Oriel window

Oriel windows in San Francisco, California.

Oriel windows with brackets in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France.

Oriel windows are a form of bay window commonly found in Gothic architecture, which project from the main wall of the building but do not reach to the ground.^[1] Corbels or brackets are often used to support this kind of window. They are seen in combination with the Tudor arch. This type of window was also used in Victorian Architecture in the Queen Anne Style. Unlike a bay window, an oriel window is only found projecting from an upper floor.^[2].

Oriel windows are seen in Arab architecture in the form of mashrabiya.

In Indian culture these windows and balconies are projected from the street front, providing an area in which women could peer out and see the activities below while remaining invisible.

Origins

According to the OED, the word "oriel" is derived from Anglo-Norman oriell and post-classical Latin oriolum, both meaning gallery or porch, perhaps from classical Latin aulaeum, curtain.

• Oriel College, Oxford took its name from a balcony or oriel window forming a feature of a property which occupied the site the college now stands on.

• Oriel Chambers in Liverpool was a very controversial building when it was built, featuring an entire facade of glass oriel windows. It is seen as an early example of modernism.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

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  16th century oriel window inside St Bartholomew-the-Great church, London.

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  19th century neo-gothic oriel window on Bradford City Hall.

See also

• Bay window
• Turret window

References

1. ^ What is an oriel window - Architecture Glossary
2. ^ Nikolaus Pevsner, P414. Hertfordshire. Yale University Press, New Haven. ISBN 0 300 09611 9.