Midterm Vocabulary - ARC 133 - Intro to Architecture History - Syracuse University

Highlighted vacab terms and architects noted in lecture. Last updated - 2.25

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An artificial mound of earth above a floodplain.

Masonry Construction

Building with stone.

Dry-Wall Masonry

Stone construction without the use of mortar.

Megalith

Large stone.

Monument

A Structure that commemorates something notable.

Menhir

Raised stone.

Dolmen

Basic tomb type.

Trilithon

Three-stone assembly.

Trabeation

Horizontal span (beam, lintel, capstone) between two posts.

Cairns

Mound of stone and earth containing passages lined with monoliths.

Corbel

Structural piece of stone jutting out of wall or column.

Corbelled Arch

Created with cantilevered stones.

Transom

Horizontal ledge at the top of a door or window.

Revetment

Cladding or applied decorative surface.

City-State

A sovereign entity consisting of a single city with surrounding dependent territories.

Anu

Chief Sumerian deity, god of the sky and city of Uruk.

Nanna

God of the moon and city of Ur.

Cuneiform

The wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia.

Ziggurat

A rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple.

Bent-Axis Plan

Approach requires a right angle turn.

Axis Mundi

Sacred center of the world.

Cladding

A protective layer of material added to an exterior wall.

Terra-Cotta

Hard molded and dried clay used for ornamental wall covering or roof or floor tiles.

Temenos

Sacred enclosure.

Bitumen

A viscous form of petroleum also known as natural asphalt.

Weep Holes

Drainage system of narrow slits created at regular interval.

Profane

Not sacred of religious; secular.

Pharaoh

Divine king.

Ra

Supreme god of the sun.

Ka

Life force and spirit of the dead.

Obelisk

Monolithic commemorative marker with a pyramidal point.

Hieroglyph

A stylized picture of an object representing a world, syllable, or sound, as found in ancient Egyptian and other holy writing systems.

Mastaba

Arabic word for "bench," signifying the ancient Egyptian flat-topped, rectangular tombs with sloping (battered) sides.

Serdab

Closed chamber with the statue of the deceased pharaoh.

Sarcophagus

Stone coffin.

Imhotep

The first architect who planned King Djoser’s burial sight.

Ashlar Masonry

Smooth blocks of cut and dressed stone.

Half Column or Engaged Column

A column built into a wall and only partially protrudes from it.

Clerestory

A window or aperture, usually in a series, at an upper level that admits light and/or fresh air.

Capital

Upper element of a column.

Papyrus Capital

Column capital in shape of papyrus plant, emblem of Lower Egypt.

Apotropaic

Having the capacity to ward off evil or bad luck; a guardian figure.

Rock-Cut

Carved or excavated out of solid rock.

Lotus Capital

An Egyptian motif in which a column is capped with a closed lotus flower; emblem of Upper Egypt.

Papyrus Capital

Column capital in shape of papyrus plant; emblem of Lower Egypt.

Fluted Column

Ornamental vertical grooves.

Amon-Ra

Sun god.

Osiris

God of agriculture, vegetation, death, afterlife, resurrection.

Pylon

Monumental gateway of two joined pyramidal towers/sloping walls.

Hypostyle Hall

room with a roof supported by many columns, usually in rows.

Polychromed

Painted or decorated in several colors.

Sunken Relief

A type of relief sculpture in which figures or images incised into a surface but set into a sunken area, maintaining contour of surface.

Snenmut

The principle architect of the funerary complex including Mentuhotep, Hatshepsut, and Thutmose III.

Empire

An extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority.

Polis

Greek word for a city and its territory.

Shedus

Apotropaic doorjambs that are part bull, part eagle, and part nobleman (also known as Iamassus).

Ishtar

Goddess of love and war.

Switchback Stairs

A stair that ascends to a landing and turns 180° to meet the next level.

Democracy

A community of equals bound together by self-governance and administered by elected officials.

Agora

The open meeting space or marketplace in an ancient Greek city; “gathering.”

Tholos

Any round ancient Greek building.

Stoa

A long, roofed portico with columns along front and a wall at the back; used for public life in ancient Greece.

Orchestra

Circular or semicircular area at center of theater for performers, located between auditorium and stage.

Auditorium

Semicircle of seating that wraps around orchestra, climbs up hills.

Ideper Strigas

“By bands” or strip-planning.

Oikos

Greek house.

Pastas

Colonnaded veranda in an oikos.

Andron

Men’s dining hall in an oikos.

Cella

Core of temple, housed cult statue of deity.

Pronaos

Porch with two columns “in antis” (between the anta).

Anta

The posts or pillars on either side of entrance.

Peristyle

External colonnade on all four sides.

Stylobate

Level on which the columns stand.

Entablature

The horizontal spanning element of a classical order divided into the architrave (bottom), frieze, and cornice (top).

Pediment

The triangular gable end of an ancient Greek or Roman temple.

Doric Order

The stoutest and least decorated of classical Greek columns, with a plain capital, a fluted shaft, and no base; the frieze is decorated with alternating squares of triglyphs and metopes.

Triglyph

A panel with three vertical grooves set between metopes in a Doric frieze.

Metope

The square space, often decorated with sculpture between the triglyphs in a Doric frieze.

Ionic Order

A classical Greek column with capitals decorated with scrolls or volutes and sits on a base; the frieze lacks triglyphs and metopes.

Corinthian Order

The most attenuated and richly decorated of the three classical Greek orders. Acanthus leaves emerge from its capital and are topped by small volutes.

Drum

One of the cylindrical blocks of stone that forms a column.

Entasis

The slight convex bulge given to a column to offset the optical illusion that it is thinner in the middle.

Acropolis

The upper town or elevated citadel of an ancient Greek city, containing its chief temples; “city-on-the-height.”

Caryatid

Sculpted feminine figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar, supporting an entablature on head.

Parallax

A visual phenomenon that requires a viewer to move around a work to fully understand it.

Hellenism

Transmission of Greek culture at the time of Alexander the Great, resulting in theatrical approaches to buildings and sculptures.

Iktinos and Kallikrates

Principle designers of the Parthenon.

Cardo

Main street along north/south axis.

Decumanus

Main street along east/west axis.

Triumphal Arch

A decorated Roman gateway, with 1 or 3 arched openings. A decorated Roman gateway, usually free-standing, with one or three arched openings celebrating a military victory.

Forum

A public civic and commercial square in ancient Roman cities, usually surrounded by colonnades and including a basilica, temple, and fountain.

Domus

An ancient Roman house for wealthy citizens, usually served by an atrium, or impluvium court, and an enclosed garden.

Insula

An ancient Roman apartment block.

Amphitheater

A round, semicircular, or oval outdoor arena surrounded by rising tiers of seats.

Barrel Vault

A long, rounded vault.

Aqueduct

An artificial channel for water, often elevated on arches.

Propaganda

Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a particular cause, doctrine, or point of view.

Pilaster

A shallow, flattened rectangular column or pier attached to a wall and often modeled on an order.

Composite Order

A mixed order that combines the volutes of the Ionic order with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order.

Basilica

An ancient Roman meeting hall, oblong in plan, with a high central space lit by clerestory windows.