ARCH 1331-A: Land and the Natural Environment

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Week 2 of ARCH 1331-A, focusing on nature and architecture, environmental concepts, sustainability, Indigenous place-thought, and spatial walking methodologies.

Encoding (Note Taking)

The cognitive process during note taking as part of active listening, requiring the learner to make deliberate decisions about what information is significant enough to record.

Storage (Note Taking)

The function of note taking as an external study aid and repository to facilitate later recall, review, and comprehension.

Arts of Noticing

A principle advanced by anthropologist Anna Tsing in 'The Mushroom at the End of the World' that serves as a tool to pay closer attention to the surrounding world and understand human and non-human coexistence amid environmental change and economic forces.

Classical Architectural Orders

The standardized ancient styles of column and entablature design in Greek architecture—chiefly Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—symbolically and proportionally analogized to a man, a woman, and a maiden or girl.

Mount Royal Design Map (1877)

A park plan created by Frederick Law Olmstead demonstrating the integration of natural topography and picturesque aesthetic principles into urban landscape architecture.

Abstraction (Nature in Architecture)

The architectural practice of learning mathematical geometry, numerical series like the Fibonacci sequence, and rhythmic repetition from natural phenomena and applying them to decorative forms such as Persian tilework.

Biomimicry (Architecture)

The practice of replicating forms, structural systems, and functional patterns found in the natural environment within architectural structures.

Epiphany of the Lord Church

A religious building located in Nianing, Senegal, designed by Nicolas Vernoux-Thelot (2018), which applies biomimetic design principles inspired by natural forms.

Thorncrown Chapel

A wood-and-glass chapel located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, designed by E. Fay Jones in 1980, utilizing structural mimicry that mirrors the surrounding forest canopy and tree forms.

The Anthropocene

The current period in Earth's history during which human development and modification of the environment have become a dominant planetary force of change, often causing widespread global ecological destruction.

Sustainability (Brundtland Commission, 1987)

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Three Pillars of Sustainability

The tripartite framework balancing environmental, social, and economic factors—also encapsulated by ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

A widely used green building certification program rating buildings across categories such as Location & Transportation, Sustainable Site Development, Water Savings, Energy Efficiency, Materials Selection, and Indoor Environmental Quality.

Ontology

The philosophical category and study of being, existence, and the nature of reality ('what is').

Epistemology

The philosophical category concerning the theory of knowledge and ways of understanding ('how we come to know what is').

The Pluriverse

A conceptual framework defined as 'a world where many worlds fit' (Todd), highlighting epistemic diversity and world-making connections rather than strict Western universal binaries between being and knowing.

Indigenous Place-Thought

A concept originated by Vanessa Watts expressing that place and thought are inherently inseparable, grounded in the premise that land is alive and thinking, and that humans and non-humans derive agency through extensions of these thoughts.

Architecture of Walking

A theoretical concept formulated by Doina Petrescu (2014) framing walking as an urban practice and an alternative mode of urban knowledge to experience, analyse, and represent space in relation to subjectivity.

Terrain Vague

A term cited by Doina Petrescu describing an urban wilderness or indeterminate space of life preserved in the shadow of human behaviour, standing outside rationalized urban management.

Ottawa Architecture Week (OAW)

An annual week-long festival presented by the Ottawa Regional Society of Architects (ORSA) with local volunteers and businesses to explore architecture, urbanism, art, and design.