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architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
, an atrium (plural: atria or atriums) is a large open-air or skylight-covered space surrounded by a
building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fu ...
. Atria were a common feature in Ancient Roman dwellings, providing
light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...
and
ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Ventilator, a m ...
to the interior. Modern atria, as developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries, are often several stories high, with a glazed roof or large
window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mat ...
s, and often located immediately beyond a building's main entrance doors (in the
lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...
). Atria are a popular design feature because they give their buildings a "feeling of space and light." The atrium has become a key feature of many buildings in recent years. 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.


Ancient atria

In a '' domus'', a large house in
ancient Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Ancient Greek Architecture, Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architecture, architectural style ...
, the ''atrium'' was the open central
court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
with enclosed rooms on all sides. In the middle of the atrium was the ''
impluvium The ''impluvium'' (pl. ''impluvia'') is a water-catchment pool system meant to capture rain-water flowing from the ''compluvium'', or slanted roof. Often placed "inside", instead of "outside", a building, it is a notable feature in many archite ...
'', a shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch
rainwater Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water fo ...
from the roof. Some surviving examples are beautifully decorated. The opening in the ceiling above the pool (''compluvium'') called for some means of support for the roof, and it is here where one differentiates between five different styles of atrium. As the centrepiece of the house, the atrium was the most lavishly furnished room. Wealthier houses often included a marble ''cartibulum'', an oblong marble table supported by ''trapezophoros'' pedestals depicting mythological creatures like winged griffins.John J. Dobbins and Pedar W. Foss, The World of Pompeii, Routledge Press, 2007, Also, it contained the little chapel to the
ancestral spirits The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
(''
lararium Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares ...
''), the household safe (''arca'') and sometimes a bust of the master of the house. The cylindrical
puteal A puteal (Latin: from ''puteus'' (well) — plural: ''putealia''Venetian Wellheads @ Veniped ...
(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
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
d courtyards, larger versions of the domestic spaces.
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
churches were often entered through such a space (as are many
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s, though the term atrium is not usually used to describe
Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ...
).


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. Image:C19 interior 015.jpg, Victoria Hall in Halifax Town Hall, 1863 Image:Bradbury building Los Angeles c2005 01403u.jpg, Atrium at the center of the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles


Modern-day atria

Fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control i ...
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 public spaces at
Federation Square Federation Square (colloquially Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets built above busy ra ...
, in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia, is called The Atrium and is a street-like space, five stories high with glazed walls and roof. The structure and glazing pattern follow the system of
fractals In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illus ...
used to arrange the panels on the rest of the facades at Federation Square. In
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
, U.S., the
Opryland Hotel Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, formerly known as Opryland Hotel, is a hotel and convention center located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (formerly known as Gaylord Entertainment Company), and o ...
hosts 4 different large atria, spanning of glass ceiling in total, in the hotel above the
garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
s of: Delta, Cascades, Garden-Conservatories, and Magnolia. When it opened in 2019, the
Leeza SOHO Leeza SOHO (), also known as Li Ze Tower, is a Skyscraper located in the Lize Financial Business District in Beijing, China. SOHO China acquired land use rights in 2013 for ¥1.922 billion RMB (US$288 million). The construction of the building ...
in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, had the world's tallest atrium at , replacing the previous record-holder, the
Burj Al Arab The Burj Al Arab ( ar, برج العرب, ''Arab Tower'') is a luxury hotel located in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Managed by Jumeirah hotel group, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world, although 39% of its total heigh ...
in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. The
Luxor Hotel Luxor Las Vegas is a 30-story casino hotel situated on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The hotel is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International and has a casino with over 2,000 slot machines an ...
, in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
, has the largest atrium in the world (by volume) at .


Gallery

File:Il·lustració d’una escena a l’atri de l’edifici dels banys de la vil·la romana dels Munts.jpg, Roman atrium of the building of the baths in the Roman villa of "Els Munts", close to Tarraco File:One-Bligh Street Sydney.jpg, The atrium of 1 Bligh Street, a Sydney office tower, looking upwards File:Shanghai Grand Hyatt Atrium.jpg, Looking up inside the 32-story atrium of the Shanghai Grand Hyatt, part of the
Jin Mao Building The Jin Mao Tower (; Shanghainese:'' Cinmeu Dagho''; lit. ‘Golden Prosperity Building’), also known as the or , is a , 88-story (93 if counting the floors in the spire) landmark skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China. It contains a s ...
File:New York State Theater atrium by David Shankbone.jpg, Atrium of the
New York State Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally ...
at
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
File:Tucson High Library.jpg, The
Tucson High School Tucson High Magnet School , commonly referred to as THMS, THS, or Tucson High, is a public high school in Tucson, Arizona. It is part of the Tucson Unified School District with magnet programs in Technology, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts. Th ...
Galleria and reflexive library (pictured) feature a modern atrium tetrastylum with four support columns and open roof File:VirgoPiazza.JPG, The Grand Piazza atrium inside the SuperStar Virgo File:Gould Court atrium at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Washington.jpg, Four floor atrium of Gould Hall, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
File:Grand Doubletree east atrium up.jpg, The Grand Doubletree hotel/condo in
Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It ...
42 story atrium File:Complexe Desjardins, Grande Place 2005-10-22.jpg, Atrium of
Complexe Desjardins Complexe Desjardins is a mixed-use office, hotel, and shopping mall complex located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the Quartier des spectacles area of Saint Catherine Street.Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
File:Kurayoshi Park Square04n4592.jpg, Atrium of Kurayoshi Park Square in Kurayoshi, Japan File:Water Tower Place - Glass Elevators.jpg, Multi-floor atrium with three see-through octagonal
elevator shaft An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...
s in
Water Tower Place Water Tower Place is a large urban, mixed-use development comprising a shopping mall, hotel, theater, and condominiums in a 74-story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The mall is located at 835 North Michigan Avenue, along the Mag ...
in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
File:Interior of Fermi Lab Wilson Hall.JPG, Interior of Wilson Hall at
Fermi Lab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been operat ...
in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
File:Piarco International Airport Atrium.jpg, Main atrium of
Piarco International Airport Piarco International Airport is an international airport serving the island of Trinidad and is one of two international airports in Trinidad and Tobago. The airport is located east of Downtown Port of Spain, located in the adjacent town of P ...
File:Myer Melbourne, 2012.jpg, Atrium of a
Myer Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products ...
store in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, looking from the top floor to the ground floor File:200 Public Square atrium.jpg, An atrium exterior of the 200 Public Square building in Downtown Cleveland,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. File:Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Massachusetts - DSC06782.jpg, Atrium (architecture)
Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
PEM *
Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and th ...


See also

* Cavaedium * Quadrangle * Panopticon


References


Further reading

* {{Authority control Architectural elements Rooms *Atrium