Architecture History and Linear Programming Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering global architectural history from Islamic and Romanesque to Pre-Columbian styles, as well as introductory concepts in Linear Programming.

Dome of the Rock

The first monumental architecture in Islamic art, located in Jerusalem on the site where Muslims believe the Prophet ascended to heaven and where the rock of Ismail's sacrifice is located.

Arabesque

Geometric and floral motifs used in Islamic interior decoration, such as those found in the Dome of the Rock.

Great Mosque of Damascus

A hypostyle plan mosque built between 705-715 on the site of a Roman temple of Jupiter and a Christian church for John the Baptist.

Maqsura

A separate area in a mosque designed for the caliph's family, such as the one found in the Great Mosque of Cordoba.

Iwan

A chamber with an arch opening and a vaulted space originating in the East, seen in the Four-Iwan plan of the Friday Mosque in Isfahan.

Muqarnas

Stacked niches used for decoration in Islamic architecture.

Mosque of Selim II

A central plan mosque in Edirne, Turkey, designed by the architect Sinan, featuring a dome supported by arches forming squinches.

Westwork

A monumental entrance at the west end of a church marked by two big towers and a two-story narthex, seen in the Palatine Chapel.

Spolia

The symbolic reuse of elements from older buildings, such as the Roman columns used in Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel.

Plan of St Gall

A parchment drawing from the library at St Gall, Switzerland, showing the ideal Benedictine monastery design that set the standard for the next 400 years.

Romanesque

An architectural style flourishing from 1000-1250 characterized by stone construction, thick walls, and small windows intended to prevent fire and provide larger lit spaces.

Lombard bands

Decorative blind arches and engaged colonnettes used to buttress buildings, named for their invention in Lombardy, Italy.

Tympanum

The semi-circular decorative wall surface over an entrance, such as the one at Autun Cathedral sculpted by Cristebertus depicting Jesus and the last judgement.

Cistercian Order

A religious order begun in 1098 that sought a stricter observance of the Benedictine rule and rejected elaborate decorations, favoring plans based on a square module.

Abbot Suger

The figure who remodeled the Abbey Church of St Denis and compared the light through its large windows to 'Lux nova' (new light).

Cephalophorid

A statue of a saint carrying his own head, such as the statue of St Denis.

Gothic style

An architectural style defined by the use of pointed arches, flying buttresses, and ribbed vaults, which allowed for less load on walls and larger stained glass windows.

Watson Brake

An Archaic Period site in Louisiana dating to 3500BCE, featuring the earliest monumental architecture in the form of earthen mounds and connecting ridges.

Poverty Point

An Archaic Period site in Louisiana (1700-1100BCE) featuring artificially made mounds and five concentric semicircles with houses.

Effigy mound

A mound built in the shape of a symbol or animal, such as the Serpent Mounds in Adams County, Ohio, which are over 800 feet long.

Monk's Mounds

The centerpiece of Cahokia in Illinois, measuring 955x715 feet and 100 feet tall, making it part of the largest city north of Mexico around 1000CE.

Kivas

Circular, subterranean rooms used as ceremonial centers in Ancestral Pueblo culture, such as those found at Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde.

Sipapu

A hole in the ground of a kiva used for offerings, symbolizing the area where ancestors emerged.

Pyramid of the Moon

A 7-stage structure in Teotihuacan that imitates the sacred mountain behind it and was used for human sacrifices.

El Castillo

The Temple of the Feathered Serpent at Chichen Itza, featuring 9 levels and 52 panels, where shadows create a serpent effect during equinoxes.

Objective function

In a Linear Programming Problem, the specific function that is being optimized (maximized or minimized).

Constraints

The set of inequalities or equations that must be satisfied in a Linear Programming Problem, denoted as 'SUBSECT TO'.