Gable

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used (which is often related to climate and availability of materials) and aesthetic concerns.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Gable'

Start a new discussion about 'Gable'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

House of the Seven Gables (front Angle) Salem, Massachusetts

Roof

A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....
enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable.

In Classic Greek

Architecture of Ancient Greece

Architecture was extinct in Greece from the end of the Helladic period period to the 7th century BC, when plebian life and prosperity recovered to a point where public building could be undertaken....
and Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
architecture

Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
, the analogous feature is called the tympanum

Tympanum (architecture)

A tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculptures or other ornaments....
. Strictly speaking, the tympanum is the infill area, often triangular, of the pediment

Pediment

A pediment is a classical architecture element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns....
, which also consists of the raking cornice

Cornice

The term cornice comes from Italian cornice, meaning ?ledge.?Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding which crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal....
or ends of the sloped roofs (which may appear to bear, but do not actually bear on the tympanum - the fact that many tympana bear intricate and expensive carvings declaring the building's purpose is evidence of its non-structural role), and the cornice

Cornice

Architrave

The architrave is a moulded or ornamental band framing a rectangular opening. It is the lintel or beam that rests on the capital s of the columns....
, which in turn is supported at points by columns of a colonnade

Colonnade

In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, as in the famous elliptically curving colonnades that Bernini added to the fa?ade of The apostel Peter's Basilica in Rome, which embrace and define the Piazza....
.

A variation of the gable is a crow-stepped gable
Crow-stepped gable

A Stepped gable, or Crow-stepped gable is a stair-step type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a step pattern above the roof as a decoration and as a convenient way to finish the brick courses....
, which has a stair-step design to accomplish the sloping portion. Crow stepped gables were used in Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
and England

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
as early as the seventeenth century. Examples of the crow stepped gable can be seen at Muchalls Castle

Muchalls Castle

Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well preserved double groined 13th century towerhouse structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls....
and Monboddo House

Monboddo House

Monboddo House is a historically famous mansion in Kincardineshire, Scotland. The structure was generally associated with the Burnett of Leys family....
, both 17th century Scottish buildings. Other early examples are found in parts of Denmark and Sweden.

A Gothic ornamental gable of the Cathedral architecture over the windows and portal are called in the German and Dutch language Wimperg

Wimperg

A wimperg is a German and Dutch word for a Gothic ornamental gable with tracery over windows or Portal s, which were often accompanied with pinnacles....
too.

Gable ends of more recent buildings are often treated in the same way as the Classic pediment form. But unlike Classical structures, which operate through trabeation

Post and lintel

Post and lintel is a simple construction technique, also called "post and Beam ", where a horizontal member is supported by two vertical posts at either end....
, the gable ends of many buildings are actually bearing-wall structures. Thus, the detailing tends to be ambiguous, misleading, and to some architects "deceitful". See: John Ruskin

John Ruskin

John Ruskin was a British art critic and social thought, also remembered as an author, poet and artist. His essays on art and architecture were extremely influential in the Victorian era and Edwardian period eras....
and The Seven Lamps of Architecture.

Gable roofs are also just about the worst type of roof to have in hurricane regions, as not only do gable roofs easily peel off in hurricane winds, but according to one Hurricane Survival Guide book, a gable end "catches wind like a sail

Sail

A sail is any type of surface intended to generate thrust by being placed in a wind—in essence a vertically-oriented wing. Sails are used in sailing....
." When wind flows over a gable roof it behaves much like a wing. Lift is created on the leeward side of the roof. The flatter the roof the more likely this will happen. Steep roofs tend to cause the wind to "stall" as it goes over the roof and breaks up the effect. The addition of a "vertical fin" to low pitched roofs will also help.

Gable

See also