brise-soleil

[ breez-soh-ley ]

noun

1. a screen, usually louvered, placed on the outside of a building to shield the windows from direct sunlight.

brise-soleil

/ ˌbriːzsəʊˈleɪ /

noun

1. a structure used in hot climates to protect a window from the sun, usually consisting of horizontal or vertical strips of wood, concrete, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of brise-soleil¹

1940–45; < French: literally, (it) breaks (the) sun ( brise 3rd-person singular present of briser to break; soleil sun)

Word History and Origins

Origin of brise-soleil¹

C20: French: break-sun, from briser to break + soleil sun

Example Sentences

It was built during a period when patterned sunscreens had risen in popularity, drawing inspiration from Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier's use of "brise-soleil" - an architectural feature of a building that reduces heat within a building by deflecting sunlight.

From BBC

At Galerie Quynh, which opened in 2003, I gushed over one of Trong’s works, a laser-cut facsimile of a brise-soleil, the sun-shielding patterned screens that you see everywhere in Vietnam, cut to the size of a window or an entire building’s facade.

From New York Times

Horizontal ledges of concrete known as brise-soleil wrap around the Copan’s front face and keep apartments shaded despite floor-to-ceiling windows, and also give the huge building a graceful look.

From Seattle Times

Horizontal ledges of concrete known as brise-soleil wrap around the Copan’s front face and keep apartments shaded despite floor-to-ceiling windows, and also give the huge building a graceful look.

From New York Times

A second photographer, the South African Alexia Webster, shot buildings in Ghana, like two university dormitories in Kumasi designed by the Ghanaian architect John Owusu Addo, their walkways shaded by geometric brise-soleil.

From New York Times