A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a , open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building.[
]
Authorities differ on the spelling of the word. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary gives the "h" version as a variant and The Guardian says
"veranda not verandah".[ The Guardian] Australia's Macquarie Dictionary prefers verandah.
Etymology
Veranda, as used in the United Kingdom and France, was brought by the British from India (, ). While the exact origin of the word is unknown, scholars suggest that the word may have originated in subcontinent or may have been adopted from the
Portuguese India and spread further to the British and French colonists.
Ancient and medieval subcontinent texts on domestic architecture like
Vastu shastra uses the word
"Alinda" for this architectural feature.
Architecture styles notable for verandas
Australia
The veranda has featured quite prominently in
vernacular architecture and first became widespread in colonial buildings during the 1850s. The Victorian Filigree architecture style is used by residential (particularly terraced houses in Australia and New Zealand) and commercial buildings (particularly
) across Australia and features decorative screens of wrought iron, cast iron "lace" or wood fretwork. The Queenslander is a style of residential construction in
Queensland, Australia, which is adapted to subtropical climates and characterized in part by its large verandas, which sometimes encircle the entire house.
Brazil
The
Bandeirantes style house from Brazil typically has a veranda positioned to face the sunrise.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, verandas often appear on the upper floor of the first to third generations of Tong Lau (shophouses) due to a lack of space since the 19th century.
India
Early known examples of verandah in domestic architecture come from
Vastu shastra texts which lay out plans and describe methods to build houses, where
alinda (veranda) is a common feature of domestic buildings.
Porches were a natural idea in India, a mostly warm, tropical country. In Gujarat the porch area is called the otala and in the Hindi belt it is known as alinda. These structures are not only used to cool off, but also as a centre of social life where neighbours can talk and kids play, or as a religious centre where rituals and worship of certain gods can take place.
In Southern India, the term thinnai is used, and these structures are very common. This area serves a religious purpose in addition to a social one, and is the centre of everyday life for many.
Japan
In regions with heavy snowfall, especially Aomori and Niigata prefectures, structures called Gangi-Zukuri (
雁木造) have been developed since the
Edo period. For example, the total length of Gangi in old Takada city is over 16 Kilometers.
[ Gangi Dori (covered walkways) Joetsu Information Web Site]
Poland
In Poland, the word "weranda" is commonly used for the unheated roofed annex to a house, without walls or with glass walls.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, verandas' original derivation was from traditional vernacular architecture and are known as
"Pila" in Sinhalese. Both front and rear veranda examples are also known and common feature in local vernacular architecture.
Traditionally, domestic vernacular architecture layouts were also influenced by Sri Lankan Buddhist
Manjusri Vasthu Vidya Sastra text, which in turn was influenced by Indian
Vastu Shastra texts.
United States
The Creole townhouse in
New Orleans, is also noted for its prominent use of verandas. In fact, most houses constructed in the Southern United States before the advent of
air conditioning were built with a covered front porch or veranda.
Spanish Colonial architecture (as well as the "Mission style" revivalist version that became popular in the Western United States in the early 1900s) commonly incorporates verandas, both on the exterior of buildings and, in cases of buildings with courtyards, along the interior walls of courtyards. In some cases, homes were constructed with every room opening into a courtyard veranda, rather than interior corridors or direct connections to other rooms.
See also
External links
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