Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Balcony / Balconet(te) / Juliet balcony
bal ka NETBalcony:
Balconet - Lafayette High School
1. A projecting platform on a building, sometimes supported from below by columns, sometimes cantilevered; enclosed with a railing or balustrade.
2. A gallery that projects over the main floor in a theater or an auditorium.
3. Outdoor balcony: Large enough for plants or small chairs, or where people can stand.
Balconet(te): A pseudo-balcony, a low ornamental railing to a window projecting but slightly beyond the threshold or sill.
A guard rail; providing light.
Used to be made of stone quite often.
Not to be confused with first story curved railings that serve as a protective guard or safety barrier.
Juliet balcony: Another name for balconet(te).
Named after Juliet in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It evokes the iconic "balcony scene" where Juliet stands above while Romeo professes his love from below, even though Shakespeare's original text actually specifies a window rather than a physical balcony.
Examples from Buffalo:
- Balcony - Stella Lowry House
- Auditorium balcony - Shea's Buffalo Theatre
- Auditorium balcony - Riviera Theatre
- Balconet - One Niagara Square
- Balconet - Lafayette Hotel
- Balconet - Charles W. Goodyear House
- Balconet - Campanile Apts.
- First story protective railing - 706 Lafayette Avenue
- First story protective railing - Charles W. Goodyear House
Other examples:
- Balconet - Ringling House Museum, Sarasota, FL
- Balconet - La Maison des Paons, Geneva, Switzerland
- Balconet - Oshevnev House, Kizhi, Russia
