Oriel window

An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground.^[1] Supported by corbels, brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an upper floor, but is also sometimes used on the ground floor.

Oriel windows are seen in Arab architecture in the form of mashrabiya and in Turkish are known as şahnişin or cumba. In Islamic culture, these windows and balconies project from the street-front of a house, providing an area in which women could peer out and see the activities below while remaining invisible.^[2]

Origins

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term oriel is derived from Anglo-Norman oriell and Late Latin oriolum, both meaning "gallery" or "porch", perhaps from Classical Latin aulaeum ("curtain").

Oriel College, Oxford, took its name from a balcony or oriel window forming a feature of a building which occupied the site the college now stands on.^[3]
Oriel Chambers in Liverpool was a very controversial building when it was built, featuring an entire façade of glass oriel windows.^[4]

Gallery

A 15th-century oriel window at Barnard Castle in County Durham, England.
Oriel windows in San Francisco, California, USA
16th-century oriel window in the City of London, Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great
19th-century neo-gothic oriel window on Bradford City Hall
Oriel window located in Grande Île, Strasbourg
Ground-floor oriel window, Perssonska gården, Hedemora, Sweden
Oriel Chambers, Liverpool, by Peter Ellis, 1864
Massive half timbered oriel window on a pre-1581 house, Bouxwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
Massive oriel window of District Office in Świdwin, Poland
Oriel windows with brackets in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France

References

^ What is an oriel window – Architecture Glossary
^ KENZARI, B. and ELSHESHTAWY, Y. (2003), The Ambiguous Veil: On Transparency, the Mashrabiy'ya, and Architecture. Journal of Architectural Education, 56: 17–25. doi: 10.1162/104648803321672924
^ University Challenge, BBC TV. Broadcast 8 August 2016
^ "History". Oriel Chambers. Retrieved 23 November 2021.

External links

Media related to Oriel windows at Wikimedia Commons
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Oriel". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.