Catslide Roof

This is a term I'd never come across until a few days ago. What is a catslide roof? Well, it's a roof that covers the outshot by a continuous extension of the main roof, often ending up six feet or less from the ground. Why is it a catslide: supposedly because cats get out on the roof, and when it rains they slide down to the ground. Hmm...

Here's an illustration:

(from www.localhistory.co.uk: a good  resource for other building definitions)

What's an outshot? It's a building extension that gets covered by a catslide roof. As opposed to a lean-to, which doesn't: it has it's own roof which abuts the end wall.

On the more general subject of roofs, there's a great listing of types, with illustrations at: http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Roof-Types. And more illustrations of common UK building definitions too.

Why do people feel more comfortable in one space than another?

The impact of neuroscience on architecture. Well it seems to be impacting on everything else, so why not?

This article Corridors of the Mind, reports on a conference in La Jolla, California, organised by the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture.

Architects “understand about aesthetics; they know about psychology. The next depth to which they can go is understanding the brain and how it works and why do people feel more comfortable in one space than another?”

This is an admittedly abstract concept. To help explain, architects often tell this story: Early in his career, when he was still struggling to find a cure for polio, Jonas Salk retreated to Umbria, Italy, to the monastery at the Basilica of Assisi. The 13th-century Franciscan monastery rises out of the hillside in geometric white stone, with Romanesque arches framing its quiet courtyards. Salk would insist, for the rest of his life, that something about this place—the design and the environment in which he found himself—helped to clear his obstructed mind, inspiring the solution that led to his famous polio vaccine.

New talks: Cumbrian architecture

There are two talks being given locally in the next couple of weeks that might be of interest:

• Inside the Cumbrian Farmhouse, by Andy Lowe, who recently spoke at the U3A monthly meeting. The talk is under the auspices of the North Lonsdale Society, and is being held in the Blackburn meeting room of Ulverston Methodist Church on Neville Street, at 7.30 pm. on Tuesday, 13th November. Non-members can attend for £2 at the door.
• Revising the Cumbria Pevsner, by Gavin Weston, who  wrote the new Industrial History introduction for the volume. The meeting is being held by the Cumbrian Industrial History Society, and apparently is an open meeting.  At Greenodd Village Hall, Wednesday, 14 November: 7.30 pm.