Terrace (building)
For other uses, see Terrace (disambiguation).
A terrace as an architectural term is an external, raised,
A terrace.
The roof terrace of the Casa Grande hotel in Santiago de Cuba
open, flat area in either a landscape (such as a park or
garden), around a building,[1] or as a roof terrace on a flat
roof.[2]
1 Ground terraces
Terraces are used primarily for leisure activity such as sit-
ting, strolling, or resting.[1][2] The term often applies to a
raised area in front of a monumental building or structure,
which is usually reached by a grand staircase and sur-
rounded by a balustrade.[2] A terrace may be supported
by an embankment or solid foundation, either natural or
man-made.[1] Terraces may also be platforms, supported
1
A setback terrace outside a 19th floor apartment on East 57th
Street in New York.
by columns but without the space below filled in,[1] but
terraces are always open to the sky and may or may not
be paved.[3]
1.1 History and examples of terraces
Agricultural terracing can be traced back to prehistoric
times. But architectural terracing is equally ancient. Ex-
amples of early architectural terracing in the Middle East
have been found at Nahal Oren (a Natufian culture site
occupied between 13000 to 9800 BCE), at Tel Yarmut
(2700 to 2200 BCE), and at Tel el-'Umeiri (600 BCE).[4]
Architectural terracing was widespread globally. For ex-
ample, architectural (rather than agricultural) terracing
also occurred on the island of Babeldaob in modern Palau
in the Pacific Ocean.[5]
Terraces are found the world over, throughout history.
Terraces were used extensively throughout Greece in both
public and private architecture, and rooftop terraces can
be found at Knossos as early as 1700 BCE.[6] Terraces
were also built extensively in the Roman Empire, with
terraces in front of monumental structures (such as tem-
ples) common throughout imperial history.[7] Temples
were terraced on the island of Java by at least 800 CE,
and the practice spread to Cambodia. The first terrace
stone temple in Cambodia was constructed at Bakong in
881 CE.[8]
Terraces are often used for private residences. In tradi-
tional Thai homes (or “cluster houses”), the dwelling is
built around a central terrace, or chaan. One or more
“house cabins” (small, enclosed rooms) are placed around
the edge of the terrace, and set about 40 centimetres (16
2 4
in) higher than the terrace to provide built-in bench seat-
ing. The terrace is often pierced in the center by a tree,
which along with the house cabin roofs and walls provides
shade, and may be decorated with large flat ceramic bowls
of fish and water lilies or by potted plants.[9]
Architectural theories for the use and design of terraces
varies widely geographically and historically. In the early
part of the 20th century, architects Henry and Theodore
Hubbard argued that the basic function of a terrace was
as an interesting base of an even more interesting build-
ing. Since the terrace was not the focal point of the struc-
ture, its design should be simple and it should command
a view.[10] More recently, architect Catherine Dee has
noted that the terrace is most commonly used to link the
structure to the landscape and as an extension of living
space.[11] According to architect Sophia Psarra, the ter-
race is one of the most commonly used forms of architec-
ture in the 21st century, along with entrance halls, stairs,
and corridors.[12]
Landscape architect Russell Sturgis has observed that ter-
races tend to be used only in larger and more expensive
gardens.[13]
2 Roof terraces
Main article: Roof terrace
Terraces need not always protrude from a building; a
flat roof area (which may or may not be surrounded by [8] Le, Huu Phuoc. Buddhist Architecture. Lakeville, Minn.:
a balustrade) used for social activity is also known as
a terrace.[2] In Venice, Italy, for example, the rooftop
terrace (or altana) is the most common form of terrace [9] Athapitanonda, Nithi and Mertens, Brian. Architecture of
found. Developed around 1500 CE, it remains little-
changed today and consists of a wooden platform with
small spaces between the floorboards. The altana was [10] Hubbard, Henry Vincent and Hubbard, Theodore Kim-
originally a place where laundry could be hung out to
dry (hence the spaces in the flooring through which water
could pass). Today, however, the altana is used primarily
for social purposes.[14] [11] Dee, Catherine. Form and Fabric in Landscape Architec-
3 See also
• Balcony
• Band stand
• Gazebo
• Patio
• Pavilion
• Pergola
• Porch
• Terrace garden
REFERENCES
• Verandah
4 References
[1] Harris, Cyril M. Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Archi-
tecture. New York: Dover Publications, 1977, p. 529.
[2] Davies, Nicholas and Jokiniemi, Erkki. Dictionary of Ar-
chitecture and Building Construction. New York: Rout-
ledge, 2008, p. 379.
[3] Ching, Frank. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. Hobo-
ken, N.J.: Wiley, 2012, p. 17.
[4] Gibson, Shimon. “Agricultural Terraces and Settlement
Expansion in the Highlands of Early Iron Age Palestine:
Is There Any Correlation Between the Two?" In Studies
in the Archaeology of the Iron Age in Israel and Jordan.
Amihay Mazar and Ginny Mathias, eds. Sheffield, Eng-
land: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001, p. 129-130.
[5] Morgan, William N. and Morgan, Newton. Prehistoric Ar-
chitecture in Micronesia. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas
Press, 1988, p. 4-13.
[6] Dinsmoor, William Bell and Anderson, William J. The
Architecture of Ancient Greece: An Account of Its Historic
Development. New York: Biblo and Tannen, 1973, p.
xxix-xxx.
[7] MacDonald, William Lloyd. The Architecture of the Ro-
man Empire: Volume 3, An Urban Appraisal. New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 1986, p. 135.
Grafikol, 2010, p. 260.
Thailand: A Guide to Tradition and Contemporary Forms.
Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2012, p. 64.
ball. An Introduction to the Study of Landscape Design.
New York: Macmillan Co., 1917, p. 198.
ture. Florence, Ky.: Taylor & Francis, 2012, p. 60.
[12] Psarra, Sophia. Architecture and Narrative: The Forma-
tion of Space and Cultural Meaning. New York: Rout-
ledge, 2013, p. 87.
[13] Sturgis, Russell. Sturgis’ Illustrated Dictionary of Architec-
ture and Building. Vol. 2. Mineola, N.Y.: Courier Dover
Publications, 2011, p. 177.
[14] Goy, Richard J. Venetian Vernacular Architecture: Tradi-
tional Housing in the Venetian Lagoon. New York: Cam-
bridge University Press, 2011, p. 53.
 3

5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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• Terrace (building) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrace%20(building)?oldid=629810945 Contributors: Menchi, Glenn, Marcok,
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