Window
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A window is an opening in an otherwise solid and opaque surface through which light and, sometimes, air can pass. It is usually glass or a strong, transparent plastic. For example, a window can be in the wall of a house.
[edit] Etymology
The word Window originates from the Old Norse vindauga, from vindr "wind" and auga "eye." "Vindauga" is still used in Icelandic, as well as some Norwegian dialects to mean exactly the same thing as it used to: window. It is first recorded in the early 13th century, and originally referred to an unglazed hole in a roof.
Window replaced the Old English eagþyrl, which literally means "eye-hole," and eagduru, "eye-door". Most Germanic languages however adopted the Latin word fenestra to describe a window with glass, such as Swedish fönster, or German fenster. Notable exceptions to this, apart from English, are Danish and Norwegian, with the English word window closely resembling the words vindue and vindu respectively. This is probably due to the Scandinavian influence on the English language by means of loanwords during the Viking Age. In English the word fenester was used as a parallel until the mid-1700s and fenestration is still used to describe the arrangement of windows within a facade.
[edit] Opening in wall
A window is an opening in the wall of a building that allows light, air and burglers to enter a room and people to see out. At previous times in history they were merely small oval or square holes in the walls.
Very early windows were shielded with hide or cloth stretched over the opening or with wooden shutters. Later, various types of windows were invented that allowed light but not weather to pass into a building: mullioned glass windows, which joined multiple small pieces of glass with leading, paper windows, flattened pieces of translucent animal horn, and plates of thinly sliced marble. Mullioned glass windows were the windows of choice among European well-to-do, whereas paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China and Japan. In England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn[citation needed] were used as early as the 14th century in Northern Britain. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial glass making process was perfected. Evidence of glass window panes in Italy dates back nearly 3000 years.
Modern windows are customarily large rectangles or squares with glass surfaces. Churches traditionally have stained glass windows.
Today a window can be made in practically any shape and size desired.
[edit] Window styles
Modern domestic windows come in many styles. The choice of design varies throughout the world, and is largely dictated by the prevailing weather conditions. Coastal climates tend to have smaller outward-opening windows due to the stronger winds experienced - e.g. England. Continental climates tend to have larger windows, many of which open inwards - e.g. France and Germany. Styles available include:
[edit] Double-hung sash window
The traditional style of window in the USA, and many other places that were formerly colonized by the UK, with two parts (sashes) that overlap slightly and slide up and down inside the frame. The two parts are not necessarily the same size. Nowadays, most new double-hung sash windows use spring balances to support the sashes, but traditionally, counterweights held in boxes either side of the window were used. These were and are attached to the sashes using pulleys of either braided cord or, later, purpose-made chain. Double-hung sash windows were traditionally often fitted with shutters. Sash windows may be fitted with simplex hinges which allow the window to be locked into hinges on one side, while the rope on the other site is detached, allowing the window to be opened for escape or cleaning.
[edit] Single-hung sash window
One sash is movable (usually the bottom one) and the other fixed. This is the earlier form of sliding sash window, and is obviously also cheaper.
[edit] Horizontal Sliding sash window
Has two or more sashes that overlap slightly but slide horizontally within the frame. In the UK, these are sometimes called Yorkshire sash windows, presumably because of their traditional use in that county.
[edit] Casement window
A window with a hinged sash that swings in or out like a door comprising either a side-hung, top-hung, or occasionally bottom-hung sash or a combination of these types, sometimes with fixed panels on one or more sides of the sash. In the USA these are usually opened using a crank, but in Europe they tend to use projection friction stays and espagnolette locking. Formerly, plain hinges were used with a casement stay. Handing applies to casement windows to determine direction of swing.
[edit] Tilt and slide
A window (more usually a door-sized window)where the sash tilts inwards at the top and then slides horizontally behind the fixed pane.
[edit] Tilt and turn
a window which can either tilt inwards at the top, or can open inwards hinged at the side.
[edit] Jalousie window
A window comprised of many slats of glass that open and close like a Venetian blind, usually using a crank. A Jalousie door is a door with a Jalousie window.
[edit] Clerestory window
A vertical window set in a roof structure or high in a wall, used for daylighting.
[edit] Skylight
A flat or sloped window built into a roof structure for daylighting
[edit] Roof Lantern
A Roof Lantern is a multi-paned glass structure, resembling a small building, built on a roof for day or moon light. Sometimes includes an additional Clerestory.
[edit] Bay window
A multipanel window, with at least three panels set at different angles to create a protrusion from the wall line.
[edit] Oriel window
A window with many panels. It is most often seen in Tudor-like houses and monasteries. An oriel window projects from the wall and does not extend to the ground. Oriel windows originated as a form of porch. They are often supported by brackets or corbels. Buildings in the Gothic Revival style often have oriel windows.
[edit] Replacement Window
Replacement windows take the place of existing ones when they have become drafty or non-functional. Replacement windows increase the resale value of the house, and may greatly increase energy efficiency and outside noise. The majority of newer replacement windows carry the "E-Star" rating for home efficiency, and may be custom ordered to meet the customers preferences, both functionally, and aesthetically. While most replacement windows are used in residential applications, there are numerous commercial applications as well, such as storefronts, offices, and workshops.
[edit] Fixed window
A window that cannot be opened, whose function is limited to allowing light to enter. Clerestory windows are often fixed.
[edit] Picture window
A very large fixed window in a wall, intended to provide an unimpeded view as if framing a picture.
[edit] Divided-light window
A window made up of smaller panes that are held together by muntins. New windows are often a single pane with faux muntins fixed inside the pane to give the appearance of an old dividing-light window. This is cheaper and more energy efficient.
[edit] Emergency exit window / egress window
A window big enough and low enough so that occupants can escape from the openable part in an emergency, such as a fire. In the United States, exact specifications for emergency windows in bedrooms are given in many building codes. Vehicles, such as buses and aircraft, frequently have emergency exit windows as well.
[edit] Stained-glass window
A window composed of pieces of colored glass, transparent or opaque, frequently portraying persons or scenes. These were popular in Victorian houses, and are especially common in churches.
[edit] Technical terms
Etymologically speaking, any window can be called a "light". However, within the window industry, particularly in insulated glass production, the term "lite" (so-spelled to keep the meaning differentiated from actual sunlight) is used to mean a single glass pane, several of which may be used to construct the final window product. For example, a sash unit, consisting of at least one sliding glass component, is typically composed of two lites, while a fixed window is composed of one lite. The terms "single-light", "double-light" etc refer to the number of these glass panes in a window.
In the USA, the term replacement window means a framed window designed to slip inside the original window frame from the inside after the old sashes are removed. In Europe, however, it usually means a complete window including a replacement outer frame.
The USA term new construction window means a window with a nailing fin designed to be inserted into a rough opening from the outside before applying siding and inside trim. A nailing fin is a projection on the outer frame of the window in the same plane as the glazing, which overlaps the prepared opening, and can thus be 'nailed' into place).
In the UK and Europe, windows in new-build houses are usually fixed with long screws into expanding plastic plugs in the brickwork. A gap of up to 13mm is left around all four sides, and filled with expanding polyurethane foam. This makes the window fixing weatherproof but allows for expansion due to heat.
[edit] Window materials
Modern windows, in developing countries in colder climates, typically have insulated glazing, called insulated glass when made from glass, which for insulated glazing is usually double paned but might be triple paned.
Modern windows are made from large sheets of glass while windows in the past were made from multiple panes held together by a grille within the sash. Such a grille is called "glazing bars", "muntins", or "muntin bars". Today, muntin bars are decorative only and tend to be attached to the surface of the glazing or sandwiched between the panes of the insulated glazing. In the UK, the term glazing bars is currently the most popular term. Most companies in the USA use the term grille for a set of decorative muntin bars within a sash. In the UK, the term "grille" tends to be used when there are bars only within the glazing unit, and not stuck to the outsides of it.
Frames and sashes were traditionally made of wood, but metal, vinyl, and composites are also common. Solid metal frames and sashes are inefficient because metals conduct heat quickly. Some frames are made of vinyl-clad or aluminum-clad wood. Modern metal window parts typically consist of two halves separated by insulating spacer material.
A beam over the top of a window is known as the lintel or transom.
Many windows have movable window coverings such as blinds or curtains to keep out light, provide additional insulation, or ensure privacy.
[edit] Sun incidence angle
Historically windows are designed with surfaces parallel to vertical building walls. Such a design allows considerable solar light and heat penetration due to the most commonly occurring incidence of sun angles. It is possible to calculate a more optimum angle for mounting windows which accounts for summer sun load minimization, with consideration of the actual latitude of the particular building. An example where this process has been implemented is the Dakin Building, Brisbane, California; much of the fenestration has been designed to reflect summer heat load and assist in preventing summer interior over-illumination and glare, by designing window canting to achieve a near 45 degree angle.
[edit] Windows and religion
The three Abrahamic religions of the world have different attitudes and customs concerning the ownership and use of windows.
- In Christianity, the Gospel of Matthew is the only Gospel to refer to Christ’s use of an ornate window during the Last Supper. The teachings of the Catholic faith draw substantially from the Gospel of Matthew in comparison to the later Gospels of Mark, Luke and John. Protestants have often used the window reference to support their claims that the Catholic faith is ‘ornamental’ or otherwise a corruption of Christ’s message.[1]
- It is common for many Shi’ite families, particularly in Iran, to gather at a window and recite the prayer of As-sallamu (Arabic:علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب Persian:علی پسر ابو طالب). This is in reverence to the Imam Ali who was stood at a window before receiving a mortal head wound on the 19th of Ramadan 661.[2]
- The Jewish faith has a largely ambivalent attitude towards windows. The only significant ritualised use of a window is during a Bar Mitzvah (Hebrew בר מצוה) when a the young man must stand and gaze out of an east facing window and recite a passage of his choosing from the Torah. The passage chosen is supposed to represent the boy’s aspirations for his adult life. This moment in the B'nai Mitzvah is called the Aruchat Boker (Hebrew ערוכת בוקר). Literally translated, Aruchat Boker means "preparation of the morning" in reference to the dawning of the young man's new life as an adult. The practice of Aruchat Boker has dwindled over the course of the last 100 years and is now only widely practised by Karaite Jews.[3]
[edit] See also
- Defenestration
Window - Budapest, Hungary - Equip´baie, windows International Exhibition.
- Insulated glazing
- G-value
- Porthole
- Roof window
- Window tax
- Shop window
- Replacement Windows
[edit] Notes
- ^ Earle E.Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries (Zondervan, 1996),p.212.
- ^ Ergun Mehmet, Unveiling Islam: An Insider’s Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs (Caner, 2002),p.107.
- ^ Wayne D. Dosick, Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition, and Practice (HarperSanFrancisco, 1998),p.193.
[edit] External links
