Anexedra (pl.:exedras orexedrae) is a semicirculararchitectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by asemi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek wordἐξέδρα ('a seat out of doors') was applied to a room that opened onto astoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for conversation. An exedra may also be expressed by a curved break in acolonnade, perhaps with a semicircular seat.
The exedra would typically have anapsidal podium that supported the stone bench. The free-standing (open air) exedra, often supporting bronze portrait sculpture, is a familiar Hellenistic structure,[1] characteristically sited alongsacred ways or in open places in sanctuaries, such as atDelos orEpidaurus. Some Hellenistic exedras were built in relation to a city'sagora, as inPriene. Monument architects have also used this free-standing style in modern times.
The exedra achieved particular popularity inancient Roman architecture during theRoman Empire. In the 1st century AD,Nero's architects incorporated exedrae throughout the planning of hisDomus 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 Romangymnasium it was in an exedra opening into theperistyle that they gathered. Abasilica 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 atribuna in Latin, andtribune is used for an area of raised floor backing onto a wall, often in an exedra.
Following precedents from Rome, exedrae continued to be in widespread use architecturally after the fall of Rome. InByzantine architecture andRomanesque architecture, this familiar feature developed into theapse and is fully treated there.
The termexedra is still often used for secondary apses or niches in the more complicated plans of laterByzantine churches; another term isconch, named for thescallop shell form often taken by the half-dome cap. A famous use of the exedra is inDonato Bramante'sCortile del Belvedere extension of theVatican Palace; that exedra was initially open to the sky.
In Muslim architecture, the exedra becomes amihrab and invariably retains religious associations, wherever it is seen, even on the smallest scale, as a prayer niche.
BothBaroque andNeoclassical architecture used exedrae. Baroque architects, (for example,Pietro da Cortona in hisVilla 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.
Theinterior exedra was richly exploited by Scottish neoclassical architectRobert Adam and his followers.
A classic example of a Baroque exedra on a (comparatively) reduced scale within its context, is the centralniche of theTrevi 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. TheHollywood 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 inGolden 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 atAbraham Lincoln: The Head of State monument inGrant Park (Chicago), theHoudini grave in New York, and theSigning of the Mayflower Compact Bas Relief inProvincetown, Massachusetts.
The Great Court on the urban campus of theUniversity 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 byWalter Netsch ofSkidmore, Owings & Merrill, the lack of maintenance led to disrepair and, ultimately, to being demolished.
During the 18th century, an exedra became a populargarden feature orfolly, often used as an ornamental curved screening wall to hide another part of the garden. Examples can be found atBelton House andWest Wycombe Park.An exedra can be used inlandscape design to visually terminate agarden axis. They can incorporate seating, afountain,tile-work, and landscape lighting; in traditional or contemporary styles.
In New York City'sCentral Park, overlookingConservatory Water, is theWaldo Hutchins bench, a curvedConcord white granite exedra outdoor bench.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The bench is almost 4 feet (1.2 m) tall by 27 feet (8.2 m) long, and weighs several tons.[8][9] Its architect wasEric Gugler, and in 1932 it was executed by thePiccirilli Brothers studio, the firm that carved theLincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.[8]
