June 14, 2005

Obscure Architectural Term of the Day!

VILLA. In Roman architecture, the landowner's residence or farmstead on his country estate; in Renaissance architecture, a country house; in C19 England, a detached house 'for opulent persons', usually on the outskirts of a town; in modern architecture, a small detached house. The basic type developed with the growth of urbanization: it is of five bays, on a simple corridor plan with rooms opening off a central passage. The next state is the addition of wings. The courtyard villa fills a square plan with subsidiary buildings and an enclosure wall with a gate facing the main corridor block.

From the Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, Third Edition.

Not to be confused with some hairy guy named Bob. Or Pancho, for that matter.

In case you ever get by Vicenza, here's a nice little villa of the Renaissance sort--Villa Rotunda by Andrea Palladio, who was sorta on the famous side.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at June 14, 2005 02:16 PM
Comments

Why would a penguin need a dictionary of architecture? Really, now.

Posted by: InsanePreschoolMom at June 14, 2005 11:07 PM

Hey--YOU try being a flightless bird stuck year 'round in a vast frozen wasteland! They gotta have SOMEthing to do!

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at June 15, 2005 07:54 AM

Glad I didn't guess about the Villa Rotunda.

I thought it was a hotel for fat guys,

Posted by: skinnydan at June 16, 2005 08:20 PM

Yet ANOTHER stellar money-making opportunity I find myself unable to capitalize on.

::sigh::

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at June 16, 2005 09:55 PM