Avant-corps explained

An avant-corps (Italian: avancorpo or Italian: risalto, plural Italian: risalti, German: Risalit, Polish: ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the corps de logis, often taller than other parts of the building.[1] [2] It is common in façades in French Baroque architecture.

Particularly in German architecture, a corner Risalit is where two wings meet at right angles. Baroque three-winged constructions often incorporate a median Risalit in a main hall or a stairwell, such as in Weißenstein Palace and the .

Terms

By position to the building

A central avant-corps stands in the middle of the facade.

A side projection is positioned off-centre.

Two wings (usually) running at right angles to each other flow into a corner avant-corps.

By function

Entrance risalit in which the entrance is located.

Torrisalit, in which a gate or a gate passage is located.

Terms from the environment

The reserve is the facade of the main alignment line of the building, which is receding compared to the front of the risalit. It is also known as Arrierecorps (Arrière-corps, French arrière corps: "behind the structure").

The frontispiece is the gable triangle above a central risalit.[3]

Sources

Much of the text of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article retrieved on 18 March 2006.

Notes and References

  1. Gérard Fontaine, Charles Garnier's Opéra (Paris, 2000), p. 88.
  2. Curl, James Stevens (2006). Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 2nd ed., OUP, Oxford and New York, p. 52. .
  3. Book: Koch, Wilfried . Baustilkunde das grosse Standardwerk zur europäischen Baukunst von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart . 1994 . 978-3-572-00689-2 . Sonderausg., erw. und völlig neubearb . München . 165213550.