Architecture History and Theory Reviewer

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering architectural history from ancient civilizations to modern National Artists in the Philippines.

Garnier Opera House

Built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera, it features an opulent Beaux-Arts style mixing Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque elements and is the setting for "The Phantom of the Opera."

Theatre des Champs Elysees

A 1913 theater in Paris designed by Auguste Perret, recognized as an early landmark of Art Deco and reinforced concrete architecture.

Felix Roxas

Considered the first "qualified" Filipino architect; he studied in Europe and designed the Neo-Gothic Santo Domingo Church and the Neo-Classical San Ignacio Church.

Federico Ilustre

Former head of the Bureau of Public Works who designed the Quezon Memorial Shrine, Quirino Grandstand, and various mid-century civic structures.

Jose Maria Zaragoza

A National Artist for Architecture known for blending modernism with ecclesiastical designs, such as the modern Sto. Domingo Church (1954) and the post-war Manila Cathedral.

Antonio Dumlao

A master artist and stained-glass designer who collaborated with post-war architects on church restorations and windows.

Simunul, Tawi Tawi

The location of the Sheik Karimal Makdum Mosque, established in 1380, which is the oldest mosque in the Philippines.

Quiapo, Manila

Location of the Golden Mosque (Masjid Al-Dahab), built in 1976 with a prominent gold dome to serve the local Muslim community.

Agora

An open central public space in ancient Greek city-states serving as the center for athletic, artistic, spiritual, commercial, and political life.

Stoa

A classical Greek architectural covered walkway or portico used for public meetings, shops, and shelter near the marketplace.

Bouleuterion

The assembly or council house for the citizens' council of 500 (boule) in ancient Greece, usually shaped like a small indoor theater.

Harem (Persepolis)

The Queen's Palace at Persepolis, constructed by Xerxes I, consisting of residential rooms for royal women.

Skene

A structure at the back of a Greek theatre stage that evolved from a temporary cloth tent into a permanent stone background building.

Apadana

The grand hypostyle audience hall at Persepolis built by Darius the Great for official receptions and receiving tributes.

Tachara Palace

The exclusive and smallest residential palace of Darius the Great at Persepolis, built of highly polished grey stone.

Tumuli

An earthen or stone burial mound raised over a grave, also referred to as a barrow or kurgan.

Dolmen

A megalithic tomb formed by upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone table.

Cromlech

A prehistoric monument involving a circle of monoliths or standing megalithic stones, such as Stonehenge.

Gunu Bong

The traditional house of the T'boli people, featuring a large, multi-level elongated space on stilts with steep roofs.

Torogan

The ancestral home of Maranao royalty, featuring detailed panolong (carved house beams) with okir motifs.

Lawig

A standard small-scale Maranao house built on stilts used for regular family living or storage, lacking royal panolong beams.

Mala-a Walai

A traditional large house for affluent Maranao families that does not have the royal designation or decorative panolong of a Torogan.

maestro de obras

"Master of Works"; the official title for graduates of the Liceo de Manila granted authorization to build mid-scale colonial structures.

agrimensor

A technical title awarded to land surveyors specialized in measuring boundaries and assessing topography.

Menhir

A single large prehistoric upright standing stone used for astronomical tracking, territory markers, or ancestral memorials.

Stone Rows

A linear arrangement of upright, parallel standing stones set at intervals, such as the Carnac stones.

St. Andrew’s Church, Makati

Designed by Leandro Locsin in 1968, featuring a dramatic thin-shell concrete structure shaped like a tent or butterfly.

Manila Film Center

Designed by architect Froilan Hong for the CCP complex; inspired by the Parthenon and known for its tragic, rushed construction history.

Philippine International Convention Center

A major Brutalist masterwork by Leandro Locsin completed in 1976 with dramatic cantilevered concrete blocks.

Folk Arts Theater

A Brutalist public pavilion designed by Leandro Locsin, constructed in 77 days for the 1974 Miss Universe Pageant.

Pantheon

An ancient Roman temple featuring a massive unreinforced concrete dome, a pedimented portico, and a central oculus.

Temple of Vesta

A round (tholos) Roman temple in the Forum dedicated to the preservation of the sacred eternal fire.

Paraskenia

Projecting wings or side towers flanking the proscenium stage building in a classical Greek theater.

Parodos

The side entrance passageways used by the chorus and audience to enter the orchestra circle of a Greek theater.

Diazoma

A wide horizontal aisle or curved walkway separating the upper and lower tiers of seats in a Greek auditorium.

Kerkis

Wedge-shaped seating sections or blocks of stone benches within a Greek auditorium divided by staircases.

Ming Dynasty

A period of Chinese architecture known for horizontal layouts, smaller ornamental dougong clusters, and the Forbidden City.

Tang Dynasty

A golden age of Chinese architecture featuring bold lines, simple massive dougong brackets, and balanced roof slopes.

Vinta

A traditional outrigger watercraft from Zamboanga and Sulu, known for its vibrant, multi-colored vertical square sails (sambilan).

Lepa-lepa

The traditional houseboat of the Sama-Bajau people that serves as a floating domestic home.

St. Cecilia's Hall

A prominent concert hall at St. Scholastica designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro, known for its superb acoustics.

Crystal Palace (Crystal Arcade)

An Art Deco architectural triumph in Binondo designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro, featuring the Philippines' first air-conditioned shopping walkway.

Mesoamerican Temple Pyramids

Civic-religious monuments used for sacrificial centers, worship, and royal tombs, but not as living quarters for rulers.

Mesopotamia

The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers known as the "cradle of civilization" where cuneiform and ziggurats originated.

Ankh

The looped cross symbol in Egyptian art representing eternal life, creation, and resurrection.

Colonnade

A long sequence or row of columns joined by an entablature, supporting a roof structure or covered walkway.

Stele

An upright stone or wooden slab erected as a monument or commemorative marker with carved inscriptions or reliefs.

Andron

The formal dining room in a classical Greek home (oikos) strictly reserved for the male head to entertain male guests.

Gyneceum

Private quarters in an ancient Greek house reserved exclusively for women and children.

Mehrgarh

A Neolithic site in Pakistan dating to 7000 BCE, containing the earliest known evidence of farming and herding in South Asia.

Lothal

An ancient Indus Valley city known for the world's earliest engineered tidal dockyard basin.

Thomas Lamb

A famous American theater architect who mentored Juan Arellano, influencing the design of the Manila Metropolitan Theater.

stepped gables

An architectural element in the Low Countries where the triangular gable top of a wall ascends in a staircase pattern.

spolia

The practice in Early Christian architecture of salvaging marble columns and structural blocks from older Roman buildings to construct new churches.

Joseon Dynasty

The Korean dynasty (1392-1910) where Neo-Confucianism became the official state philosophy and guiding architectural principle.

Juan Nakpil

The first National Artist for Architecture (1973), known for the Quiapo Church restoration and the Quezon Institute.

Francisco Manosa

A National Artist (2018) renowned for championing Neo-vernacular architecture and designing the Coconut Palace.

Ranggar

A small, open-sided Maranao community prayer house intended for temporary worship, not a domestic home.

Dougong

A traditional Chinese system of interlocking wooden brackets that support massive roofs without the use of nails.

Hagia Sophia

A Byzantine masterwork commissioned by Justinian I, featuring a central dome on pendentives and originally called Megale Ecclesia.

Rustication

A Renaissance masonry technique using ashlar blocks with exaggerated bevel joints and roughened surfaces for palazzo bases.

Nightingale Floors

Also known as uguisubari, these floors emit bird-like chirping sounds to warn Japanese residents of intruders.

Tatami Mats

Traditional Japanese woven rush-grass flooring mats with fixed standard dimensions that dictate room layouts.

Tokonoma

An elevated, recessed alcove in a Japanese reception room for displaying scrolls, flower arrangements, or art.

Chan Chan

The capital of the Chimu Empire and the largest Pre-Columbian adobe city in South America.

Great Wall of China

The most massive integrated system of military fortification in human history, built over multiple dynasties.

Paco Park

Built by the Spanish in 1814 as the Cementerio General de Dilao, featuring a circular double-walled layout.

Byzantine Cloisonne

A decorative masonry technique where structural ashlar stones are framed on all sides by bricks or tesserae.

Capacocha

The official Inca sacrificial rite involving the ritual sacrifice of children to appease mountain spirits or during state crises.

Vastu Shastra

Hindu design principles that consider East the most auspicious direction for temple entryways to allow morning sun into the inner sanctum.

Kinsky Palace

An architectural marvel in Prague featuring a finely decorated Rococo facade and ornamental stucco work.

Mammasi Temple

A small Egyptian chapel or "birth house" built adjacent to larger temples to celebrate the divine birth of a god.

Spolarium

The chamber beneath a Roman amphitheater where the bodies of fallen gladiators were collected and stripped of armor.

Battered walls

Stone walls constructed with a deliberate inward slope to provide structural stability in Egyptian architecture.

Nebuchadnezzar’ s Great Palace

The palace complex in Babylon associated with the legendary Hanging Gardens, built on irrigated terraces.

Roof comb

A vertical masonry wall or lattice structure added to the roof of Maya temple pyramids, providing space for elaborate carvings.