piano nobile

views updated

piano nobile. Principal storey of a building containing the apartments of ceremony and reception, usually set over a lower floor, and approached by a flight of steps from the ground level, often expressed as a perron. The piano nobile was often of greater height than the storeys above and below, and the architectural embellishments of e.g. windows usually emphasized its significance.

Bibliography

Ackerman (1966, 1967, 1990)