The attic may be quite plain, but it often has breakings or projections on its face corresponding to the vertical features of the supporting order.
It usually forms a storey in a building, and then is of necessity pierced with windows.
In architectural design the character and requirements of the building must, of course, be the first consideration, but the basement may constitute the ground floor, the height occupied by the order may contain two stories and the attic may be an upper floor.
When an order is not employed the divisions and proportions already stated may still be applied, the heights and widths should govern each other as would be the case if the façade were divided into bays by columns or pilasters.
In the absence of the order a cornice is substituted for the entablature, and this, according to different authorities, may be from one-twelfth to one-sixteenth the total height from the ground, but one-fourteenth or one-fifteenth will be found a safe mean.
The Pediment
The pediment in its original and orthodox employment was a gable conforming to the pitch of the roof. It is framed with mouldings, and the enclosed space is technically known as the tympanum.
No. 180. Cornice where order is not employed.