and calm, harmonious illumination of balconies.
Empty space permeates the building from top to bottom, and the glass shafts of two elevators and balconies crossing the atrium will help to examine every detail in detail. Of course, this show is not for the faint of heart.
As mentioned earlier, beautiful atriums are by no means the prerogative of chic bright hotels, although, of course, most of them are located there. But the next atrium on our list is not like that. Of course, it does not look very exciting, but it is no less interesting - we are talking about the atrium of the Hong Kong complex "Sincere House", which houses many residential premises, hotels and even factories.
Such architectural elements are also used today by some large department stores. For example, the Marshall Field building in Chicago has an amazing 11-story atrium that creates a magnificent view of the vintage interiors of this old building and attracts many visitors with just a spectacle that opens from the upper floors to the interior of the building.
The department store itself was founded back in 1852 and even then it was a chic sight - the modern atrium, inscribed in the building project during its large-scale renovation in 2004, only complemented the former grandeur of this historic building that has not faded over time
Another interesting example is in Vietnamese Saigon - the atrium of the local Renaissance hotel is carried away from the bar on the 4th floor up another 22 floors, to the very ceiling of the building, and is distinguished by comparative crampedness and straightforwardness of forms compared to other examples of this unusual architectural structure presented in our list. element
It looks like this building was just turned inside out - the main inner wall resembles a facade so much.
Now fast-forward to Atlanta, to the 4-star Georgian Terrace Hotel, whose former appearance was given new distinctive features in 2001, including a huge "airy" atrium designed in such a way that it does not require artificial light sources - there is enough sunlight, to illuminate it
Thanks to the interesting layout, the design of the atrium turned out to be very bright.
The hotel building itself was erected back in 1911, and it was here, at the Georgian Terrace Hotel, that in 1939 the stars of the old film "Gone with the Wind" - Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh - stayed for the premiere.
Our next stop is London, namely the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel, the view of the restaurant from the 12-story height is involuntarily breathtaking. As you can see, the windows of some rooms also look out here, revealing to the residents a rather unusual "landscape"
Bright and spacious during the day, atrium Hotel Park Plaza presents a completely different spectacle at night, turning into a real kaleidoscope of strange prisms, the light of which, reflecting from each other, creates even more interesting geometric shapes.
It seems as if you are entering the atrium of some hotel from the distant future.
Another dizzying view is worth looking for in the very heart of New York - in Times Square, or more precisely, in the building of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel towering above the square, which opened here back in 1985. The atrium of the hotel lobby is one of the main defining features of the hotel - here it is an open space extending up 45 floors. A stunning sight…
Another feature of the Marriott hotel is its high-speed elevators - 12 spacious glass cabins that lift visitors at a speed of 300 meters per minute. On the rooftop of the hotel is New York's only revolving restaurant, which offers breathtaking views of the surrounding area.
No less amazing is the atrium of the futuristic skyscraper Lloyd Building in London, also known as the "Inside-Out Building" or "Inside-Out Building". The building looks like it was built by some giant child from the appropriate sized parts of a children's construction kit.
The spacious atrium of the Lloyd Building rises to 60 meters, and the glass roof, galleries and escalators allow light to freely enter the building. The upper floors can only be accessed by external elevators - another design decision that allowed the atrium to be naturally lit.
An even more breathtaking view opens up from the top floors of Singapore's Marina Mandarin Hotel. Surprisingly, in itself, the low, "only" 21-story atrium of this luxury hotel looks simply huge. Such an amazing visual illusion is achieved thanks to the sloping facades of the building.
The view from the upper levels of the atrium creates a deceptive impression that we are in a giant casino or, even better, in a huge pinball machine) Special three-dimensional structures of the lower floors of the atrium help us to believe this self-deception
The hotel itself was built in 1987 and renovated in 2005. The redevelopment and modification of the external and internal appearance of the hotel took "some" $ 25 million
We are again transported to the USA, this time to Michigan, where in 2007 an amazing skyscraper appeared. We are talking about the JW Marriott Grand Rapids hotel, the atrium of which is allegedly created in order to make people who are afraid of heights and enclosed spaces suffer)
Yes, the view from the windows is beautiful, but if you lower your eyes, the narrow "tunnel" of the atrium will give the false impression that this 78-meter building is actually much more than 23 floors!
The last amazing atrium you should definitely check out is located at the 4.5* Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel, which has the added bonus of being a non-smoking hotel.
The atrium of a Singapore hotel at night is illuminated with different colors, among which red and blue predominate. This coloring makes it look like some kind of futuristic spaceship.
