Pavilion

**Types of Pavilions**:
– Free-standing structures:
– Small garden outbuildings or kiosks.
Roof rooms in large houses.
– Banqueting houses resembling classical temples.
Gazebos for views.
– Sports pavilions for sports grounds.
– Classical architecture:
– Emphasized by changes in height, profile, color, material, and ornament.
– Connected to main blocks in various ways.
– Examples from English country houses like Houghton Hall and Holkham Hall.
– Twin pavilions in Paris’ Place des Vosges.
– French gatehouses designed as pavilions.
– Other uses:
– Hunting lodges in some regions.
– Examples like the Pavillon de Galon in Luberon, France.

**Notable Pavilions**:
– Küçüksu Pavilion in Istanbul, Turkey.
– Houghton Hall and Holkham Hall in England.
– Upper Belvedere in Vienna.
– Naulakha Pavilion at Lahore Fort, Pakistan.
– Woodfarm Pavilion in Glasgow.

**Etymology and History**:
– Etymology of ‘pavilion’:
– Derived from Latin ‘papilionem’.
– Originally meant butterfly.
– Transitioned to tent in Late Latin.
– Historical usage:
– First appeared in a 1162 novel.
– Evolved from butterfly to tent metaphor.
– Associated with various meanings over time.
– Definition and symbolism:
– Represents a tent symbolizing protection and shelter.
– Signifies a place of gathering or rest.
– Reflects a temporary structure connecting to nature.

**Symbolism and Cultural Significance**:
– Cultural significance:
– Used in outdoor events symbolizing elegance and luxury.
– Associated with royalty and nobility.
– Reflects architectural beauty blending function and aesthetics.
– Modern interpretations:
– Architectural feature in parks, gardens, trade shows, and exhibitions.
– Symbol of innovation and creativity.
– Represents a break from traditional structures with a contemporary design approach.

**References and Further Reading**:
– ‘Pavilion | Architecture.’ Encyclopædia Britannica.
– ‘The Ultimate Guide To Pavilion And Their Materials.’ Egy Gazebo.
– Mitchell, James (1908). Significant Etymology. William Blackwood & Sons.
– Baril, Agnès (2001). Robert de Boron, Merlin, roman du XIIIe siècle.
– Additional historical and cultural references.

Pavilion (Wikipedia)

In architecture, pavilion has several meanings;

  • It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia, there may be pavilions that are either freestanding or connected by covered walkways, as in the Forbidden City (Chinese pavilions), Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, and in Mughal buildings like the Red Fort.
  • As part of a large palace, pavilions may be symmetrically placed building blocks that flank (appear to join) a main building block or the outer ends of wings extending from both sides of a central building block, the corps de logis. Such configurations provide an emphatic visual termination to the composition of a large building, akin to bookends.
The Sophienlust Pavilion at Schloss Burgk in the Thuringian Highlands

The word is from French pavillon (Old French paveillon) and it meant a small palace, from Latin papilionem (accusative of papilio). In Late Latin and Old French, it meant both ‘butterfly’ and ‘tent’, because the canvas of a tent resembled a butterfly's spread wings.

The word is from the early 13c., paviloun, "large, stately tent raised on posts and used as a movable habitation," from Old French paveillon "large tent; butterfly" (12c.), from Latin papilionem (nominative papilio) "butterfly, moth," in Medieval Latin "tent" (see papillon); the type of tent was so called on its resemblance to wings. Meaning "open building in a park, etc., used for shelter or entertainment" is attested from 1680s. Sense of "small or moderate-sized building, isolated but dependent on a larger or principal building" (as in a hospital) is by 1858.