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A Mansard or Mansard roof in 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....
 refers to a style of hip roof
Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof....
 characterized by two slopes on each of its four sides with the lower slope being much steeper, almost a vertical wall, while the upper slope, usually not visible from the ground, is pitched at the minimum needed to shed water. This form makes maximum use of the interior space of the attic
Attic

An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . As attics fill the space between the ceiling of the top floor of a building and the slanted roof, they are known for being awkwardly shaped spaces with exposed rafters and difficult-to-access corners....
 and is considered a practical form for adding a storey to an existing building.






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A Mansard or Mansard roof in 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....
 refers to a style of hip roof
Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof....
 characterized by two slopes on each of its four sides with the lower slope being much steeper, almost a vertical wall, while the upper slope, usually not visible from the ground, is pitched at the minimum needed to shed water. This form makes maximum use of the interior space of the attic
Attic

An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . As attics fill the space between the ceiling of the top floor of a building and the slanted roof, they are known for being awkwardly shaped spaces with exposed rafters and difficult-to-access corners....
 and is considered a practical form for adding a storey to an existing building. Often the decorative potential of the Mansard is exploited through the use of convex or concave curvature and with elaborate dormer
Dormer

A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a Slope roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows....
 window surrounds.

It was popularized in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, by the architect François Mansart
François Mansart

Fran?ois Mansart was a France architect credited with introducing Neoclassicism into French Baroque architecture. The Encyclop?dia Britannica cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century French architects whose works "are renowned for their high degree of refinement, subtlety, and elegance"....
 (1598–1666). His treatment of high roof stories gave rise to the term "Mansard roof" (toiture à la Mansarde). The spelling Mansard is not a correct form of the name. Sections of the Louvre
Louvre

The Louvre Museum , located in Paris, is a historic monument, and a national museum of France. It is a central landmark, located on the Rive Droite of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement of Paris ....
, such as the central portico of the Richelieu Wing, display this style of roof.

At a time when French houses were taxed by the number of floors below the roof, this feature had the added benefit of exempting the upper floor from taxation. A revival of the Mansard occurred in the 1850s rebuilding of Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
. The style of that era in France is called Second Empire
Second Empire

Second Empire is an architectural style that was popular during the Victorian era, reaching its zenith between 1865 and 1880, and so named for the "French" elements in vogue during the era of the Second French Empire....
.

Cretzulescu Palace
Under the influence of the Neo-baroque
Neo-baroque

Neo-Baroque is a term used to describe artistic creations which display important aspects of Baroque style, but are not from the Baroque period proper?i.e., the 17th and 18th centuries....
 revival of the French Second Empire
Second Empire

Second Empire is an architectural style that was popular during the Victorian era, reaching its zenith between 1865 and 1880, and so named for the "French" elements in vogue during the era of the Second French Empire....
 (1850–1870), the mansard became a common feature in many later 19th-century buildings in Europe and North America. Another revival of the style occurred in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 during the late 1800s as one of any number of expressive forms adopted by Victorian
Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. As with the latter, the period of building that it covers may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 ? 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom after whom it is named....
 architects. This style of roof became very popular in Back Bay, Boston, during the 1870s. In the Second Empire style, the Mansard roof was typically used to top a tower element, rather than across the full width of the building.

In congested sites in cities, a mansard enabled builders to keep a decently low 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....
 line, while incorporating a couple of extra stories within the apparent roof. Mansards may be seen on New York City's former Grand Central Hotel
Grand Central Hotel

The Grand Central Hotel, later renamed the Broadway Central Hotel, was a hotel at 673 Broadway , New York City, that collapsed on August 3, 1973, killing four residents and injuring at least twelve....
 (1869).

Many fast-food restaurants, including most Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut is a restaurant chain and international franchising based in Addison, Texas, Texas, United States offering different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
 and McDonald's
McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving nearly 58 million customers daily. McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts....
 outlets, also incorporate what appears to be a simple mansard roof, usually covered in a synthetic material. In reality, this is usually a façade
Facade

A facade or fa?ade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The Word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, used to conceal air conditioning equipment and ductwork on top of a flat roof.

See also

  • Gambrel
    Gambrel

    File:Gambrel.jpgA gambrel roof is a type of roof similar to a hip roof but with gables forming the top part of the end slopes....
     (the two-slope idea applied to only two sides of the building)
  • François Mansart
    François Mansart

    Fran?ois Mansart was a France architect credited with introducing Neoclassicism into French Baroque architecture. The Encyclop?dia Britannica cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century French architects whose works "are renowned for their high degree of refinement, subtlety, and elegance"....
  • Jules Hardouin Mansart
    Jules Hardouin Mansart

    Jules Hardouin-Mansart was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the apex of French Baroque architecture, representing the power and grandeur of Louis XIV of France....
  • Empire style
  • Second Empire
    Second Empire

    Second Empire is an architectural style that was popular during the Victorian era, reaching its zenith between 1865 and 1880, and so named for the "French" elements in vogue during the era of the Second French Empire....