The Truman Balcony is the second-floor balcony of the Executive Residence of the White House , which overlooks the South Lawn . It was completed in March 1948, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman .
16-635: Truman's plans to build a balcony off the Yellow Oval Room were controversial. Truman argued that the addition of a balcony would provide shade for the first floor portico , avoiding the need for awnings , and would balance the White House's south face by breaking up the long verticals created by the columns. Truman had previously had a request for an extension to the West Wing rejected by Congress. Though Truman had told Howell G. Crim ,
32-437: A regular balcony will have doors that open onto a small patio with railings, a small patio garden or skyrise greenery . A French balcony is a false balcony, with doors that open to a railing with a view of the courtyard or the surrounding scenery below. Sometimes balconies are adapted for ceremonial purposes, e.g. that of St. Peter's Basilica at Rome , when the newly elected pope gives his blessing urbi et orbi after
48-544: A style of brassiere featuring low-cut cups and wide set straps that give the appearance of a square neckline. The name "balconette" came from men in the balcony of a theatre looking down upon women. A balconette bra could not be seen from above. Balconets or Juliet balconies can be made from various materials. As they used to be made out of stone quite often, with modern advances there has been more options to create aesthetically pleasing balconets. Newer Juliet balconies can range from glass panels to stainless steel, to provide
64-405: Is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade , usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartments and cruise ships. The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden, closed balcony projecting from a wall. In contrast, a Juliet balcony does not protrude out of the building. It
80-416: Is normal for balconies to be named descriptively. For example, slide-on cassette balconies referring to the modern method used to install aluminum balconies or cast-in-situ balconies relating to concrete balconies poured on a construction site. French balcony Balconet or balconette is an architectural term to describe a false balcony , or railing at the outer plane of a window-opening reaching to
96-515: Is usually part of an upper floor, with a balustrade only at the front, resembling a small loggia . A modern Juliet balcony often involves a metal barrier placed in front of a high window that can be opened. In the UK, the technical name for one of these was officially changed in August 2020 to a Juliet guarding . Juliet balconies are named after William Shakespeare 's Juliet who, in traditional staging of
112-604: The White House Chief Usher , and J. B. West , Crim's assistant, of his ideas for a balcony, he had kept his plans secret until the announcement by his press secretary, Charlie Ross . The plans were executed by William Adams Delano , who had carried out alterations to the house during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge . Critics of the proposal, including members of the Commission of Fine Arts , argued that
128-408: The conclave . Inside churches, balconies are sometimes provided for the singers, and in banqueting halls and the like for the musicians. In theatres, the balcony was formerly a stage box, but the name is now usually confined to the part of the auditorium above the dress circle and below the gallery. Balconies are part of the sculptural shape of the building allowing for irregular facades without
144-659: The Classic Greek style of the building would be undermined in order to create a leisure space for the First Family . The commission's chairman, civil engineer and landscape architect Gilmore David Clarke , wrote to Truman to voice his opposition to the balcony. Truman responded, restating his belief that the residence would be enhanced by the project especially as it presented an opportunity to replace unattractive awnings, which he said collected dirt and constituted an eyesore, with wooden shades that could be rolled up under
160-600: The balcony was completed, several of those who had opposed the project wrote to the President acknowledging that the balcony had in fact improved the south face of the Residence. In a September 2012 interview in Vanity Fair , President Barack Obama listed the balcony as his and his wife Michelle Obama 's favorite spot in the White House. Balcony A balcony (from Italian : balcone , "scaffold" )
176-519: The cost of irregular internal structures. In addition to functioning as an outdoor space for a dwelling unit, balconies can also play a secondary role in building sustainability and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Balconies have been shown to provide an overhang effect that helps prevent interior overheating by reducing solar gain , and may also have benefits in terms of blocking noise and improving natural ventilation within units. Balconies can be made out of various materials; historically , stone
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#1732765771767192-611: The floor, and having, when the window is open, the appearance of a balcony. They are common in France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. They are often referred to as Juliet balconies after the scene from Shakespeare 's play Romeo and Juliet . The wall-opening appearing alongside a balconette is referred to as French window . A prominent example of a balconette is on the Palazzo Labia in Venice . The term has also been applied to
208-440: The new balcony. Contemporary political cartoonists satirized the President's balcony project, suggesting that it might even cost him the 1948 presidential election . Plans for the balcony were approved by architect William Adams Delano . No request was made to Congress for the $ 16,050.74 (equivalent to $ 203,546.5 in 2023) cost of constructing the balcony, as Truman had saved a sufficient sum from his household account. Once
224-467: The play Romeo and Juliet , is courted by Romeo while she is on her balcony—although the play itself, as written, makes no mention of a balcony, but only of a window at which Juliet appears. Various types of balcony have been used in this famous scene; the "balcony of Juliet" at Villa Capuleti in Verona is not a Juliet balcony, as it protrudes from the wall of the villa (see photograph below). A unit with
240-399: The scene makes no mention of a balcony, only of a window at which Juliet appears). Manufacturers' names for their balcony railing designs often refer to the origin of the design, e.g. Italian balcony, Spanish balcony, Mexican balcony, Ecuadorian balcony. They also refer to the shape and form of the pickets used for the balcony railings, e.g. knuckle balcony. Within the construction industry it
256-466: Was the most commonly used. With the rise of technology and the modern age, balconies are now able to be built out of other materials, including glass and stainless steel to provide a durable and modern look to a building. One of the most famous uses of a balcony is in traditional staging of the scene that has come to be known as the "balcony scene" in Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet (though
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