Dwelling
Closet
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A piece of furniture or a recess closed with doors, with shelves or rails for storing clothes and objects.
What it solves
It keeps the house in order and protects what is stored from dust and light. In the humid tropics it must ventilate so clothes do not get moldy.
Today
Use louvered or grilled doors so air can circulate, keep the back away from the exterior wall and place the rail at a reachable height. An interior light and pull-out shelves make it easier for older people to use.
Common mistake
Closing it against a damp, unventilated exterior wall, where clothes get moldy.
Tomorrow
Storing less and sharing more reduces its size, for example with a shared tool store in the building. A closet with grilles on a ventilated wall protects clothes from mold without using energy.
Where it comes from
- 1Ancient Rome Mediterranean, Antiquity
The Spanish word armario comes from the Latin armarium. - 2Al-Andalus Iberian Peninsula, Middle Ages
The Spanish word alacena, the cupboard built into the wall, comes from Andalusian Arabic. - 3Japanese house Japan, second half of the Edo period
The oshiire, closed with sliding doors, stores the futons by day so the room can serve other purposes.
See also
Also in Dwelling
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.