Atrium (architecture)

Ancient atria

In a domus, a large house in ancient Roman architecture, the atrium was the open central court with enclosed rooms on all sides. In the middle of the atrium was the impluvium, a shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch rainwater 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. Also, it contained the little chapel to the ancestral spirits (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 arcaded courtyards, larger versions of the domestic spaces. 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.

Image:C19 interior 015.jpg|Victoria Hall in Halifax Town Hall, 1863 Image:Bradbury building LC-DIG-pplot-13725-01403.jpg|Atrium at the center of the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles

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 public spaces at Federation Square, in Melbourne, 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 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 acre of glass ceiling in total, in the hotel above the gardens of: Delta, Cascades, Garden-Conservatories, and Magnolia.

When it opened in 2019, the Leeza SOHO in Beijing, had the world's tallest atrium at 194 m, replacing the previous record-holder, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. The Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada, has the largest atrium in the world (by volume) at 29 e6cuft.

Gallery

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 File:New York State Theater atrium by David Shankbone.jpg|Atrium of the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center 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 Built Environments, at the University of Washington File:Grand Doubletree east atrium up.jpg|The Grand Doubletree hotel/condo in Downtown Miami 42 story atrium File:Complexe Desjardins, Grande Place 2005-10-22.jpg|Atrium of Complexe Desjardins, Montreal 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 shafts in Water Tower Place in Chicago File:Interior of Fermi Lab Wilson Hall.JPG|Interior of Wilson Hall at Fermi Lab in Illinois File:Piarco International Airport Atrium.jpg|Main atrium of Piarco International Airport File:Myer Melbourne, 2012.jpg|Atrium of a Myer store in Melbourne, 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. File:Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Massachusetts - DSC06782.jpg|Atrium (architecture) Salem, Massachusetts PEM * Peabody Essex Museum File:Chazhur Kovilakam Nalukettu.JPG|A nadumuttam, or the central atrium of a Kerala Nālukettu.

References

References

1. "atrium".
2. "Atrium". The Free Dictionary.
3. Driscoll, Matt. (2013). "Model Making for Architects". Crowood Press.
4. Steemers, Koen. (2000). "Architecture, City, Environment". Earthscan Press.
5. (Dec 1999). "Roof obstructions and daylight levels in atria: a model study under real skies". SAGE Publications.
6. John J. Dobbins and Pedar W. Foss, The World of Pompeii, Routledge Press, 2007, {{ISBN. 978-0-415-47577-8
7. (2019-11-21). "China opens skyscraper with world's tallest atrium twisting".