The eaves and rakes (gable-end roof
overhangs) of a house can be intensely
expressive design features. But expressive
of what? Answering such questions
is the task of a lifetime. Two difficulties
thwart easy answers.
First, it is not possible to associate
a particular feature with a particular
expression. If you could, there would
be plenty of "cookbooks" telling you,
for example, the exact effect of various
overhang designs. The meaning of
a detail depends on its context. Look
for example at Figure 1 (next page), a
bungalow-style home near my house.
It has a roof which is basically a folded
plate set on top of the walls. The
effect is clearly sober and earthbound,
pressing the house down