Gable
Front-gabled and side-gabled:
– Front-gabled buildings face the street with their gable
– Side-gabled buildings face the street with their cullis
– Front-gabled structures are typical for German city streets in the Gothic period
– Renaissance buildings influenced by Italian architecture are often side-gabled
– Front-gabled houses like the gablefront house were popular in America from the early 19th century to 1920
Wimperg:
– Wimperg is a Gothic ornamental gable with tracery over windows or portals
– Often accompanied by pinnacles
– Typical element in Gothic cathedral architecture
– Wimpergs aimed to create the perception of increased height
Drawbacks:
– Gable end roofs are not suitable for hurricane or tornado-prone regions
– Winds can exert pressure causing roof damage
– Vulnerable to peeling off and caving in during strong winds
In popular culture:
– “The Seven Lamps of Architecture” – an 1849 essay by John Ruskin
– “The House of the Seven Gables” – an 1851 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
– “Anne of Green Gables” – a 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery
– “The Adventure of the Three Gables” – a 1926 story by Arthur Conan Doyle
See also:
– Bell-gable
– Clock gable
– Cape Dutch architecture
– Eaves
– Façade
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesthetic concerns. The term gable wall or gable end more commonly refers to the entire wall, including the gable and the wall below it. Some types of roof do not have a gable (for example hip roofs do not). One common type of roof with gables, the 'gable roof', is named after its prominent gables.
A parapet made of a series of curves (Dutch gable) or horizontal steps (crow-stepped gable) may hide the diagonal lines of the roof.
Gable ends of more recent buildings are often treated in the same way as the Classic pediment form. But unlike Classical structures, which operate through trabeation, the gable ends of many buildings are actually bearing-wall structures.
Gable style is also used in the design of fabric structures, with varying degree sloped roofs, dependent on how much snowfall is expected.
Sharp gable roofs are a characteristic of the Gothic and classical Greek styles of architecture.
The opposite or inverted form of a gable roof is a V-roof or butterfly roof.