Pilotis, or piers, are supports such as

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s, pillars, or stilts that lift a building above ground or

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia using wood, and in elevated houses such as Old Queenslanders in Australia's tropical Northern state, where they are called "stumps". Pilotis are a fixture of

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

, and were recommended by the modern architect

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

in his manifesto, the Five Points of Architecture.

Function

, pilotis are ground-level supporting columns. A prime example is

Villa Savoye Villa Savoye () is a Modern architecture, modernist villa and gatelodge in Poissy, on the outskirts of Paris, France. It was designed by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, and built between 1928 and 1931 usin ...

in Poissy, France. Another is Patrick Gwynne's The Homewood in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Beyond their support function, the pilotis (or piers) raise the architectural volume, lighten it and free a space for circulation under the construction.www.historial.org/us/renseign/doss7-5.htm
They refine a building's connectivity with the land by allowing for parking, garden or driveway below while allowing a sense of floating and lightness in the architecture itself. In hurricane-prone areas, pilotis may be used to raise the inhabited space of a building above typical storm surge levels. Le Corbusier used them in a variety of forms from slender posts to the massive Brutalist look of the Marseilles Housing Unit (1945–1952) with a range of bases, inclusions and surfaces. This was part of Le Corbusier's idea of machine-like efficiency where land, people and buildings would work together optimally.

Notes

References

*Article: "Pilote, die" in: Pevsner, Honour, Fleming: ''Lexikon der Weltarchitektur,'' München 1987
''Primer on architecture of the Musée Picardie''
accessed 2009-06-20

''The Urban Conservation Glossary'', University of Dundee, , online version accessed 2009-06-20 Architectural elements {{Architecturalelement-stub