Brise soleil, sometimes brise-soleil (French: [bʁiz sɔlɛj]; lit. '"sun breaker"'), is an architectural feature of a building that reduces heat gain within that building by deflecting sunlight. The system allows low-level sun to enter a building in the mornings, evenings and during winter but cuts out direct light during summer.
Architecture
Brise-soleil can comprise a variety of permanent sun-shading structures, ranging from the simple patterned concrete walls popularized by Le Corbusier in the Palace of Assembly to the elaborate wing-like mechanism devised by Santiago Calatrava for the Milwaukee Art Museum or the mechanical, pattern-creating devices of the Institut du Monde Arabe by Jean Nouvel.
In the typical form, a horizontal projection extends from the sunside facade of a building. This is most commonly used to prevent facades with a large amount of glass from overheating during the summer. Often louvers are incorporated into the shade to prevent the high-angle summer sun falling on the facade, but also to allow the low-angle winter sun to provide some passive solar heating.
Gallery
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Millennium Point, Birmingham, UK
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City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia: brise soleil at the L'Hemisfèric
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The movable Burke brise soleil on the Quadracci Pavilion of the Milwaukee Art Museum closes at sunset.
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Gustavo Capanema Palace in Rio de Janeiro
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Detail of north facade of Gustavo Capanema Palace
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The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
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Geosciences Institute of Unicamp (Campinas, Brazil)
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The New York Times Building by Renzo Piano
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Curutchet House by Le Corbusier, inside view
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See also
References
- Borden, Gail Peter; Meredith, Michael, eds. (2012). Matter: Material Processes in Architectural Production. Routledge. p. 330.
- "Brise Soleil". Two Point Seven Facades. 1 (1). 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- "AD Classics: Palace of the Assembly / Le Corbusier". ArchDaily. 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- Museum, Milwaukee Art. "Burke Brise Soleil | Milwaukee Art Museum". mam.org. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- "AD Classics: Institut du Monde Arabe / Enrique Jan + Jean Nouvel + Architecture-Studio". ArchDaily. 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- Tolson, Simon (2014). Dictionary of Construction Terms. CRC Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781317912354.
External links
- Brise soleil at the Milwaukee Art Museum
- (Brise Soleil Commercial Applications)
- British-Yemini Society Influence of climate on window design
- (demonstration of Brise Soleil in commercial applications)
- AD Classics: AD Classics: Palace of the Assembly / Le Corbusier
- Technical possibilities (in German)
- Museum of everyday culture (in German)
- (Further reading on Brise Soleil from a supplier)