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de luz

English translation: high / in height

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:de luz
English translation:high / in height
Entered by: Neal Allen

22:09 Apr 13, 2016
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Architecture
Spanish term or phrase: de luz
Context: Esta casa mide 44.50 pies de frente, 24.00 pies de fondo y 11.50 pies de luz el cuerpo principal y tiene anexos, dos martillos de iguales materiales de 14 pies de largo por 13.50 pies de ancho cada uno, incluyendo interiores.
Neal Allen
United States
Local time: 22:42
high / in height
Explanation:
I don't understand what it would mean to talk of the "span" of a house. I recognise, of course, that "luz" normally does mean span (internal width), of an arch, an opening or a room. It is normally a horizontal dimension:

"9. f. Arq. Dimensión horizontal interior de un vano o de una habitación."
http://dle.rae.es/?id=NkAteAU|NkDuImp

But of a whole house? If it's an internal horizontal dimension, is it length or width? And having already given the two horizontal dimensions of the building (frente and fondo), why give an internal horizontal dimension as well? I don't get it. And yet you can find other references to houses that give dimensions for "frente", "fondo" and "luz".

What they have in common is that they come from Puerto Rico, which must be the only place in the Spanish-speaking world where they still measure buildings in feet (at least sometimes). And it appears that in PR "luz" can mean "height".

Here are the 2012 Amendments to the Puerto Rico Building Regulations. They include, under "Dimensiones Mínimas":

"La casa tendrá una altura mínima (luz libre) de 8 pies – 0 pulgadas."
http://www.jp.gobierno.pr/Portal_JP/Portals/0/VP/Enmiendas a...

Luz also means height in the regulations on signs:

"Luz Libre de un Rótulo- Distancia vertical menor desde el nivel del terreno hasta la parte más baja del rótulo"
http://gis.jp.pr.gov/Externo_Econ/Datos JP/Reglamento Conjun... (p. 141)

In the light (no pun intended) of this reference, it may be that the "luz" of a house or building is its internal height: the ceiling height. That would be consistent with the normal use of "luz", except that here it's vertical rather than horizontal. But I'd be inclined not to specify, and just put "height".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2016-04-14 02:19:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Here's another reference, from a document in the library of the Universidad of Puerto Rico at Humacao. I'm quoting the Google result because I can't get the document to open:

"Inventario Recursos Histórico-Arquitectónicos. - Biblioteca
biblioteca.uprh.edu/cultural/.../inventario.pdf
oestar estudiando, historia, bellas artes, arquitectura y planificación urbana. ... las fachadas contemporâneas: la altura o " luz del edificio", la modulación."
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 07:42
Grading comment
Thank you, Charles.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3span
Jorge Merino
3 +1high / in height
Charles Davis


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
span


Explanation:
Please see these references:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luz_(ingeniería)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Span_(architecture)


Jorge Merino
Chile
Native speaker of: Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Christian [email protected]
2 hrs
agree  lugoben
4 hrs
neutral  Neil Ashby: A span measures something crossing a gap (e.g. a bridge), I can't see how that would fit in with a house's dimensions.
13 hrs
agree  Anna Moorby DipTrans
16 hrs
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
high / in height


Explanation:
I don't understand what it would mean to talk of the "span" of a house. I recognise, of course, that "luz" normally does mean span (internal width), of an arch, an opening or a room. It is normally a horizontal dimension:

"9. f. Arq. Dimensión horizontal interior de un vano o de una habitación."
http://dle.rae.es/?id=NkAteAU|NkDuImp

But of a whole house? If it's an internal horizontal dimension, is it length or width? And having already given the two horizontal dimensions of the building (frente and fondo), why give an internal horizontal dimension as well? I don't get it. And yet you can find other references to houses that give dimensions for "frente", "fondo" and "luz".

What they have in common is that they come from Puerto Rico, which must be the only place in the Spanish-speaking world where they still measure buildings in feet (at least sometimes). And it appears that in PR "luz" can mean "height".

Here are the 2012 Amendments to the Puerto Rico Building Regulations. They include, under "Dimensiones Mínimas":

"La casa tendrá una altura mínima (luz libre) de 8 pies – 0 pulgadas."
http://www.jp.gobierno.pr/Portal_JP/Portals/0/VP/Enmiendas a...

Luz also means height in the regulations on signs:

"Luz Libre de un Rótulo- Distancia vertical menor desde el nivel del terreno hasta la parte más baja del rótulo"
http://gis.jp.pr.gov/Externo_Econ/Datos JP/Reglamento Conjun... (p. 141)

In the light (no pun intended) of this reference, it may be that the "luz" of a house or building is its internal height: the ceiling height. That would be consistent with the normal use of "luz", except that here it's vertical rather than horizontal. But I'd be inclined not to specify, and just put "height".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2016-04-14 02:19:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Here's another reference, from a document in the library of the Universidad of Puerto Rico at Humacao. I'm quoting the Google result because I can't get the document to open:

"Inventario Recursos Histórico-Arquitectónicos. - Biblioteca
biblioteca.uprh.edu/cultural/.../inventario.pdf
oestar estudiando, historia, bellas artes, arquitectura y planificación urbana. ... las fachadas contemporâneas: la altura o " luz del edificio", la modulación."


Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 07:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 248
Grading comment
Thank you, Charles.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Jorge Merino: Interesting, let's see if the source is from PR
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Jorge. Yes, that's going to be crucial to my case. Though if it's from anywhere else, with measurements in pies, it must be pretty old; every other Sp-speaking country had adopted the metre by 1900. Of course we don't know the date either.
agree  neilmac: From the context I assumed it meant height, but didn't know enough to offer a suggestion...
5 hrs
  -> Cheers, Neil. Yes, a third dimension does suggest height anyway, but I had a hard job finding any evidence :)
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