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Pilotis, or piers, are supports such ascolumns,pillars, orstilts that lift a building aboveground orwater. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia[1] using wood, and in elevated houses such asOld Queenslanders in Australia's tropical Northern state, where they are called "stumps". Pilotis are a fixture ofmodern architecture, and were recommended by the modern architectLe Corbusier in his manifesto, theFive Points of Architecture.
Inmodern architecture, pilotis are ground-level supporting columns. A prime example isLe Corbusier'sVilla Savoye inPoissy, France. Another isPatrick Gwynne'sThe Homewood inSurrey,England.
Beyond their support function, the pilotis (or piers) raise the architectural volume, lighten it and free a space for circulation under the construction.[2] They refine a building's connectivity with the land by allowing for parking, garden or driveway below while allowing a sense of floating and lightness in the architecture itself. In hurricane-prone areas, pilotis may be used to raise the inhabited space of a building above typical storm surge levels.
Le Corbusier used them in a variety of forms from slender posts to the massiveBrutalist look of theMarseilles Housing Unit (1945–1952) with a range of bases, inclusions and surfaces. This was part of Le Corbusier's idea of machine-like efficiency where land, people and buildings would work together optimally.
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