ARCH 10211 - Midterm - Key Terms

Ashlar Masonry

Hewn blocks of stone cut to even faces and square edges and laid in horizontal bands with vertical joints used in Egypt by ca. 3000 BC

Mastaba tomb

Underground burial structure in ancient Egypt dug into the earth and covered by a trapezoidal mound or stone structure above; the pyramids developed from this type of structure

Hierarchy of scale

Style of representation popular in ancient Egyptian art where the central and often most powerful or important figure in a scene is shown to be physically largest of the group

Hypostyle Hall

Large hall space whose roof is supported by rows of columns like a forest

Clerestory

High section of wall that contains windows above eye level meant to admit light, fresh air, or both

Talud-Tableo style

Style of plaster wall finish common in Mesoamerican architecture made up of a vertical element sitting on a sloped element

Engaged column

Column vertically sliced in half and attached to a wall

Cella (or naos)

Central room where the cult statue was placed in a Greek temple; only priests and priestesses, but not worshipers, were allowed to enter

Colonnade (or peristyle)

Row of columns supporting a space within a building, like the roof around a temple

Stylobate

Base of a temple on which all the columns stand

Doric order

Style of columnal design featuring a basic fluted shaft, rounded capital, and triglyphs located above the columns separated by metopes (home to reliefs) along the frieze

Ionic order

Style of columnal design featuring a rounded base, fluted shaft, curled volutes as the capital, and a continuous/blank frieze (home to reliefs)

Corinthian order

Style of columnal design featuring a rounded base, fluted shaft, and floral rosette capital with a dentil frieze

Amphitheater

Multi-story arena, like the Colosseum, built in an oval plan featuring gladiator battles and not dramatic plays

Arch

Curved symmetrical structure spanning an opening and typically supporting the weight of a bridge, roof, or wall above it; it can support greater weight than a post-and-lintel design can because it displaces its weight downwards to the piers

Atrium

Open courtyard just inside the entrance of a Roman house, typically outfitted with a sunken pool (impluvium) where rain water would be collected; the main focal point of a Roman house’s social and practical function

Domus

Latin term for “house”

Insula

Latin term for “island”; often used to describe a multi-story urban dwelling with commercial spaces at the street level with units typically for rent

Forum

The commercial, political, and religious center of a Roman city and a public space

Keystone

Wedge-shaped stone that locks voussoirs together to form an arch, producing a downward thrust

Oculus

Circular opening at the top of a dome, solidifying the dome structure and allowing natural light into the space

Voussoir

Wedge-shaped blocks that make up an arch, springing from an impost block of a pier and topped by a keystone in the center

Barrel vault (or tunnel vault)

Long continuous arch with the same basic principle; the outward pressure exerted by the curving sides required buttressing outside the supporting walls

Basilica

In ancient Rome, a large oblong hall or building with double colonnades and a semicircular exedra (or apse) used as a court of law or for public assemblies; later the term was appropriated by Christians as an architectural type dedicated to spaces of worship

Basilica plan

Building type for early Christian churches evolved from the Roman basilica with aisles, naves, longitudinal axes, a timber roof, and terminated with an apse

Clerestory

Upper register of the main walls of a church, above the nave, pierced by windows (as was the case for Egyptian clerestories)

Coffer

Recessed panel in a ceiling

Concrete

Roman technological breakthrough consisting of a mixture of lime, volcanic sand, and rubble that was cheap, light, and easy to transport, making taller and more cavernous interior spaces possible

Dome

Rounded vault forming the roof of a building, typically with a circular base called a drum

Exedra(e) (or apse)

Semicircular space, like a niche, in a building

Book-matching

Practice in wall decoration of using two mirror-image marble slabs adjacent to each other; the matching pattern gives the impression of an open book

Centralized plan

Building that radiates from a central point; this can be circular, octagonal, or in the form of a Greek cross (as opposed to the axial basilica plan)

Gallery space

In church architecture, an upper floor above an aisle usually allowing open views down into the nave area below

Icons

Greek for “images”; refers to the religious imagery of Byzantium made from a variety of media and depicting holy figures and events

Iconoclasm

Greek for “image breaking”; a recurring historical impulse to break or destroy images for religious of political reasons and in the Byzantine world tied to a theological debate that led to imperial legislation barring the production and use of figural images for the purposes of worship promoted from Leo II (726-787) to Leo V (815-843), a roughly 100-year period

Iconostasis

Physical screen often covered by icons enclosing the sanctuary in a church from the area where the worshipers gather

Impost block

Stone in the shape of a truncated, inverted pyramid placed between a capital and the arch springing from it

Basket capital

Capital with interlaced bands resembling the weave of a basket, found in Byzantine architecture

Mosaic

Surface decoration for walls or floors of small pieces (tesserae) of glass, stone, or marble, set in a mortar, usually in a geometrical or representational design

Pendentive

Curved support shaped like an inverted spherical triangle used to hold a dome over a square room

Revetment

Facing applied to a wall, usually of another material, like marble

Squinch

Wedge that sits on the top corners of a square room as a base to support a dome

Stupa

Mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics used as a place of meditation

Stambha

Pillar or column found in India; in the context of Jain or Hindu mythology it is believed to be a cosmic column which functions as a bond joining the heaven and the earth

Pagoda

Tiered tower with multiple eaves originating in Han China and common to East Asia usually built to have a religious function, mainly Buddhism; pagodas served as a reliquary replacing the Indian stupa

Dou-gong

Chinese system of timber construction utilizing joinery and interlocking brackets to transfer the weight of a roof evenly to the columns below made up of interlocking dou blocks and gong brackets

Circumambulation

Act of moving around a sacred object or idol, an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice

Torona

Free-standing ornamental arched gateway for ceremonial purposes

Ang

Downward sloping arm of a dou-gong bracketing system

Purlin

Beam, typically circular, in the dou-gong system upon which roof rafters rest

Cai Fen

Chinese system of timber construction specifying the modular scale of elements

Aniconism

Belief in avoiding images of divine being, prophets, or other respected religious figures

Cusped niche

Geometrical ornament made of carved stucco

Hajj

Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca that takes place in the last month of the Islamic year; all Muslims are expected to make this trip at least once in their lifetime

Kaaba

Cubic stone building in the center of the Great Mosque in Mecca, the most holy site in the Muslim faith on the site of a pre-Islamic shrine said to have been built by Abraham; all Muslims are supposed to face in the direction of the Kaaba during prayer

Kufic

Early, angular form of the Arabic alphabet found chiefly in decorative inscriptions

Mihrab

Niche in the wall of each mosque at the point nearest to Mecca; the congregation faces it to pray

Minaret

Tall, slender tower typically part of a mosque containing a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer

Mosque

Muslim place of worship

Mudejar

Partly Gothic, partly Islamic style of architecture prevalent in Spain from the 12th to the 15th centuries

Qazba (or casbah)

Central part and commercial center of a town or citadel

Qibla

Direction of the Kaaba to which Muslims turn in prayer, indicted in a mosque by the position of the mihrab

Qur’an

Islamic sacred book believed to be the word of God as dictated to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel and written down in Arabic

Sahn

Open courtyard in a mosque

Vernacular architecture

Architecture built using local knowledge and material, considered part of a regional culture, and without a professional architect

Djenne-ferey

Cylindrical sun-baked bricks composed of mud, sand, rice husks, and water

Toron

Decorative vertical bundles of rodier palm sticks that protrude horizontally from walls

Ton

Highly selective group of skilled masons who are traditionally responsible for the adobe architecture of Djenne

Glocal architecture

Combination of global and local; in an architectural context, when regional customs, objects, and ideas intersect with the demands and opportunities of the global world