ABSTRACT
The analysis of traditional urban architecture all over Europe shows that the balcony is an element with a strong variation in use. In some territories like the Iberian or the Italic peninsulas, balconies are typical elements in traditional urban fronts while in other territories balconies appear only under specific conditions. This communication analyses different urban cases in Spain, Italy, England and Poland matching in a unique theoretical framework Caniggia’s typological theory and the solar radiation influence on pre-modern architecture in order to explicate the erratic appearance of this architectural feature.
