
In
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
, a paned window is a
window that is divided into panes of glass, usually rectangular pieces of glass that are joined to create the glazed element of the window. Window panes are often separated from other panes (or "lights") by lead strips, or
glazing bars, moulded wooden strips known as
muntins in the US.
Paned windows originally existed because of the difficulty of making large flat sheets of glass using traditional
glassblowing techniques, which typically did not produce flat sheets larger than 8 inches square.
Modern glass manufacturing process such as
float glass make window panes unnecessary, but paned windows are still used as an architectural feature for aesthetic reasons.
References
Architecture
Windows
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