Atrium (architecture)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In architecture, an atrium (pl.: atria or atriums)[1] is a large open-air or skylight-covered space surrounded by a building.[2] Atria were a common feature in

glazed roof or large windows, and often located immediately beyond a building's main entrance doors (in the lobby
).

Atria are a popular design feature because they give their buildings a "feeling of space and light."[3] The atrium has become a key feature of many buildings in recent years.[4] Atria are popular with building users, building designers and building developers. Users like atria because they create a dynamic and stimulating interior that provides shelter from the external environment while maintaining a visual link with that environment. Designers enjoy the opportunity to create new types of spaces in buildings, and developers see atria as prestigious amenities that can increase commercial value and appeal.[5]

Ancient atria

See also: Cavaedium, for Ancient Roman atria
A late 19th-century artist's reimagining of an atrium in a Pompeian domus

In a

lararium), the household safe (arca) and sometimes a bust of the master of the house. The cylindrical puteal (a wellhead) gave access to the water cistern fed by water seeping through the porous bottom of the overlying impluvium. The atrium contributed to the passive cooling
of the house.

The term was also used for a variety of spaces in public and religious buildings, mostly forms of

Byzantine churches were often entered through such a space (as are many mosques, though the term atrium is not usually used to describe Islamic architecture
).

19th century: Glazed atrium

The 19th century brought the industrial revolution with great advances in iron and glass manufacturing techniques. Courtyards could then have horizontal glazing overhead, eliminating some of the weather elements from the space and giving birth to the modern atrium.

Modern-day atria

Fire control is an important aspect of contemporary atrium design due to criticism that poorly designed atria could allow fire to spread to a building's upper stories more quickly. Another downside to incorporating an atrium is that it typically creates unused vertical space which could otherwise be occupied by additional floors.

One of the main

fractals
used to arrange the panels on the rest of the facades at Federation Square.

In Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., the Opryland Hotel hosts 4 different large atria, spanning 9 acres (36,000 m2) of glass ceiling in total, in the hotel above the gardens of: Delta, Cascades, Garden-Conservatories, and Magnolia.

When it opened in 2019, the

Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada
, has the largest atrium in the world (by volume) at 29 million cubic feet (820,000 m3).

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ "atrium". Cambridge English Dictionary.
  2. ^ "Atrium". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  3. ISBN 9781847976239
    .
  4. ISBN 9781902916163
    .
  5. S2CID 109961211
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-415-47577-8
  7. ^ "China opens skyscraper with world's tallest atrium twisting". Construction Review Online. 2019-11-21. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atriums.
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