ARCH M10A Final Key Terms

Coffering

A series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or
octagon (for example, in a ceiling or vault)

Mandala

A geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed as a spiritual guidance tool or establishing a sacred space to aid in meditation

Mosque

A place of worship for Muslims and where Islamic prayers are performed

Mihrab

A niche in the wall of a mosque that indicated the qibla (the direction of Mecca) or the direction in which Muslims should face when praying

Qilba wall

the wall in which a mihrab appears and is facing the direction of Mecca or the direction where Muslims should pray

Minaret

A type of tower that’s typically built into or adjacent to mosques. generally used as a projection of the Muslim call to prayer, but can also serve as landmarks and symbols of Islam in a city.

Basilica

In Roman architecture, a basilica was a large public building with multiple functions and was typically built alongside the town’s forum. The Roman equivalent of the Greek stoa.

Baptistry

In Christian architecture, the baptistry is the separate, centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. It was where baptism was performed.

Nave

The central part of a church, stretching from the main entrance or rear wall to the transepts (or in a church without transepts, to the chancel).

Apse

A semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault

Transept

In cruciform (“cross-shaped”) churches, a transept is an area that is crosswise to the nave.

Narthex

An architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches comprising the entrance located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar.

Pendentive

Triangular segments of a sphere that rise up from the corners of the room and curve inward. The pendentives receive the weight of the a dome and concentrate it to the four corners where pillars and piers receive the load.

Pinnacle

Originally forming the cap of a buttress. But afterwards, mostly used on parapets at the corners of towers. The pinnacle looks like a small spire.

Flying buttress

A masonry structure consisting of an inclined bar carried on a half arch that extends from the upper part of a wall to a pier some distance away. It carries the thrust of a roof or vault

Clerestory

A high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. It helps let in light, fresh air, or both.

Kiva

A large room that’s circular and underground. Used for spiritual ceremonies and associated with cliff palaces.

Baroque

A Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry and other arts that flourished ~1600s-1750s.

Picturesque

An aesthetic category developed in the 1700s to describe 'that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture'.

Folly

A building constructed mostly for decoration but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose.

Sublime

The sublime is the quality of greatness. This is greatness beyond all possibility of calculation or imitation.

Plantation

An estate on which crops (e.g., coffee, sugar, tobacco) are cultivated by historically slave labor.

Salt box house

a gable-roofed residential structure that is normally 2 stories in the front and 1 story in the rear. a traditional New England style of home that was originally timber framed.

Timber/wood frame construction

Traditional method of building with heavy timbers. Uses carefully fitted timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs.