Renaissance Architecture Masard Roof

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

Renaissance architecture masard roof. Interestingly in europe mansard can also refer to the attic space and not just the roof structure. Almost in the 1550s mansard roofs were designed. Ever since then the mansard roof has become an integral part of french architecture and is quite commonly seen in many buildings located in that part of the world. The emblem of the style is the distinctive mansard roof a device attributed to the 17th century french architect francois mansart 1598 1666.

It was widely used in renaissance and baroque french architecture. The popularity of the mansard roof kept on growing in france and became even more fashionable during the reign of napoleon the 3rd 1852 1870. A mansard or mansard 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. The mansard roof has been in existence since the 16th century.

The mansard roof is a hipped gambrel roof thus having two slopes on every side. The earliest known exampl. Their fashionable existence came during the reign of napoleon iii during the second empire. Yet the mansard style got famous in the 17th century by francois mansart who was a renowned architect of the french baroque period.

Both of the aforementioned roof types can provide extra attic space or other room without building an entire additional floor. Mansart is remembered by architectural historians as the father of french classical architecture but he clearly had a practical nature as well. Thus this roof architecture was christened as the mansard roof in his honor.