In the Mediterranean Basin and the Near East, a kiosk (Turkish Köşk; Persian كوشك Kushk; French Kiosque) is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, there are many kiosks in and around the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, and they are still a relatively common sight in Greece. Turkish kiosks are usually polygonal.
During the 18th century, Turkish influences in Europe established the kiosk (gazebo) as an important feature in European gardens. The word, which is of Turkish origin, refers to an object that acts as a shadow or shade-maker. In fact, more detailed etymological studies reveal that the word "köşk" has the same ancient root as the Turkish word for shadow ("gölge").
The word "köşk" is currently used to refer to an old Ottoman style building, made of wood and clad with natural stones, with multiple stories, mainly used as a summer or winter recreational residence for the wealthy within the old Ottoman Imperial Palace.
In English-speaking countries, a kiosk is a booth with an open window on one side. Some vendors operate from kiosks, selling small, inexpensive consumables such as newspapers, magazines, lighters, street maps, cigarettes, and confections.
An information kiosk (or information booth) dispenses free information in the form of maps, pamphlets, and other literature, and/or advice offered by an attendant.
An electronic kiosk (or computer kiosk or interactive kiosk) houses a computer terminal that often employs custom kiosk software designed to function flawlessly while preventing users from accessing system functions. Indeed, kiosk mode is a euphemism for such a mode of software operation. Computerized kiosks may store data locally, or retrieve it from a computer network. Some computer kiosks provide a free, informational public service, while others serve a commercial purpose. Touchscreens, trackballs, computer keyboards, and pushbuttons are all typical input devices for interactive computer kiosk.
History and Origins of the Kiosk
The kiosk can be defined as an open summer-house or pavillion usually having its roof supported by pillars with screened or totally open walls. As a building type it was first introduced by the Suljuks as a small building attached to the main mosque, which consisted of a domed hall with open arched sides. This architectural concept gradually evolved into a small yet grand residence used by Ottoman sultans, the most famous examples of which are quite possibly the Chinili Kiosk ("Çinili Köşk" in Turkish) and Baghdad Kiosk ("Bağdat Köşkü" in Turkish). The former was built in 1473 by Mehmed II ("the Conqueror") at the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, and consists of a two storey building topped with a dome and having open sides overlooking the gardens of the palace. The Baghdad Koshk was also built at the Topkapi Palace in 1638-39, by Sultan Murad 4th. The building is again domed, offering direct views onto the gardens and park of the Palace as well as the architecture of the city of Istanbul.
Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730) also built a glass room of the Sofa Kiosk at the Topkapi Palace incorporating some Western elements, such as the gilded brazier designed by the elder John Claude Duplessis which was given to the Ottoman Ambassador by King Louis 15th.
The first English contact with Turkish Kiosk came through Lady Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), the wife of the English ambassador to Constantinople, who in a letter written in 1 April 1717 to Anne Thistlethwayte, mentions a “chiosk” describing it as ‘raised by 9 or 10 steps and enclosed with gilded lattices” (Halsband, 1965 ed.). Historic sources confirm the transfer of these kiosks to European monarchs. The king of Poland, and the father in law of Louis 15th, Stanilsas of Lorraine built kiosks for himself based on his memories of his captivity in Turkey. These kiosks were used as garden pavilions serving coffee and beverages but later were converted into band stands and tourist information stands decorating most European gardens, parks and high streets.
From Kiosk to Conservatory
From the kiosk evolved also the so called conservatories, glass rooms erected in gardens of most of European houses. Historic sources indicate that the earliest conservatories were perhaps those made by Humphry Repton for the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. These early conservatories were in the form of corridors connecting the Pavilion to the stables and consisting of a passage of flowers covered with glass and linked with orangery, a greenhouse, an aviary, a pheasantry and hothouses. The influence of Muslim and Islamo-Indian forms appears clearly in these buildings and particularly in the pheasantry where its higher part was an adaptation of the kiosks found on the roof of Allahabad Palace and illustrated by Thomas Daniell. Today’s conservatories still incorporate many Muslim elements, although modern art forms have shifted from the classical motifs.
Sources
- Halsband, R. (1965 edn.), ‘The complete letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
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