Mansard Roof French Architecture

Mansart is remembered by architectural historians as the father of french classical architecture but he clearly had a practical nature as well.

Mansard roof french architecture.

A mansard or mansard roof also called a french roof or curb roof is a four sided gambrel style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope punctured by dormer windows at a steeper angle than the upper. 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. The emblem of the style is the distinctive mansard roof a device attributed to the 17th century french architect francois mansart 1598 1666. His buildings are notable for their subtlety elegance and harmony.

François mansart who was an accomplished architect of the french baroque period started adopting this roof style into the buildings he designed for his clients. It was widely used in renaissance and baroque french architecture. Both of the aforementioned roof types can provide extra attic space or other room without building an entire additional floor. Interestingly in europe mansard can also refer to the attic space and not just the roof structure.

Thus this roof architecture was christened as the mansard roof in his honor. 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. During the baroque period 1600 1750 he used this technique of roofing extensively to create chateaus and grand townhouses which caught the eyes of the people. François mansart mansart also spelled mansard born january 1598 paris died september 1666 architect important for establishing classicism in baroque architecture in mid 17th century france.

You can consider gambrel roof to be a modified version of a gable roof. His most complete surviving work is the château of maisons. An enormous sloping roof crowned the original louvre palace in paris constructed in 1546. 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.