Architecture

Coffer

A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also called caissons ("boxes"), or lacunaria ("spaces, openings"), so that a coffered ceiling can be called a lacunar ceiling: the strength of the structure is in the framework of the coffers.

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See also

• ▸English country house
• ▸Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption (Fall River, Massachusetts)
• ▸Christ Church Cathedral (New Orleans)

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