In
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 construction, constructi ...
, an ell is a
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
of a building perpendicular (at a right angle) to the length of the main portion (main range).
[Ching, Francis D. K. (1995). A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. p. 26. .]
It takes its name from the shape of the letter
L. Ells are often additions to a building. Unless sub-wings or a non-rectangular outline
floor plan exists such a wing makes the building L-shaped or T-shaped "in plan" (shape from above/below), though if not central nor at one end of the building the T-shape will be an offset T. Where a building is aligned closely to
cardinal compass points, such a wing may be more informatively described by its related side of the building (such as "south wing of the building").
Connected farms and large rural homes
In
connected farm architecture and homes that were the economic hubs of large grounds including in
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
and northern European traditions, one or more ells (wings) will usually be extended to attach the main house or range to another building, such as a barn or stables, or a tower or chapel or defensive range in the case of a castle or palace. In formal and early modern settings it may take the form of a well-sunlit long
gallery; or it may be a plant-growing section or open-sided walkway, if outdoors, a
colonnade, plant-covered walkway (
pergola) or the indoor analog, a gallery
conservatory.
See also
*
Hyphen (architecture)
References
External links
This Old House Carlisle project (connected farm)
Architectural elements
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