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portal
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Apulum Castelfranco Veneto Huesca Cathedral Requena: Gothic portal of the church of Santa María Sens: cathedral of Saint-Étienne Reutlingen: Tübinger Gate

portal

architecture

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architectural symbolism

  • Foster and Partners: the Great Court
    In architecture: Symbols of function

    Portals, from the time of ancient Egyptian temple pylons and Babylonian city gates, became monuments in themselves, used to communicate a heightened significance to what lay behind them. In the Gothic cathedral they became the richest element of the facade—a translation of biblical doctrine into…

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Gothic architecture

  • Edmonia Lewis: Hagar
    In Western sculpture: Early Gothic

    …work to survive are on portals, and, in this, once again, the church of Saint-Denis assumes great significance. The western portals (built 1137–40), part of a total facade design, combined features that remained common throughout the Gothic period: a carved tympanum (the space within an arch and above a lintel…

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life-safety system
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life-safety system

building design
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life-safety system, Any interior building element designed to protect and evacuate the building population in emergencies, including fires and earthquakes, and less critical events, such as power failures. Fire-detection systems include electronic heat and smoke detectors that can activate audible alarms and automatically notify local fire departments. For fire suppression, hand-operated fire extinguishers and, often, building sprinkler systems are provided. Smoke is as dangerous as fire, so protective measures include the automatic shutdown of ventilating systems and elevators and the division of the building into smokeproof compartments. Occupants evacuate through protected exits (which include exit corridors and stairways in smokeproof enclosures in multistory buildings) leading to the exterior.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.
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