Definition of "Atrium"

The best atrium definition is that of a room with a roof open displaying the sky, but as with most things architecture (or even art) the atrium definition has changed with the passing of time.

Originally, the atrium definition was that of an open roof to the sky in a rectangular shape, acting as the central, most important room in Roman architectural home design. By the third century B.C. the atrium house had become overwhelmingly popular in Italy, but its use gradually declined under the Roman Empire, when it was replaced by garden houses in everyone’s hearts.

Because of that, the atrium definition got a little broader: people started to refer to any open roof as an atrium; not only the rectangular shaped ones. Soon there were circular atriums and even odd shapes like stars for the ones with a more esoteric taste.

Cut to the twentieth century and atrium make its comeback because of two factors: shopping malls and ecological awareness. Looking to save up on energy costs, many shopping malls have atriums on their roof to bring in natural light and avoid having to light up the place with electric lights, and green architecture has catered to Off the Grid Homes by increasingly using atriums and other glass structures to improve natural lighting inside houses and reduce carbon emissions and the need to depend on the power grid and power companies.

Real Estate Tips:

Open an atrium to your ideas and bring some light to your home buying process with a real estate agent by your side!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Person or business that obtains mortgages for others by finding suitable lenders. The mortgage broker sometimes deals with collections and disbursements. Typically the mortgage broker ...

Rental based on a percent of sales or profit that in addition to the constant rental amount. ...

Alias is a different name by which a person is known.In the real estate world, there are times when an agent goes by a different name than the one he/she was originally named by his/her ...

People say time is money. The old-age cliche applies more than ever in our case as we define what the Time Value of Money (TVM) means.  You’ll find the term time value for money ...

That portion of a loan collaterized by a leased property extending beyond the expiration date of the lease. For example, a lending institution collaterizes a 20-year loan on a commercial ...

making land more beautiful to look at by adding improvements such as lawns, trees, and bushes. Increases the value of the property. ...

Provision in a written agreement that depends on the occurrence of something else. ...

Same as term lateral support: The right of a landowner to have lateral land support from adjacent properties. The right of lateral and subjacent support means that an adjacent land owner ...

Misuse, alteration, destruction, or neglect of land by an individual right-fully in possession that breeds a significant and permanent reduction of its value to the legal interest owned by ...

Popular Real Estate Questions