Penthouse apartment

A Penthouse ( Germanized also penthouse, from the American, from Middle English pentis " small extension ", from Latin appendix, Old French apentis "Appendix" ), in Switzerland Attic, is a detached residential building on the roof of a multi-storey house. Primarily for exclusive penthouses are referred to skyscrapers.

Description

The penthouse comes back on several sides of the line of the lower floors, creating a wrap-around deck is created. In this respect, the penthouse can also be classified as a special type of projectile season, as it is a first floor with a lower surface area than the lower floors. The roof terrace is accessible from the penthouse and part of the associated dwelling. There are also mixed forms with two or more buildings on a roof. These homes are then no freestanding components more, but similar terraced houses with reduced roof terraces. Flats which has, as the underlying structure, usually a flat roof.

History

The penthouse developed as a stand-alone design of urban architecture from the early 20th century. In connection with this was the spread of the electric elevator, which is now allowed easy access to the top floor in high-rise buildings. While previously the townhouses located in the first or second floor, main floor contained the most prestigious homes and on the other hand located under the roof mansard harbored simple servants' apartments, now the establishment of exclusive apartments on the top floor was attractive. The architectural precursor is the attic floor, a final floor above the cornice. This luxurious penthouse particularly in the 1940s and 1950s often had its own elevator and was distinguished by its particular location and facilities. From the sunny roof terrace, which can be fitted for example, with a swimming pool or a rooftop garden, a panoramic view, it often makes high above the city. Since by the massive growth of the traffic in city centers in the middle of the 20th century increased the air pollution, offered the high-altitude penthouse apartment with its fresher air another advantage.

A very different living concept realized in 1952, Le Corbusier at the Cité Radiant City, he designed a " dwelling unit " ( Unité d' Habitation ) in Marseille. The skyscraper was designed as a kind of vertical concentrated neighborhoods, where all the facilities required for living and for leisure activities are housed. On the roof terrace of the Cité Radiant City were (and are partially changed use today) of all residents sharable " communal facilities " ( prolongements de logis ) housed in penthausartigen structures, including a crèche with outdoor area, swimming pool, gymnasium, sports hall, solarium and common areas.

Others

Particularly from East Asian cities also irregularly built houses and cottages are known atop high-rises. These later structures are usually the result of lack of space. In Japanese cities is often builds Shinto shrines as a penthouse on large public buildings. In addition there are also scheduled improvised penthouses: In Hong Kong illegally built shanty towns exist on high-rise buildings, but are tolerated by the authorities because of the prevailing housing shortage. An ancient example of a building that resembles a penthouse, is the Ethiopian monastery on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.