French Architecture Mansard Roof

Mansard roof are otherwise known as french roof designs.

French architecture mansard roof. A roof with the pitch divided into a shallow slope above a steeper slope. This style of roof or curb roof includes a four sided hip roof style with two distinct slopes. The steep slope may be curved. The concept of this roof is said to be originated in the 16th century.

Mansard roof type of roof having two slopes on every side the lower slope being considerably steeper than the upper. You can consider gambrel roof to be a modified version of a gable roof. Hip roof flat roof gable roof design white exterior houses modern exterior mansard roof gambrel roof living roofs dormer windows. An enormous sloping roof crowned the original louvre palace in paris constructed in 1546.

A century later the french architect françois mansart 1598 1666 used double sloped roofs so extensively that they were coined mansard a derivation of mansart s name. It forms a low pitch and mostly known as a curb roof. The emblem of the style is the distinctive mansard roof a device attributed to the 17th century french architect francois mansart 1598 1666. Although the style was used as early as the mid 16th century in england and italy and was employed by pierre lescot at the louvre it was named for the 17th century architect françois mansart who used it on paris hôtel s.

The term mansard comes from the french architect françois mansart 1598 1666 of the beaux arts school of architecture in paris france. However they gained popularity in the 17th century by francois mansart. Another revival of the mansard roof occurred in the 1850s when paris was rebuilt by napoleon iii. A four sided or french roof with double slopes on each side is called a mansard roof.

Mansart revived interest in this roofing style which had been characteristic of french renaissance architecture and was used for portions of the louvre museum in france. Simply put the mansard roof also known as the french roof or curb roof is a hybrid between a gambrel roof and a hip roof. In cross section the straight sided mansard can appear like a gambrel roof but it differs from the gambrel by displaying the same profile on all sides. A roof similar to a mansard but sloped in one direction rather than both.

An element of the second empire architectural style mansard style in the u s. Mansart is remembered by architectural historians as the father of french classical architecture but he clearly had a practical nature as well. A mansard roof has no gables. The steeper angle can be found on one side and the window creates an extra floor of space in a home called a garret.

The steep roof with windows creates an additional floor of habitable space a garret and reduces the overall height of the roof for a given number of habitable stories.