brise-soleil

(French: “breaks the sun”) Sun baffle of vertical or horizontal louvers outside the windows or extending over the entire surface of a building's facade, especially precast concrete grids of the type developed by Le Corbusier. Many traditional methods exist for reducing the effects of the sun's glare, such as the projecting upper-story window of latticework (mashrabiyah or mushrabiyah) used in Islamic architecture, pierced screens as used at the Taj Mahal, or blinds of split bamboo (sudare) as used in Japan.

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