Loggia

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For the surname, see Loggia (surname).

Villa Godi by Palladio. A loggia is the focal point in place of a portico in the centre, and used again each side of the structure as a corridor.

Domitian Terrace surmounted by the fifteenth century loggia of the Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi, Trajan's Forum, Rome.

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Italian design, which is often a gallery or corridor generally on the ground level, or sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall.

The loggia can also be an alternative to the portico. In this form it is most simply described as a recessed portico, or an internal room, with pierced walls, open to the elements. Occasionally a loggia would be placed at second floor level over the top of a loggia below, this was known as a 'double loggia'. Loggias sometimes were given significance in a facade by being surmounted by a pediment.

Today, a loggia can be a small, often ornate, summer house built on the roof of a residence to enjoy cooling winds and admire the view. They are typical of Italian architecture and were especially popular in the 17th century. They are prominent in the skyline of Rome.

Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa contains three distinct sets of dorms connected by loggias. The main quad of the Stanford University campus prominently features loggias, as do the University Center and Purnell Center for the Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, which frame a quad known as the Cut.

A loggia was added to the the Sydney Opera House in 2006. [1]

[edit] References

Curl, James Stevens [2006]. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (paperback), Second (in English), Oxford University Press, 880. ISBN 0-19-860678-8.