Fascia () is an architectural term for a vertical

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

or band under a roof edge, or which forms the outer surface of a cornice, visible to an observer. Typically consisting of a wooden board, unplasticized PVC (uPVC), or non-corrosive sheet metal, many of the non-domestic fascias made of stone form an ornately carved or pieced together cornice, in which case the term fascia is rarely used. The word fascia derives from Latin ''fascia'' meaning "band, bandage, ribbon, swathe". The term is also used, although less commonly, for other such band-like surfaces like a wide, flat trim strip around a doorway, different and separate from the wall surface. The horizontal "fascia board" which caps the end of

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...

s outside a building may be used to hold the

rain gutter A rain gutter, eavestrough, eaves-shoot or surface water collection channel is a component of a water discharge system for a building. It is necessary to prevent water dripping or flowing off roofs in an uncontrolled manner for several reasons ...

. The finished surface below the fascia and rafters is called the

soffit A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (t ...

or eave. In

classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect ...

, the fascia is the plain, wide band (or bands) that make up the architrave section of the entablature, directly above the columns. The

guttae A gutta (Latin pl. guttae, "drops") is a small water-repelling, cone-shaped projection used near the top of the architrave of the Doric order in classical architecture. At the top of the architrave blocks, a row of six ''guttae'' below the narro ...

or drip edge was mounted on the fascia in the

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

, below the triglyph. The term fascia can also refer to the flat strip below the

cymatium Cymatium, the uppermost molding at the top of the cornice in the classical order, is made of the s-shaped cyma molding (either ''cyma recta'' or ''cyma reversa''), combining a concave cavetto with a convex ovolo. It is characteristic of Ionic co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fascia (Architecture) Columns and entablature Architectural elements

See also

References