French Architecture Mansard Roof

A four sided or french roof with double slopes on each side is called a mansard roof.

French architecture mansard roof.

In cross section the straight sided mansard can appear like a gambrel roof but it differs from the gambrel by displaying the same profile on all sides. Mansart is remembered by architectural historians as the father of french classical architecture but he clearly had a practical nature as well. A mansard roof has no gables. However they gained popularity in the 17th century by francois mansart.

If you are not familiar with a gambrel roof then let us first explain its architecture in brief. Another revival of the mansard roof occurred in the 1850s when paris was rebuilt by napoleon iii. Mansard roof is also known as a french roof or curb roof is a four sided gambrel style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its side. Mansard roof type of roof having two slopes on every side the lower slope being considerably steeper than the upper.

An enormous sloping roof crowned the original louvre palace in paris constructed in 1546. You can consider gambrel roof to be a modified version of a gable roof. This style of roof or curb roof includes a four sided hip roof style with two distinct slopes. The emblem of the style is the distinctive mansard roof a device attributed to the 17th century french architect francois mansart 1598 1666.

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 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. 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. It forms a low pitch and mostly known as a curb roof.

The mansard roof was popularized by the famous french architect francois mansart 1598 1666 who used this distinctive style in many of his works. Hip roof flat roof gable roof design white exterior houses modern exterior mansard roof gambrel roof living roofs dormer windows. The steeper angle can be found on one side and the window creates an extra floor of space in a home called a garret. Mansart revived interest in this roofing style which had been characteristic of french renaissance architecture and was used for portions of the louvre museum in france.

The concept of this roof is said to be originated in the 16th century. The term mansard comes from the french architect françois mansart 1598 1666 of the beaux arts school of architecture in paris france.