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compluvium

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compluvium

compluvium, B
The aperture in the center of the roof of the atrium in a Roman house, sloping inward to discharge rainwater into a cistern or tank.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive
I've been in the Villa when it rains and water pours through the compluvium. It's glorious!', he laughs.
A villa re-imagined: at the end of January, the Getty Villa in Malibu reopened as a museum of Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities. This special issue of Apollo celebrates an eagerly awaited event
Under the compluvium (the opening that let the rain in), the impluvium was more than just a cistern, for the image of the sky was caught in it, and light was reflected upwards to the roof and surrounding rooms, as well as reaching them from above.(5) Water, luminosity, volume and structure were all intimately related.
Water water
This large central hallway typically had a fair sized rectangular hole in the roof (compluvium) through which rainwater fell and collected in an impluvium (no 4) or catchment pool.
Light, space and affluent taste: ancient pompeian houses and their decoration
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