Threshold and transition
Portico
public buildingtempleschoolhousing
It is the roofed space supported by columns in front of the main door of a building.
What it solves
It announces the entrance and gives a sheltered place to wait or say goodbye. In the tropics it protects the door from downpours and the afternoon sun.
Today
Size it so that several people can shelter together and orient it so that the prevailing rain does not get in.
Common mistake
Building a decorative portico so narrow or so tall that it protects from nothing.
Tomorrow
The roofed portico of a school or a community hall is where children wait for the school bus and shelter from the downpour. With a bench and good shade it becomes the neighborhood’s waiting room.
Where it comes from
- 1Ancient Greece Eastern Mediterranean, Antiquity
The pronaos, the space in front of the temple, led into the cella under a pediment on columns. - 2Ancient Rome Rome, 2nd century
The Pantheon preserves an eight-column portico in front of its great dome. - 3Renaissance Veneto, Italy, 16th century
Palladio brought the temple front to country houses.
Masters
- Andrea Palladio Villa La Rotonda, Vicenza, Italy
He places a six-column portico with steps on each of its four facades. Each portico announces the entrance and connects it with the central hall.
See also
Also in Threshold and transition
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.