I happen to know exactly what it is in italian, but I have no idea of the english equivalent

in italian, it is a space (or a succession of spaces one after the other - in which case they are called 1st, 2nd, etc) underneath a building (or a series of adiacent buildings), but on ground level and with no walls around it, with just the pillars/columns "bearing" the building

it's a sort of "open ground floor"

sorry for the clumsiness of this explanation, but hth



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Note added at 1 hr (2008-06-25 08:26:01 GMT)
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I think that something like pilotis area, pilotis floor, or pilotis level should do

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piloti
Pilotis or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, stilts, by which a building is lifted above what is underneath, whether it is ground or water. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Sweden[1] using wood and in elevated houses such as Old Queenslanders in Australia's tropical Northern state, though they are in this case classified as "stumps".
[edit]Function
In modern architecture, pilotis are ground-level supporting columns. A prime example is Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye in Poissy, France. Another is Patrick Gwynne's The Homewood in Surrey, England.
Beyond their support function, the *pilotis (or piers)* raise the architectural volume, lighten it and free *a space for circulation under the construction*.[2] They refine a building's connectivity with the land by allowing for parking, garden or driveway below while allowing a sense of floating and lightness in the architecture itself.

***

E' il piano terra non chiuso da tamponature con i piastri (=piloty) a vista. http://www.condominioweb.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=59995


Crosswalk :: v1.2 :: Space Ships :: Tactics in the Superquadras of ... - [ Traduci questa pagina ]
The pilotis floor has spatial significance for the residents in that it is treated as a threshold between the public and the collective space belonging to ...
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Note added at 1 hr (2008-06-25 08:28:35 GMT)
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btw, I think that pilotY is just a wrong english spelling invented by italians

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Note added at 1 hr (2008-06-25 08:43:40 GMT)
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πιλοτή -> pilotis space, (open) ground-floor parking area between ... - [ Traduci questa pagina ]
25 giu 2006 ... πιλοτή -> pilotis space, (open) ground-floor parking area between pilotis.
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Pilotis Online Encyclopedia Article About Pilotis - [ Traduci questa pagina ]
Pilotis. Posts or columns used on the ground floor of a building to raise most of the main body to first-floor level, thus leaving unenclosed space below. ...
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Vibration Isolation Building of Pilotis Type Hybrid Structure Mixed with Different ... a diagonal column in the ground floor with a pilotis structure. ...
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