Editing Exedra

{{Short description|Semicircular niche or recess, often lined with seats}}

[[File:Exedra of Pamphilidas 01.jpg|thumb|Exedra of Pamphilidas, Acropolis of Lindos, [[Rhodes]], Greece]]
[[Image:Hypocaustum.jpg|thumb|right|The foundations and partial floor of a late [[Roman villa]]. The floored part is the exedra. The rest of the floor has deteriorated and is missing, with only parts of the [[hypocaust]] columns remaining. Hot air circulated through the hypocaust to heat the house.]]
An '''exedra''' ({{plural form}}: '''exedras''' or '''exedrae''') is a semicircular [[architecture|architectural]] recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a [[semi-dome]], and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek word ''ἐξέδρα'' ('a seat out of doors') was applied to a room that opened onto a [[stoa]], ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for conversation. An exedra may also be expressed by a curved break in a [[colonnade]], perhaps with a semicircular seat.

The exedra would typically have an [[apse|apsidal]] podium that supported the stone bench. The free-standing (open air) exedra, often supporting bronze portrait sculpture, is a familiar Hellenistic structure,<ref>Suzanne Freifrau von Thüngen, ''Die frei stehende griechische Exedra'' (Mainz:Zabern) 1994. Reviewed by Christopher Ratté in ''American Journal of Archaeology'' '''101'''.1 (January 1997:181–82). Von Thüngen's catalogue lists 163 exedras.</ref> characteristically sited along [[shrine|sacred way]]s or in open places in sanctuaries, such as at [[Delos]] or [[Epidaurus]]. Some Hellenistic exedras were built in relation to a city's [[agora]], as in [[Priene]]. Monument architects have also used this free-standing style in modern times.

==Rise==
The exedra achieved particular popularity in [[ancient Roman architecture]] during the [[Roman Empire]]. In the 1st century AD, [[Nero]]'s architects incorporated exedrae throughout the planning of his [[Domus Aurea]], enriching the volumes of the party rooms, a part of what made Nero's palace so breathtakingly pretentious to traditional Romans, for no one had ever seen domes and exedrae in a dwelling before.

An exedra was normally a public feature: when rhetoricians and philosophers disputed in a Roman [[gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]] it was in an exedra opening into the [[peristyle]] that they gathered. A [[basilica]] featured a large exedra at the far end from its entrance, where the magistrates sat, usually raised up several steps, in hearing cases. This was called a ''tribuna'' in Latin, and [[tribune (architecture)|tribune]] is used for an area of raised floor backing onto a wall, often in an exedra.

==Later uses==
Following precedents from Rome, exedrae continued to be in widespread use architecturally after the fall of Rome. In [[Byzantine architecture]] and [[Romanesque architecture]], this familiar feature developed into the [[apse]] and is fully treated there.

The term ''exedra'' is still often used for secondary apses or niches in the more complicated plans of later [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine churches]]; another term is [[Semi-dome|conch]], named for the [[Scallop|scallop shell]] form often taken by the half-[[dome]] cap. A famous use of the exedra is in [[Donato Bramante]]'s [[Cortile del Belvedere]] extension of the [[Apostolic Palace|Vatican Palace]]; that exedra was initially open to the sky.

In Muslim architecture, the exedra becomes a ''[[mihrab]]'' and invariably retains religious associations, wherever it is seen, even on the smallest scale, as a prayer niche.

Both [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] and [[Neoclassical architecture]] used exedrae. Baroque architects, (for example, [[Pietro da Cortona]] in his [[Villa Pigneto del Marchese Sacchetti|Villa Pigneto]]), used them to enrich the play of light and shade and give rein to expressive volumes; Neoclassical architects, to articulate the rhythmic pacing of a wall elevation.

The '''interior exedra''' was richly exploited by Scottish neoclassical architect [[Robert Adam]] and his followers.
<gallery mode="packed" heights=230 caption="">
1993-1994-Giardino Giusti (Verona)-testo e photo Paolo Villa-nB08 Cortile-Statua di Apollo - scultura Arte Manierista - parete di rampicanti - Kodak EktachromeElite 100 5045 EB 100.jpg|Exedra-shaped [[Niche (architecture)|niche]] with a [[Apollo]] sculpture, at the [[Palazzo Giusti]], [[Verona]]
Musei vaticani - cortile della pigna 01161.JPG|Exedra of the [[Cortile del Belvedere|Cortile della Pigna]], at the [[Apostolic Palace|Vatican Palace]] in [[Rome]]
</gallery>

==Public landscapes==
[[File:Sitting Lincoln Grant Park.JPG|thumb|Open-air exedra with bench – the ''[[Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State]]'' monument in [[Grant Park (Chicago)|Grant Park, Chicago]]]]
A classic example of a Baroque exedra on a (comparatively) reduced scale within its context, is the central [[niche (architecture)|niche]] of the [[Trevi Fountain]] in Rome, sheltering a statue of Neptune.

Many classicizing bandshells in public parks are exedra, for the shape, with its half-dome heading, reflects sound forwards. The [[Hollywood Bowl]]'s shell (''illus. at that entry'') takes the form of the head of a gargantuan exedra, stripped of classicizing details.
The Spreckels Temple of Music in [[Golden Gate Park]] in San Francisco is another example of such a free-standing classicized bandshells

Public monuments without any covering use a freestanding semicircular exedra with a bench, often to give a platform to a statue, for example at ''[[Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State]]'' monument in [[Grant Park (Chicago)]], the [[Harry Houdini|Houdini]] grave in New York, and the ''[[Signing of the Mayflower Compact]]'' Bas Relief in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]].

The Great Court on the urban campus of the [[University of Illinois at Chicago Circle]] (now UIC), had four modern examples of the exedra. The elevated Great Court, which served as the campus quad, had one exedra in each quadrant: two with four sections of seating facing in, one with two sections of seating facing in, and one inside-out exedra with two sections of seating facing out. In the center of the Great Court was the Circle Forum, which extended down to ground level. Designed by [[Walter Netsch]] of [[Skidmore, Owings & Merrill]], the lack of maintenance led to disrepair and, ultimately, to being demolished.

==Gardens==
[[File:PAINSWICK ROCOCO GARDEN EXEDRA.JPG|thumb|Exedra in Painswick Rococo Garden, dating from the 1740s]]
During the 18th century, an exedra became a popular [[List of garden features|garden feature]] or [[folly]], often used as an ornamental curved screening wall to hide another part of the garden. Examples can be found at [[Belton House]] and [[West Wycombe Park]].
An exedra can be used in [[landscape design]] to visually terminate a [[garden]] axis. They can incorporate seating, a [[fountain]], [[tile]]-work, and landscape lighting; in traditional or contemporary styles.

In New York City's [[Central Park]], overlooking [[Conservatory Water]], is the [[Conservatory Water#Waldo Hutchins bench|Waldo Hutchins bench]], a curved [[Concord, New Hampshire|Concord]] white granite exedra outdoor bench.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKjS342df7YC&q=Waldo+Hutchins+bench+park&pg=PA17|title=The Complete Illustrated Map and Guidebook to Central Park|first=Raymond|last=Carroll|date=May 20, 2008|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.|isbn=9781402758331|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reed |first=Henry Hope |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5V4AAAAMAAJ&q=Waldo+Hutchins+bench+park |title=Central Park; a History and a Guide |last2=Duckworth |first2=Sophia |date=1972 |publisher=C. N. Potter |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdApAQAAMAAJ&q=Waldo+Hutchins+bench |title=The Curious New Yorker: 329 Fascinating Questions and Surprising Answers about New York City |date=1999 |publisher=Times Books |isbn=978-0-8129-3002-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zaman |first=Natalie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2fEJDQAAQBAJ&dq=Waldo+Hutchins+bench&pg=PT160 |title=Magical Destinations of the Northeast: Sacred Sites, Occult Oddities & Magical Monuments |date=2016-10-08 |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |isbn=978-0-7387-4988-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="dis">{{Cite book |last=Macaulay-Lewis |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fouUDwAAQBAJ&dq=Waldo+Hutchins+bench&pg=PT285 |title=Classical New York: Discovering Greece and Rome in Gotham |last2=McGowan |first2=Matthew |date=2018-09-04 |publisher=Fordham Univ Press |isbn=978-0-8232-8103-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.centralparkinbronze.com/waldo-hutchins-bench|title=Waldo Hutchins Memorial Bench&#124;Piccirilli Brothers&#124;Whispering Bench|website=Central Park In Bronze |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529194311/https://www.centralparkinbronze.com/waldo-hutchins-bench |archive-date= May 29, 2023 }}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/761|title=Central Park Monuments - Waldo Hutchins: NYC Parks|website=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230507160044/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/761 |archive-date= May 7, 2023 }}</ref> The bench is almost {{convert|4|ft|m}} tall by {{convert|27|ft|m}} long, and weighs several tons.<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto7">{{cite web |url=https://www.bordersundials.co.uk/waldo-hutchins-bench-sundial-new-york-usa/ |title=Waldo Hutchins Bench Sundial, New York, USA |date=October 6, 2016 |website=Border Sundials |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630152344/https://www.bordersundials.co.uk/waldo-hutchins-bench-sundial-new-york-usa/ |archive-date= Jun 30, 2023 }}</ref> Its architect was [[Eric Gugler]], and in 1932 it was executed by the [[Piccirilli Brothers]] studio, the firm that carved the [[Lincoln Memorial]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="auto3"/>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Exedrae}}
* [[Iwan]]
* [[Niche (architecture)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Garden features}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Architectural elements]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman architectural elements]]
[[Category:Folly buildings]]
[[Category:Garden features]]