A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides
security
Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...
,
shelter
Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger.
Shelter may also refer to:
Places
* Port Shelter, Hong Kong
* Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations
* Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...
, or
soundproofing
Soundproofing is any means of impeding sound propagation. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, decoupling, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound wav ...
; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including:
* Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
or separate interior
room
In a building or large vehicle, like a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure that connects it to either a passage (architecture), passageway, another roo ...
s, sometimes for
fire safety
Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...
*Glass walls (a wall in which the primary structure is made of glass; does not include openings within walls that have glass coverings: these are
window
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...
s)
*
Border barrier
A border barrier is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling. Some such barr ...
s between
countries
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...
* Brick walls
*
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
s in
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s
* Permanent, solid
fence
A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.
...
s
*
Retaining wall
Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides.
Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...
s, which hold back dirt, stone, water, or noise sound
* Stone walls
* Walls that protect from oceans (
seawall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
s) or rivers (
levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
s)
Etymology
![Beowulf - weall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Beowulf_-_weall.jpg)
The term ''wall'' comes from Latin ''vallum'' meaning "...an earthen wall or
rampart
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
Rampart may also refer to:
* "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
set with
palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymology
''Palisade' ...
s, a row or line of stakes, a wall, a rampart, fortification..." while the Latin word ''murus'' means a defensive stone wall.
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
uses the same word to mean an external wall and the internal sides of a room, but this is not universal. Many languages distinguish between the two. In German, some of this distinction can be seen between ''Wand'' and ''Mauer'', in Spanish between ''pared'' and ''muro''.
Defensive wall
The word wall originally referred to defensive walls and
ramparts.
Building wall
The purposes of walls in buildings are to support
roof
A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...
s,
floor
A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...
s and
ceiling
A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...
s; to enclose a space as part of the
building envelope A building envelope is the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building including the resistance to air, water, heat, light, and noiseSyed, Asif. ''Advanced building technologies for sustainability''. Hoboke ...
along with a roof to give buildings form; and to provide shelter and security. In addition, the wall may house various types of utilities such as
electrical wiring
Electrical wiring is an electrical installation of cabling and associated devices such as switches, distribution boards, sockets, and light fittings in a structure.
Wiring is subject to safety standards for design and installation. Allowable ...
or
plumbing
Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water delivery ...
. Wall construction falls into two basic categories: ''framed walls'' or ''mass-walls''. In
framed walls the load is transferred to the foundation through posts, columns or studs. Framed walls most often have three or more separate components: the structural elements (such as 2×4 studs in a house wall),
insulation
Insulation may refer to:
Thermal
* Thermal insulation, use of materials to reduce rates of heat transfer
** List of insulation materials
** Building insulation, thermal insulation added to buildings for comfort and energy efficiency
*** Insulated ...
, and finish elements or surfaces (such as
drywall
Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...
or
panelling
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
). Mass-walls are of a solid material including
masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...
,
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
including
slipform stonemasonry Slipform stonemasonry is a method for making a reinforced concrete wall with stone facing in which stones and mortar are built up in courses within reusable slipforms. It is a cross between traditional mortared stone wall and a veneered stone wall. ...
,
log building
Log buildings and structures can be categorized as historic and modern. A diverse selection of their forms and styles with examples of architectural elements is discussed in the following articles:
*Log cabin – a rustic dwelling
*Log house – a ...
,
cordwood construction
Cordwood construction (also called cordwood masonry or cordwood building, alternatively stackwall or stovewood) is a term used for a natural building method in which short logs are piled crosswise to build a wall, using mortar or cob to perma ...
,
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
,
rammed earth
Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method.
...
,
cob,
earthbag construction
Earthbag construction is an inexpensive building method using mostly local soil to create structures which are both strong and can be quickly built.
Earthbag development
Features
It is also natural building technique developed from historic mi ...
,
bottles
A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stopp ...
,
tin cans
A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English),
steel packaging, or can is a container for the distribution or storage of goods, made of thin metal. Many cans ...
,
straw-bale construction
Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or "brown" cons ...
, and
ice
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
. Walls may or may not be leadbearing. Walls are required to conform to the local building and/or fire codes.
There are three basic methods walls control water intrusion: moisture storage, drained cladding, or face-sealed cladding. Moisture storage is typical of stone and brick ''mass-wall'' buildings where moisture is absorbed and released by the walls of the structure itself. ''Drained cladding'' also known as ''screened walls''
[Straube, J. F.and Burnett, E. F. P., "Driving Rain and Masonry Veneer". ''Water Leakage through Building Facades, ASTM STP 1314''. R. J. Kudder and J. L. Erdly, Eds. American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), 1998. 75. Print.] acknowledges moisture will penetrate the cladding so a ''moisture barrier'' such as
housewrap
Housewrap (or house wrap), also known by the genericized trademark homewrap (or home wrap), generally denotes a modern synthetic material used to protect buildings. Housewrap functions as a weather-resistant barrier, preventing rain or other fo ...
or
felt paper
Bituminous waterproofing systems are designed to protect residential and commercial buildings. Bitumen (asphalt or coal-tar pitch) is a mixed substance made up of organic liquids that are highly sticky, viscous, and waterproof. These systems are ...
inside the cladding provides a second line of defense and sometimes a ''drainage plane'' or ''air gap'' allows a path for the moisture to drain down through and exit the wall. Sometimes ventilation is provided in addition to the drainage plane such as in
rainscreen
A rainscreen is an exterior wall detail where the siding (wall cladding) stands off from the moisture- resistant surface of an air/water barrier applied to the sheathing to create a capillary break and to allow drainage and evaporation. The ''r ...
construction. ''Face-sealed'' also called ''barrier wall'' or ''perfect barrier''
cladding relies on maintaining a leak-free surface of the cladding. Examples of face sealed cladding are the early
exterior insulation finishing system
Exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) is a general class of non- load bearing building cladding systems that provides exterior walls with an insulated, water-resistant, finished surface in an integrated composite material system. In Europe ...
s, structural glazing, metal clad panels, and corrugated metal.
Building walls frequently become works of art, externally and internally, such as when featuring
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
work or when
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s are painted on them; or as design foci when they exhibit textures or painted finishes for effect.
Curtain wall
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 building ...
and
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
, curtain wall refers to a building
facade that is not
load-bearing A load-bearing wall or bearing wall is a wall that is an active structural element of a building, which holds the weight of the elements above it, by conducting its weight to a foundation structure below it.
Load-bearing walls are one of the ea ...
but provides decoration, finish, front, face, or historical preservation.
Precast wall
Precast walls are walls which have been manufactured in a
factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
and then shipped to where it is needed, ready to install. It is faster to install compared to brick and other walls and may have a lower cost compared to other types of wall. Precast walls are cost effective compare to Brick Wall compound wall.
Mullion wall
Mullion walls are a structural system that carries the load of the floor slab on prefabricated panels around the perimeter.
Partition wall
![Glass Partition Wall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Glass_Partition_Wall.jpg)
A partition wall is a usually thin wall that is used to separate or divide a
room
In a building or large vehicle, like a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure that connects it to either a passage (architecture), passageway, another roo ...
, primarily a pre-existing one. Partition walls are usually not
load-bearing A load-bearing wall or bearing wall is a wall that is an active structural element of a building, which holds the weight of the elements above it, by conducting its weight to a foundation structure below it.
Load-bearing walls are one of the ea ...
, and can be constructed out of many materials, including steel panels, bricks, cloth,
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
,
plasterboard
Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...
,
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
, blocks of clay,
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
,
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
, and glass.
Some partition walls are made of sheet glass. Glass partition walls are a series of individual
toughened glass
Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the interior into tension. ...
panels mounted in wood or metal framing. They may be suspended from or slide along a robust aluminium ceiling track. The system does not require the use of a floor guide, which allows easy operation and an uninterrupted threshold.
A timber partition consists of a wooden framework, supported on the floor or by side walls. Metal lath and plaster, properly laid, forms a reinforced partition wall. Partition walls constructed from
fibre cement
Fibre cement is a composite building and construction material, used mainly in roofing and facade products because of its strength and durability. One common use is in fiber cement siding on buildings.
Material description
The term "cement" orig ...
backer board are popular as bases for tiling in kitchens or in wet areas like bathrooms. Galvanized sheet fixed to wooden or steel members are mostly adopted in works of temporary character. Plain or reinforced partition walls may also be constructed from concrete, including pre-cast concrete blocks. Metal framed partitioning is also available. This partition consists of track (used primarily at the base and head of the partition) and studs (vertical sections fixed into the track typically spaced at 24", 16", or at 12").
Internal wall partitions, also known as office partitioning, are usually made of
plasterboard
Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...
(drywall) or varieties of glass. Toughened glass is a common option, as low-iron glass (better known as ''opti-white glass'') increases light and solar heat transmission.
Wall partitions are constructed using beads and tracking that is either hung from the ceiling or fixed into the ground. The panels are inserted into the tracking and fixed. Some wall partition variations specify their fire resistance and acoustic performance rating.
;Movable partitions
Movable partitions are walls that open to join two or more rooms into one large floor area. These include:
* Sliding—a series of panels that slide in tracks fixed to the floor and ceiling, similar sliding doors
* Sliding and folding doors —similar to sliding folding doors, these are good for smaller spans
* Folding partition walls - a series of interlocking panels suspended from an overhead track that when extended provide an acoustical separation, and when retracted stack against a wall, ceiling, closet, or ceiling pocket.
* Screens—usually constructed of a metal or
timber frame
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
fixed with plywood and chipboard and supported with legs for free standing and easy movement
*
Pipe and drape Pipe and drape refers to pipe (aluminum or steel), fixed or adjustable telescoping vertical uprights supported by a weighted steel base, and adjustable telescopic or fixed horizontals that provide a drape support frame with removable drape panels. P ...
—fixed or telescopic uprights and horizontals provide a ground supported drape system with removable panels.
Party wall
Party walls are walls that separate buildings or units within a building. They provide fire resistance and
sound resistance between occupants in a building. The minimum fire resistance and sound resistance required for the party wall is determined by a building code and may be modified to suit a variety of situations. Ownership of such walls can become a legal issue. It is not a load-bearing wall and may be owned by different people.
Infill wall
An infill wall is the supported wall that closes the perimeter of a building constructed with a three-dimensional framework structure.
Fire wall
Fire walls resist spread of fire within or sometimes between structures to provide passive fire protection. A delay in the spread of fire gives occupants more time to escape and fire fighters more time to extinguish the fire. Some fire walls allow fire resistive window assemblies, and are made of non-combustible material such as concrete, cement block, brick, or fire rated drywall. Wall penetrations are sealed with fire resistive materials. A doorway in a firewall must have a rated
fire door
A fire door is a door with a fire-resistance rating (sometimes referred to as a ''fire protection rating'' for closures) used as part of a passive fire protection system to reduce the spread of fire and smoke between separate compartments of ...
. Fire walls provide varying resistance to the spread of fire, (e.g., one, two, three or four hours). Firewalls can also act as smoke barriers when constructed vertically from slab to roof deck and horizontally from an exterior wall to exterior wall subdividing a building into sections.
Shear wall
Shear walls resist lateral forces such as in an earthquake or severe wind. There are different kinds of shear walls such as the
steel plate shear wall
A steel plate shear wall (SPSW) consists of steel infill plates bounded by boundary elements.
Overview
They constitute an SPSW.Kharrazi, M.H.K., 2005, “Rational Method for Analysis and Design of Steel Plate Walls,” Ph.D. Dissertation, Un ...
.
Knee wall
Knee walls are short walls that either support rafters or add height in the top floor rooms of houses. In a -story house, the knee wall supports the ''half story''.
Cavity wall
Cavity walls are walls made with a space between two "skins" to inhibit heat transfer.
Pony wall
Pony wall (or dwarf wall) is a general term for short walls, such as:
* A half wall that only extends partway from floor to ceiling, without supporting anything
* A stem wall—a concrete wall that extends from the foundation slab to the cripple wall or floor joists
* A cripple wall—a framed wall from the stem wall or foundation slab to the floor joists
Demountable wall
Demountable walls fall into 3 different main types:
*Glass walls (unitesed panels or
butt joint
A butt joint is a technique in which two pieces of material are joined by simply placing their ends together without any special shaping. The name "butt joint" comes from the way the material is joined. The butt joint is the simplest joint to ma ...
),
*Laminated
particle board
Particle board, also known as chipboard or low-density fiberboard, is an engineered wood product manufactured from wood chips and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Particle board is often confused with ori ...
walls (this may also include other finishes, such as whiteboards,
cork board, magnetic, etc., typically all on purpose-made
wall stud
A wall stud is a vertical repetitive framing member in a building's wall of smaller cross section than a post. It is a fundamental element in frame building.
Etymology
''Stud'' is an ancient word related to similar words in Old English, Old Nor ...
s)
*
Drywall
Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...
Solar energy
A trombe wall in
passive solar building design
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unli ...
acts as a
heat sink
A heat sink (also commonly spelled heatsink) is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium, often air or a liquid coolant, where it is dissipated away from the device, th ...
.
Shipbuilding
On a ship, a wall that separates major compartments is called a ''
bulkhead''. A thinner wall between cabins is called a ''partition''.
Boundary wall
![Stone wall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Stone_wall.jpg)
Boundary walls include privacy walls, boundary-marking walls on property, and town walls. These intergrade into
fence
A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.
...
s. The conventional differentiation is that a fence is of minimal thickness and often open in nature, while a wall is usually more than a nominal thickness and is completely closed, or opaque. More to the point, an exterior structure of wood or wire is generally called a
fence
A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.
...
—but one of
masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...
is a wall. A common term for both is
barrier
A barrier or barricade is a physical structure which blocks or impedes something.
Barrier may also refer to:
Places
* Barrier, Kentucky, a community in the United States
* Barrier, Voerendaal, a place in the municipality of Voerendaal, Netherl ...
, which is convenient for structures that are partly wall and partly fence—for example the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
. Another kind of wall-fence ambiguity is the
ha-ha
A ha-ha (french: hâ-hâ or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view ...
—which is set below ground level to protect a view, yet acts as a barrier (to cattle, for example).
![Olditalianwall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Olditalianwall.JPG)
Before the invention of
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
, many of the world's
cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and towns, particularly in Europe and Asia, had
defensive or protective walls (also called town walls or city walls). In fact, the English word "wall" derives from Latin ''
vallum
Vallum is either the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart (Agger) with a wooden palisade on top, with a deep outer ditch (fossa). The name is derived from '' vallus'' (a ...
''—a type of fortification wall. These walls are no longer relevant for defense, so such cities have grown beyond their walls, and many fortification walls, or portions of them, have been torn down—for example in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Examples of protective walls on a much larger scale include the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
and
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...
.
Border wall
![Algodones sand-dune-fence](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Algodones_sand-dune-fence.jpg)
Some walls formally mark the border between one population and another. A
border wall
A border barrier is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling. Some such barr ...
is constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
. These structures vary in placement with regard to international borders and
topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
. The most famous example of border barrier in history is probably the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
, a series of walls that separated the Empire of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
from nomadic powers to the north. The most prominent recent example is the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
, which surrounded the
enclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
and separated it from
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
for most of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
era. The US-Mexico border wall, separating the United States and Mexico, is another recent example.
Retaining wall
![Western side of the Great Mosque of Kairouan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Western_side_of_the_Great_Mosque_of_Kairouan.jpg)
In areas of rocky soils around the world, farmers have often pulled large quantities of stone out of their fields to make farming easier and have stacked those stones to make walls that either mark the field boundary, or the property boundary, or both.
Retaining wall
Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides.
Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...
s resist movement of earth, stone, or water. They may be part of a building or external. The ground surface or water on one side of a retaining wall is typically higher than on the other side. A
dike
Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to:
General uses
* Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian"
* Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment
* Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice
* Dikes ...
is a retaining wall, as is a
levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
, a load-bearing
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
wall, and a
sea wall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
.
Shared wall
Special laws often govern walls that neighbouring properties share. Typically, one neighbour cannot alter the common wall if it is likely to affect the building or property on the other side. A wall may also separate apartment or hotel rooms from each other. Each wall has two sides and breaking a wall on one side will break the wall on the other side.
Portable wall
Portable walls, such as
room dividers
A room divider is a screen or piece of furniture placed in a way that divides a room into separate areas. Room dividers are used by interior designers and architects as means to divide space into separate distinct areas.
There are a number of ...
or
portable partitions
Portable partitions are a form of temporary walls which serve to divide rooms in place of permanent walls. They can be joined together section by section, or available as one unit, depending on the manufacturer. Portable walls may be fixed, or on ...
divide a larger open space into smaller rooms. Portable walls can be static, such as cubicle walls, or can be wall panels mounted on casters to provide an easy way to reconfigure assembly space. They are often found inside schools, churches, convention centers, hotels, and corporate facilities.
Temporary wall
A temporary wall is constructed for easy removal or demolition. A typical temporary wall can be constructed with 1⁄2" (6 mm) to 5⁄8" (16 mm) sheet rock (plasterboard), metal 2 × 3s (approx. 5 × 7 cm), or 2 × 4s, or taped, plastered and compounded. Most installation companies use lattice (strips of wood) to cover the joints of the temporary wall with the ceiling. These are sometimes known as
pressurized walls
{{Wiktionary
Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment.
Industrial
Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric.
Atmospheric
This is the process by ...
or temporary pressurized walls.
Walls in popular culture
Walls are often seen in popular culture, oftentimes representing barriers preventing progress or entry. For example:
;Fictional and symbolic walls
The progressive/psychedelic rock band
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
used a metaphorical wall to represent the isolation felt by the protagonist of their 1979 concept album ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
''.
The
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
poet laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...
describes a pointless rock wall as a metaphor for the myopia of the culture-bound in his poem "
Mending Wall
"Mending Wall" is a poem by the twentieth-century American poet Robert Frost (1874–1963). It opens Robert's second collection of poetry, '' North of Boston'', published in 1914 by David Nutt, and it has become "one of the most anthologized ...
", published in 1914.
Walls are a recurring symbol in
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
's 1974 novel ''
The Dispossessed
''The Dispossessed'' (in later printings titled ''The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia'') is a 1974 anarchist utopian science fiction novel by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, one of her seven Hainish Cycle novels. It is one of a small number o ...
'.
In some cases, a wall may refer to an individual's debilitating mental or physical condition, seen as an impassable barrier.
In
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
's ''
A Song of Ice and Fire
''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...
'' series and its television adaptation, ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'', The Wall plays multiple important roles: as a colossal fortification, made of ice and fortified with magic spells; as a cultural barrier; and as a codification of assumptions. Breaches of the wall, who is allowed to cross it and who is not, and its destruction have important symbolic, logistical, and socio-political implications in the storyline. Reportedly over 700 feet high and 100 leagues (300 miles) wide, it divides the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms realm from the domain of the wildlings and several categories of undead who live beyond it.
;Historical walls
In a real-life example, the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
, constructed by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
to divide
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
into
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...
zones of occupation, became a worldwide symbol of oppression and isolation.
;Social media walls
Another common usage is as a communal surface to write upon. For instance the social networking site
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
previously used an electronic "wall" to log the scrawls of friends until it was replaced by the "timeline" feature.
See also
*
Ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
*
Chemise (wall)
In medieval castles the chemise (French: "shirt") was typically a low wall encircling the keep, protecting the base of the tower. Alternative terms, more commonly used in English, are mantlet wall or apron wall.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton ...
*
Clay panel
Clay panel or clay board (also known as ''loam panel'', ''clay wallboard'', ''clay building board'', or ''clay building panel'') is a panel made of clay with some additives. The clay is mixed with sand, water, and fiber, typically wood fiber, an ...
*
Climbing wall
A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...
*
Fabric structure
A fabric structure is a structure made of fabric, with or without a structural frame. The technology provides end users a variety of aesthetic free-form building designs. Custom-made structures are engineered and fabricated to meet worldwide struc ...
*
Hy-Rib
Hy-Rib was a brand name for a product manufactured by the Trussed Concrete Steel Company. It is an engineering reinforcement system for floors, walls, and ceilings of buildings and houses. This product is a derivative of the Kahn Trussed Bar ...
*
List of walls
See List of fortifications for a list of notable fortified structures.
For city walls in particular, see List of cities with defensive walls.
Pre-modern fortifications
* The Great Wall of China, China - part of UNESCO site 438,. This is ...
*
Sleeper wall
A sleeper wall may refer to the following types of walls:
*sleeper wall is a short wall used to support floor joists, beam and block or hollowcore slabs at ground floor. It is constructed in this fashion when a suspended floor(Also called suspen ...
*
Stone wall
Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction that has been used for thousands of years. The first stone walls were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones into a dry stone wall. Later, mortar and plaster ...
*
Tensile structure
A tensile structure is a construction of elements carrying only tension and no compression or bending. The term ''tensile'' should not be confused with tensegrity, which is a structural form with both tension and compression elements. Tensile st ...
*
Terraced wall
A terraced wall, also a terrace wall, or a terraced retaining wall is a wall that is divided into sections ( terraces) over a slope. Such designs are useful when building on a steep grade. Terraced walls may be built with many different material ...
*
Thin-shell structure
*
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so t ...
References
External links
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