Architecture has ways of organizing space that can make a strong impression even on an unprepared person.
Enfilade is a very effective way to express the importance of a gradual procession in a straight line, penetrating individual volumes of the interior, isolated zones of the landscape or quarters of the whole city.
Beautiful word, beautiful concept
The word "enfilade" comes from the French verb enfiler, meaning "string on a thread." He very accurately defines the essence of this term. The enfilade of the internal layout means the sequential arrangement of several adjacent rooms with passage openings located on the same axis. If the openings are open, then the incoming sees the perspective of all rooms at the same time. For many, the enfilade is actually a view of the arched or rectangular openings that go into the depths of the building. Naturally, this layout is more often used in large houses and rooms with representative functions.
Internal space organization
According to the canons of architecture, the minimum number of rooms in an enfilade is three. This is due to the traditions of building palaces for monarchs, laid down by ancient Egyptian architects. Incomingfirst enters the royal palace in a room where he is waiting for a call (later it became known as an entrance hall, or an anti-chamber). The next room (audience hall) is for holding solemn ceremonies of communication between the ruler and subjects. And only the chosen ones get into the last - the throne - room. And if all three halls are visible, the spectacle of the royal place, located on the central axis of the openings, caused a real thrill.
A church enfilade performs a similar function. That this is so will be clear if we recall the layout of an Orthodox church. Believers pass through the narthex, the temple to the altar. These rooms are of different scale, but from the entrance you can see the iconostasis, the royal gates as the main sanctuary, the dwelling place of God. Under the church vaults, the impressive solemnity of the enfilade arrangement of the halls is especially visible.
Main Functions
Time passed. The turbulent era of the Baroque left behind magnificent palace complexes with dozens of ceremonial and park enfilades. A suite of rooms appeared that ended in a boudoir or bedroom rather than a throne room. The first premises are more public: reception rooms, ballrooms, art galleries and libraries. At the end of the enfilade is a private area.
A residential enfilade is the same way of expressing attitude towards guests as a palace one. The host himself went out to meet the guests of honor in the front rooms. The rest were escorted to him by servants. Farewell was also regulated by etiquette: the host personally escorted high-ranking guests to the halls closest to the exit.
Another important function of the adjacentplacement of premises in large buildings - the organization of the movement of a large number of people. This is well known to all visitors to major museums and art galleries. The route of the passage is indicated not only by the location of the openings, but also by the fact that the most spectacular interior perspectives open up where the suite is located. Photos from the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Prado Gallery are the best proof of this.
Inside and out
A series of office or living rooms with passages along one axis was used in the planning of buildings of various styles. The enfilade is an architectural technique typical of both the baths of Ancient Rome and the Gothic palace of the British Parliament. It is a distinctive feature of the Russian estate of the era of classicism. In many film adaptations of the novels of Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov, one can see the passage of characters through a series of adjacent halls against the backdrop of a spectacular perspective of many openings leading into the depths of the house.
You can meet the term "side suite". What it is can be understood by looking at the floor plan. Doorways are located along one wall, and the rooms open away from the incoming one. The common wall is usually external, with window openings, and the play of side daylight enriches the whole perspective of the enfilade.
With the development of landscape architecture, enfilades appeared in the open air. Viewpoints with a perspective on openings in green hedges or on passages in the form of porticos are characteristic of luxurious parks on the outskirts of many European cities. Anfilade is one of the ways to diversify the urban environment itself. straight,like rays, the streets, which are a series of spaces open only to the sky, are the decoration of Paris, Rome and other capitals. Long enfilades of walk-through courtyards in St. Petersburg are famous.
And in our time, classical architectural techniques do not lose their relevance. Enfilades of halls can be seen not only in the newly built buildings of museums and galleries, but also in high-level residential buildings.
Depth and Rhythm
If architecture is “frozen music”, then the enfilade is a beautiful melody with a clear rhythm, consisting of a harmonic combination of several bright chords. Such a comparison fully reveals its essence and beauty.
