HIAA 0860 – Contemporary Architecture Quiz 2 Study Sheet (Terms)

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts from the Contemporary Architecture course, helping students prepare for Quiz 2.

Denkmal

A German term meaning 'monument', used in architectural contexts to commemorate individuals or events. A Denkmal (monument) commemorates a person or event, often with a neutral or positive connotation.

Mahnmal

A German term meaning 'memorial' with a focus on a reminder of a tragedy or warning, often reflecting somber historical events. A Mahnmal (memorial) warns against repeating tragic events and carries a moral imperative to remember.

Pritzker Architecture Prize

An annual award often referred to as the 'Nobel Prize of Architecture', honoring a living architect for significant contributions to humanity and the built environment. The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture"

Stolpersteine

Literally 'stumbling stones', these are small, brass plaques set into sidewalks to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. Stolpersteine ("stumbling stones") are 10cm × 10cm concrete cubes with brass plates inscribed by artist Gunter Demnig, placed in sidewalks to commemorate victims of Nazi persecution at their last known, freely chosen residence.

Yom Hashoah

Also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed in Israel and by Jewish communities worldwide to memorialize the victims of the Holocaust. It is known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day. It is Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its allies, and for the Jewish resistance in that period

Tribute in Light

A temporary art installation created in New York City to commemorate the September 11 attacks, consisting of two beams of light shining skyward. The Tribute in Light is an annual public art installation in Lower Manhattan, NYC, featuring 88 searchlights that project two 48-foot squares of light into the sky, symbolizing the World Trade Center Twin Towers. Held on September 11th from dusk to dawn to honor victims, it is visible from up to 60 miles away.

Mashrabiya (find an example)

A type of architectural element typically found in Arab architecture, characterized by ornate wooden lattices that provide privacy and ventilation. It is an architectural element which is characteristic of traditional architecture in the Islamic world and beyond. It is a type of projecting oriel window enclosed with carved wood latticework located on the upper floors of a building, sometimes enhanced with stained glass.

God’s Own Junkyard

God’s Own Junkyard: The Planned Deterioration of America's Landscape (date of publication: 1964) by architect (author: Peter Blake) is a seminal critique of American urban sprawl, billboard blight, and chaotic development. The book is frequently cited in architecture and urban planning to discuss the "creeping ugliness" of the American landscape.

Terrain Vague

A term in architecture referring to neglected, underutilized, or abandoned urban spaces that can be revitalized. It refers to abandoned, forgotten, or marginal urban spaces—like industrial wastelands, vacant lots, or unused infrastructure—that exist outside the city's productive, planned systems. Coined by Catalan architect Ignasi de Solà-Morales, it represents a "void" with high potential, offering a sense of freedom, ambiguity, and creative possibility.

Deconstruction in Architecture (find an example —> Gehry)

An architectural movement that emerged in the late 20th century, characterized by a fragmented and non-linear approach to design. Deconstructivism is a late 20th-century architectural movement (emerging in the 1980s) characterized by fragmentation, non-rectilinear shapes, and the distortion of structure and envelope.

Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture

A seminal book by Robert Venturi that challenges the strict Modernist principles of simplicity and uniformity in architectural design. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, published in (date of publication: 1966) by (author: Robert Venturi), is a foundational text of postmodernism that challenged modernist dogma by advocating for an architecture that embraces ambiguity, contradiction, and "messy vitality" over simplistic purity, famously contrasting Mies van der Rohe's "less is more" with his own "less is a bore".

Air Right Transfer (find an example)

A legal mechanism allowing property owners to transfer unused development rights to another property, often used in urban planning. It allows property owners to sell unused vertical development capacity to adjacent or nearby developers. This mechanism enables builders to exceed standard zoning density, increasing building height in dense urban areas. These rights, stemming from ownership of the space above land, are crucial for developers constructing skyscrapers, often by purchasing space from low-rise buildings.

Zoning Code

A set of laws that regulate land use and determine how properties can be developed and used in a certain area. It is a set of local municipal regulations that dictates how property can be developed, separating land into districts for specific uses (residential, commercial, industrial). In architecture, it determines what can be built—covering building height, density, setbacks from property lines, and parking requirements.

Rammed Earth Architecture (find an example)

A sustainable building technique that uses natural raw material, earth, to create sturdy walls, often used for energy efficiency. It is an ancient, sustainable building technique that creates dense, durable walls by compacting a damp mixture of soil, sand, gravel, and clay into temporary formwork. Modern rammed earth combines these natural materials with 5–10% cement stabilizers for added strength, creating monolithic, energy-efficient structures with high thermal mass, often utilizing on-site materials.

Congress of New Urbanism

An organization that promotes walkable neighborhoods, mixed-use development, and sustainable communities through urban planning principles. It is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 that promotes sustainable, walkable, and mixed-use neighborhood design to combat suburban sprawl. It advocates for architecture that emphasizes human-scale, diverse housing types, and interconnected streets, integrating building design with public spaces and local character.

FAR POPS (find an example)

Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Publicly Owned Private Spaces; a concept in urban planning that encourages developers to include public spaces in private developments. It is an "incentive zoning" mechanism where local governments allow developers to build larger, denser buildings (higher FAR) in exchange for providing, owning, and maintaining public spaces (POPS) on their property, such as plazas, arcades, or pocket parks. 

Postmodernism

An architectural style that emerged in the late 20th century, characterized by a mix of different styles and historical references. It is a late 20th-century intellectual, artistic, and cultural movement (starting ~1960s/70s) characterized by radical skepticism, irony, and a rejection of absolute truths, "grand narratives," and objective reality. It embraces subjectivity, fragmentation, and the blending of high/popular culture, profoundly impacting society by fostering a "post-truth" environment and questioning established social norms.

Passive House Standard

A rigorous energy-efficient building standard that reduces energy consumption and provides high indoor air quality. It is a voluntary building performance standard for very high energy efficiency and thermal comfort that substantially reduces a building’s carbon footprint. Buildings certified to the standard are ultra-low energy and typically require very little energy for space heating or cooling.

Glulam (find an example)

Glued laminated timber, a type of structural engineered wood product made from layers of wood bonded together with durable adhesives. It is an engineered wood product made by bonding layers of structural timber together with durable adhesives, with grain running parallel to the length. It offers superior strength, versatility, and sustainability compared to steel or concrete, allowing for long spans, custom curved shapes, and exposed aesthetic applications in both residential and commercial architecture.

Cross Laminated Timber (find an example)

An engineered wood product made from gluing together layers of solid-sawn lumber at right angles, used for building large structures. It is a sustainable, prefabricated mass timber panel product made by layering and gluing wood boards in alternating 90-degree directions. It functions as a lightweight yet strong, solid, and structurally rigid alternative to steel and concrete, often used for walls, floors, and roofs, allowing for faster, precise construction.

POPS (find an example —> maybe Hudson Yards)

Privately Owned Public Spaces; small public areas or parks created within private developments, benefiting the public. It refers to urban plazas, walkways, or interior atriums that are privately owned and maintained but legally required to be accessible to the public. These spaces are created through developer zoning concessions, serving as public amenities within private developments.

A Pattern Language

A book by (author: Christopher Alexander —> Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein) (date of publication: 1977) that presents a practical language for architects and designers to create functional and beautiful spaces. It provides a "language" for designing human-centered environments, from cities to individual rooms. In doing so the authors intend to give ordinary people, not only professionals, a way to work with their neighbors to improve a town or neighborhood, design a house for themselves or work with colleagues to design an office, workshop, or public building such as a school.

Playtime (find an example) —> check if this is referring to the movie Playtime

A conceptual idea relating to how spaces can be designed for play and interaction, emphasizing human experience in architecture. It refers to the critical exploration of playfulness as a design tool, fostering interactive, flexible spaces that break away from rigid, functionalist modernism.

New Brutalism (check this)

An architectural style that emerged in the mid-20th century, characterized by a raw use of materials and structural elements as primary design features. New Brutalism (1950s) was an ethical, early-movement approach focusing on "as found" materials and honest structure created by Alison and Peter Smithson.

GFRC (find an example —> eye building or something else)

Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete; a composite material made from concrete, glass fibers, and sometimes additives to improve performance. In architecture, it is a composite material made of high-quality cement, fine aggregates, water, acrylic polymers, and alkali-resistant glass fibers. It offers a lightweight, durable, and highly customizable alternative to traditional concrete, allowing for intricate, complex shapes without the heavy structural load. 

Beetle Kill Pine (find an example)

Wood harvested from trees killed by beetles, often used as a sustainable material in construction and design. It is a sustainable, structurally sound building material harvested from pine trees killed by mountain pine beetles, characterized by a distinct blue-gray fungus stain. In architecture, it is used as a rustic, eco-friendly alternative for interior siding, flooring, cabinetry, and ceilings, offering unique aesthetics with no loss in structural integrity