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A louver (American English) or louvre (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a window blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain and direct sunshine. The angle of the slats may be adjustable, usually in blinds and windows, or fixed. [1]
Louvers originated in the Middle Ages as lantern-like constructions in wood that were fitted on top of roof holes in large kitchens to allow ventilation while keeping out rain and snow. They were originally rather crude constructions consisting merely of a barrel.
Later, they evolved into more elaborate designs made of pottery, taking the shape of faces where the smoke and steam from cooking would pour out through the eyes and mouth, or into constructions that were more like modern louvers, with slats that could be opened or closed by pulling on a string. [2]
Modern louvers are often made of aluminum, metal, wood, or glass. They may be opened and closed with a metal lever, pulleys, or through motorized operators. [3]
The Australian Standard specifies requirements for the construction of buildings using louver in bushfire-prone areas in order to improve their resistance to bushfire attack from burning embers, radiant heat, flame contact and combinations of the three attack forms. [4] The revised building standard details various construction methods and materials that must be used depending on the homes level of bushfire risk. This includes changes to the window and glazing requirements for homes located in a Bushfire Attack Level category greater than BAL-Low.
Often used interchangeably by mistake, the key difference between louvers and jalousies is that louvers are fixed position. Jalousies are installed within a movable adjustable mechanism which positions all jalousies into any parallel position with respect to each other. [5]
Louvers are rarely seen as primary design elements in the language of modern architecture, but rather simply a technical device. Louvers are part of the design of Demerara windows to help keep 18th and 19th century buildings cool in hot climates and block direct sunlight. [6] [7] Some modern louver systems serve to improve indoor daylighting. Fixed mirrored louver systems can limit glare and of redirect diffuse light. Such louvers may be integrated in between two panes of double glazing. [8] In industrial facilities such as steel foundries and power plants, louvers are very common. They are utilized for natural ventilation and temperature control.
Louvers are frequently found in bell towers, where they are utilised to let out as much sound as possible, while having the bells remain unexposed to the weather.
There are examples of architects who use louvers as part of the overall aesthetic effect of their buildings. The most well-known example is Finnish modernist architect Alvar Aalto who would create aesthetic effects in the facades of his buildings through the combination of different types and sizes of louvers, some fixed some moveable, and made mostly from wood (e.g., the various buildings of the Helsinki University of Technology). A second example, taking influence from Aalto, is the second-generation modernist architect Juha Leiviskä.
Louvers may be used as a type of flood opening, usually covered by one or more moving flaps. They are designed to allow floodwaters to enter and leave the building, equalizing hydrostatic pressure on the walls and mitigating structural damage due to flooding. Louver windows are a staple in the design of homes and perfect to withstand the pressures of future cyclonic conditions. [9] Cyclone homes have always been synonymous with louver windows, louver blades have been tested for ‘debris type B’ for cyclonic regions.
Rear window louvers are also available as an accessory for some automobiles. They have also been used over the years in hoods, trunk lids, and other various body panels; typically hot rods, but by no means exclusive to that period. Their purpose in this regard is both as a functional means of ventilation, but also as a styling modification.
Louvers are used as semi-passive means of thermal control on airplanes and spacecraft as well. [10]
Louvers may also be used on traffic light lenses to prevent traffic from seeing the wrong traffic signal.
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material, a sash set in a frame in the opening; the sash and frame are also referred to as a window. Many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation, or closed to exclude inclement weather. Windows may have a latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut or to hold it open by various amounts.
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.
A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard material, including wood, plastic or metal which are held together by cords that run through the blind slats. Vertical blinds run along a track system which can tilt open and closed and move side-to-side. Window blinds can be manoeuvred with either a manual or remote control by rotating them from an open position, with slats spaced out, to a closed position where slats overlap and block out most of the light. There are also several types of window coverings, called shades, that use a single piece of soft material instead of slats.
A curtain wall is an exterior covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, instead serving to protect the interior of the building from the elements. Because the curtain wall façade carries no structural load beyond its own dead load weight, it can be made of lightweight materials. The wall transfers lateral wind loads upon it to the main building structure through connections at floors or columns of the building.
A jalousie window, louvred window, jalousie, or jalosy is a window composed of parallel glass, acrylic, or wooden louvres set in a frame. The louvres are joined onto a track so that they may be tilted open and shut in unison to control airflow, usually by turning a crank.
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails. Set within this frame can be louvers, solid panels, fabric, glass and almost any other item that can be mounted within a frame. Shutters may be employed for a variety of reasons, including controlling the amount of sunlight that enters a room, to provide privacy, security, to protect against weather or unwanted intrusion or damage and to enhance the aesthetics of a building.
An engawa (縁側/掾側) or en (縁) is an edging strip of non-tatami-matted flooring in Japanese architecture, usually wood or bamboo. The en may run around the rooms, on the outside of the building, in which case they resemble a porch or sunroom.
Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment.
Domestic roof construction is the framing and roof covering which is found on most detached houses in cold and temperate climates. Such roofs are built with mostly timber, take a number of different shapes, and are covered with a variety of materials.
The báhay kúbo, kubo, or payág, is a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippines. Often serving as an icon of Philippine culture, its design heavily influenced the Spanish colonial-era bahay na bato architecture.
Florida cracker architecture or Southern plantation style is a style of vernacular architecture typified by a low slung, wood-frame house, with a large porch. It was widespread in the 19th and early 20th century. Some elements of the style are still popular as a source of design themes. The name refers to colonial-era English and French pioneer settlers and their descendants. These homes were often designed with outdoor porches and large windows to help try to cool homes during the long hot season in these low latitude subtropical climates.
A window treatment is a cover or modification of a window, often with the aim of enhancing the aesthetics of the window and the room.
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a casement stay. Windows hinged at the top are referred to as awning windows, and ones hinged at the bottom are called hoppers.
A roller shutter, security shutter, coiling door, roller door or sectional overhead door is a specialized type of door or window shutter consisting of multiple horizontal slats, bars, or web systems interconnected through hinges. The mechanism involves lifting the door to open it and lowering it to close. In the case of larger doors, an automated, motorized system may be employed.
Casa Wiechers-Villaronga is a Classical Revival style mansion in Ponce, Puerto Rico designed and built in the early twentieth century. The house was acquired and restored by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and now operates as the Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña. The house sits in the Ponce Historic Zone. The Villaronga Residence is an outstanding example of the Classical Revival style in used in Ponce designs in the early part of the 20th century and is one of two residences still standing of a series of houses designed and built by Alfredo B. Wiechers, so important to the architectural and cultural heritage of the city of Ponce.
A skylight is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes.
The Horizontal Skyscraper, designed by Steven Holl Architects and completed in 2009, is a mixed-use building located on the outskirts of Shenzhen, China. Situated in Dameisha, Yantian District, the complex includes offices for Vanke Co., a conference center, restaurant, an auditorium, a hotel, apartments and a large public park.
The Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña is an architecture museum housed at the Casa Wiechers-Villaronga, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is preserves the history of the architectural styles of Ponce and Puerto Rico. The Casa Wiechers-Villaronga was acquired and restored by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. The museum is located in the Ponce Historic Zone. The historic house was designed and built in 1912 by Alfredo B. Wiechers. The house that is home to this architecture museum is itself an example of the architectural history of the city. The museum is housed at the historic Casa Wiechers-Villaronga.
The Second Innisfail Court House is a heritage-listed former court house and police station in Innisfail, Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia, which was subsequently relocated and used as a private residence at 40 Buckley Street, Yorkeys Knob, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Department of Public Works (Queensland) and built from 1920 to 1930s. It is also known as the former Innisfail Police Station. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 6 December 2004.
Demerara windows were built primarily into 18th- and 19th-century Colonial architecture-styled buildings to cool homes in hot climates, such as Guyana, before the invention of air conditioning. Demerara is a historical region of Guyana.
