oculus
/ˈɒkjʊləs
/noun (plural oculi /ˈɒkjʊlʌɪ/ /ˈɒkjʊliː/) Architecture
1A round or eye-like opening or design, in particular:Either way, feeding a signal from a microphone placed in the oculus gives a real audio picture of the size of the space....
- What could have swayed Capponi away from the plan for an oculus and toward the tall, narrow shape employed by Marcillat?
- Vents in the facade, the cupolas, and the oculi inside allowed air to circulate throughout the building.
1.1A circular window.The oculus windows depicted in each of their two cells illuminate the figures with an otherworldly silvery light....
- The sun streams in through the open oculus, tracing a circular disk across the walls and floor, creating a walk-in solar observatory.
- The oculus window will complement two large stained glass windows that have been installed in the third-floor ceiling.
1.2The central boss of a volute.Formed by the intersection of toroidal geometries, the roof is composed of two shells that interlock at the centre of which is a great glass oculus.
1.3An opening at the apex of a dome.At the top of the columns a concrete-on-steel deck platform forms the oculus of the interior dome....
- Supported by slender steel columns that splay arboreally at their tops, the concrete canopy is perforated by a series of different-sized oculi.
- The major interior space, the Potomac rotunda, balloons under a domed ceiling with an oculus, reaching a height of 120 feet.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Latin, literally 'eye'.