The atrium is a basic element of ancient Roman architecture. The meaning of the word atrium in the architectural dictionary Atrium in ancient Rome

The lobby of the luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai amazes 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 - a direct analogy to the courtyards that first appeared in the houses of ancient Italy many centuries ago.

Origin of the term

The courtyard, which had connections with all rooms of the house, was the compositional and semantic center of the ancient Roman house. It is necessary to distinguish between two types of patio. One of them is a patio, which is most often located in the open air, and the atrium is a covered space, and in later times such a covering was made of translucent structures.

The very name of this technique in the functional organization of a house - atrium - comes from the Latin word ater - black, sooty, which quickly lost its relevance. If at first the atrium was the place where the fireplace for cooking was located, it gradually became the space where the main events in the life of the ancient Roman house took place, i.e. the atrium acquired pomp and luxury.

The history of architecture distinguishes several types of ancient atrium. Its space could be limited by columns, the ceiling could be completely absent, or it could have a light opening of various sizes and be shaped to facilitate the drainage of water from the roof. In the atrium of the heyday of the empire, under an opening in the roof, there was a swimming pool; against 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 palace complexes was an internal covered courtyard, square in shape. With the development of technology, glazing systems appeared, which made it possible to erect translucent structures over such courtyards, which gave them new functional qualities.

The atrium arose in climates that did not require heating of houses, and the open, unenclosed space, flooded with natural light, was suitable for everyday year-round use without additional insulation measures. The possibility of creating sufficiently large spaces with a comfortable temperature and creating the effect of being in the open air has made atriums relevant for less comfortable climatic zones. Today, the atrium is an architecture not only of the Mediterranean, but also of Russia, Scandinavia and North America.

Modern planning element

Large spans connected by glazing supports created a new type of building. They had large public spaces where people could calmly, regardless of weather conditions, spend their free time, shopping, and viewing museum collections. The translucent ceilings of the atrium spaces created volumes of various types - passages, galleries, arcades, etc. Among them there 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 a rather exotic thing, even for a warm climate. Although modern glazing systems, complemented by the latest engineering equipment, have the ability to create and maintain a comfortable microclimate inside, most developers prefer durable and reliable roofs.

Atriums in high-rise construction

New times have created a need for buildings of enormous volume, which has led to the emergence of high-rise buildings for various purposes. One of the most effective ways to build intelligent functional and communication interactions between rooms and spaces of a modern building has become the appearance of a huge common volume, where galleries, passages, panoramic elevators, etc. open. 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 translucent enclosing structures, is often endowed with the functions of a light and air duct, which can stretch to many levels in height. Hence, the most important problem inherent in a building with an atrium is fire safety, but modern systems can nullify such threats.

Architectural masterpieces

Modern architects and designers have 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, grand aquariums, fountains, etc. are used for this.

Atriums created in this way have become real masterpieces of architecture of our time, preserving the essence with which they were endowed by ancient architects.

Architectural Dictionary

Atrium

(lat. atrium, ater - dark, black)

a closed courtyard in the middle part of an ancient Italian and Roman dwelling, into which the rest of the rooms opened. In the center of the atrium there was a pool (impluvium), above which an opening (compluvium) was left to drain rainwater.

(lat. ater - dark, black) - the middle part of the ancient Italian and Roman dwelling, which was a closed courtyard with which the rest of the rooms were connected. Wings of the atrium ( ala) - on both sides - were the habitat of the household gods ( lars and penates), their images and masks of their ancestors were placed there. In ancient times, in the middle of the atrium there was a hearth, 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, which is how it got its name. In the era of the late Republic and Empire, the atrium became one of the ceremonial rooms of the Roman house and received rich decoration; the place of the former hearth was taken by a shallow rectangular pool ( impluvium) above which there was still a hole in the roof to drain rainwater ( compluvium).

(Dictionary of architectural terms. Yusupov E.S., 1994)

A) the central courtyard, the main place of spending time in a 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.

Tourist vocabulary

Atrium

internal light courtyard in the building

With the beginning of the era of luxurious skyscrapers, a kind of “race” began for primacy among atriums - amazing halls, whose vaults go tens and tens of meters into the air... LifeGlobe will introduce you to the most outstanding examples of this interesting architectural element

For a long time, skyscrapers were built according to a general template - ordinary high-rise buildings with a bunch of monotonous floors. Until, at some point, the idea was born in someone’s bright head to use the colossal interior space to give the halls of buildings a luxurious and breathtaking look. This architectural element is mainly used in luxury hotels, so it makes sense 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 the 53-88 floors of the 421-meter Jin Mao Tower in Pudong - the new financial and business center of Shanghai

The atrium's diameter is 27 meters; oval projections on each of the hotel's 35 floors 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 in height, making it the tallest 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 tallest on the planet from 1985 until the grand opening of the Dubai Sail.

The atrium of this American hotel literally hypnotizes visitors with its regular symmetrical shapes and calm, harmonious lighting of the balconies.

Empty space permeates the building from top to bottom, and the glass shafts of two elevators and the balconies crossing the atrium will help you see every detail in detail. Of course, this spectacle 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 doesn’t look particularly exciting, but it’s still no less interesting - we’re 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 luxurious view of the vintage interiors of this old building and attracts many visitors just by the spectacle that opens from the upper floors into the interior of the building

The department store itself was founded back in 1852 and even then was a magnificent sight - the modern atrium, included in the design of the building during its large-scale renovation in 2004, only complemented the former grandeur of this historical building, unfaded by time

Another interesting example is located in Vietnamese Saigon - the atrium of the local Renaissance hotel rises from the bar on the 4th floor up to another 22 floors, up to the very ceiling of the building, and is distinguished by its comparatively cramped and straightforward forms in comparison with other examples of this unusual architectural design presented on our list. element

In appearance, it seems as if this building was simply turned inside out - the main internal wall resembles a facade so much

Now let's move to Atlanta - to the building of the 4-star Georgian Terrace Hotel, whose former appearance was added 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 plenty of sunlight, to illuminate it

Thanks to the interesting layout, the atrium structure 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 the stars of the old film "Gone with the Wind" - Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh - stayed during the premiere in 1939

Our next stop is London, namely the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel, the view of the restaurant from a 12-story height is involuntarily breathtaking. As you can see, the windows of some rooms also face here, revealing a rather unusual “landscape” to the residents.

Bright and spacious during the day, the atrium of the Park Plaza Hotel presents a completely different spectacle at night, turning into a real kaleidoscope of strange prisms, the light of which, reflecting off each other, creates even more interesting geometric shapes

It feels like you're in 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 New York Marriott Marquis hotel towering above the square, which opened here back in 1985. The hotel's lobby atrium is one of the hotel's defining features, an open space that extends 45 floors into the air. A stunning sight...

Another feature of the Marriott Hotel is its high-speed elevators - 12 spacious glass cabins, lifting visitors at a speed of 300 meters per minute. The hotel's rooftop features New York's only revolving restaurant, offering breathtaking views of the surrounding area.

The atrium of the futuristic Lloyd Building in London, also known as the "Inside-Out Building" or "Inside Out Building", looks no less amazing. The building looks like it was built by some giant child using appropriately sized parts from a children's construction set.

The spacious atrium of the Lloyd's Building rises 60 meters, and the glass roof, galleries and escalators allow light to flow freely into the building. The upper floors can only be accessed via external elevators - another design decision that allowed the atrium to be preserved in natural light.

An even more breathtaking view opens from the upper floors of Singapore's Marina Mandarin Hotel. Surprisingly, the low, “only” 21-story atrium of this luxury hotel looks simply huge. Such an amazing visual illusion is achieved thanks to the building's inclined facades.

The view from the upper levels of the atrium gives the 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 believe in this self-deception

The hotel itself was built in 1987 and renovated in 2005. “Some” $25 million was spent on redevelopment and modification of the external and internal appearance of the hotel

We are transported again to the USA, this time to Michigan, where an amazing high-rise building appeared in 2007. We are talking about the JW Marriott Grand Rapids hotel, whose atrium is supposedly created in order to make people who are afraid of heights and enclosed spaces suffer)

Yes, the windows offer a wonderful view, but look lower and the narrow “tunnel” of the atrium will create the misleading impression that this 78-meter building actually has much more than 23 floors!

The last amazing atrium, which you should definitely get acquainted with, is located in the 4.5* Pan Pacific Singapore hotel, a pleasant feature of which is that it is a non-smoking hotel

The atrium of a Singapore hotel at night is illuminated with other colors, among which red and blue predominate. This coloring makes it look like some kind of futuristic spaceship

AND dining room where they were hearth And loom, and at the same time - the sacred core of the home, likened to the central sanctuary of Rome - mundus of Ceres. The latter was a round vaulted pit, according to legend, dug Romulus at the founding of the city and opened three times a year for sacrifices. In this capacity, the atrium, like mundus, symbolized the cosmic axis connecting the underworld with the heavens. The central place in the atrium was occupied by a swimming pool ( impluvium), above which there was a hipped opening in the roof (compluvium), where rainwater flowed. Behind the impluvium, somewhat further away, the fireplace was placed in such a way that the fire would not be flooded with rainwater, but the smoke would be drawn out. Later the fireplace disappeared from this room. Initially, the atrium was also the place where the mother of the family slept - opposite the entrance to the house there was a deep niche for her bed - lectus adversus (“bed against the door”). In later periods, this niche lost its original function and was preserved only symbolically - as a sign of the sanctity of marriage. The atrium also housed most of the valuable items belonging to the family: a heavy chest with family heirlooms (cash drawer), an altar-type table - cartibule (Varro recalled that in his childhood they still met), a special niche ( tablinum), where the owner’s documents and 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 - larov And penates(later a separate sanctuary - lararium ). The loom, as an indispensable element of the atrium furnishings in Old Testament families, was preserved until the end of the republic. The atrium then became the public, reception part of the house, the state hall. Here they received guests whom they did not want to bring into the family circle; Here cartridge received his clients. The atrium became the most richly furnished part of the house. The surviving cornice rings indicate 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 in Ancient Rome. The role of the atrium in insulah(multi-storey buildings) was performed by a light courtyard.

Types of atriums according to Vitruvius

1. atrium tuscanium(“Tuscan”) - without columns; the opening in the roof was formed only by the rafters (although such a system was expensive to build, apparently it was the most common type of atrium in the empire);
2. atrium tetrastylum(“four-column”) - four columns, one at each corner of the impluvium;
3. atrium corinthium(“Corinthian”) - similar to the previous one, but the compluvium is larger in size, and the number of columns increases to 12-16;
4. atrium displuviatum(“rain drainage”) - the size of the compluvium was significantly reduced, due to which it looked like a narrow slit, and the slope of the roof was arranged so that rainwater flowed out of it;
5. atrium testudinatum(“covered”) - an atrium completely covered with vaults (without compluvium), usually located in small houses.