arch 1000 midterm vocab

abacus

the flat slab forming the top of a column capital, plain in the Doric style, but molded or otherwise enriched in other styles.

abbey

a monastery under the supervision of an abbot, or a convent under the supervision of an abbess, belonging to the highest rank of such institutions.

abutment

the part of a structure that directly receives thrust or pressure, such as a masonry mass receiving and supporting the thrust of part of an arch or vault; a heavy wall supporting the end of a bridge or span and sustaining the pressure of the abutting earth; a mass or structure resisting the pressure of water on a bridge or pier, or the anchorage for the cables of a suspension bridge.

acanthus

a Mediterranean plant whose large, toothed leaves became a common motif in the ornamental program of Corinthian and composite capitals and friezes.

accent

a detail that is emphasized by contrasting with its surroundings. Also, a distinctive but subordinate pattern, motif, or color.

accouplement

the placement of two columns or pilasters very close together.

acropolis

the fortified high area or citadel of an ancient Greek city, esp. the citadel of Athens and the site of the Parthenon.

adobe

sun-dried brick made of clay and straw, commonly used in countries with little rainfall.

aedicule

a canopied opening or niche flanked by two columns, piers, or pilasters supporting a gable, lintel, or entablature.

agora

a marketplace or public square in an ancient Greek city, usually surrounded with public buildings and porticoes and commonly used as a place for popular or political assembly.

aisle

any of the longitudinal divisions of a church, separated from the nave by a row of columns or piers. Also, a walkway between or along sections of seats in a theater, auditorium, church, or other place of assembly.

alcazar

a castle or fortress of the Spanish Moors

allee

French term for a narrow passage between houses, or a broad walk planted with trees.

amalaka

the bulbous, ribbed stoned finial of a sikhara in Indian architecture.

ambulatory

the covered walk of an atrium or cloister. Also, an isle encircling the end of the choir or chancel of a church, originally used for processions.

amphitheater

an oval or round building with tiers of seats around a central arena, as those used in ancient Rome for gladiatorial contests and spectacles. Also, a level area of oval or circular shape surrounded by rising ground.

anomaly

a deviation from the normal or expected form, order, or arrangement.

anthropology

the science of human beings; specifically, the study of the origins, physical and cultural development, and environmental and social relations of humankind.

anthropometry

the measurement and study of the size and proportions of the human body.

anthropomorphism

a conception of representation resembling the human form or having human attributes.

apadana

the grand columnar audience hall in a Persian palace.

apse

a semicircular or polygonal projection of a building, usually vaulted and used esp. at the sanctuary or eat end of a church.

arabasque

a complex and ornate design that employs flowers, foliage, and sometimes animal and geometric figures to produce an intricate pattern of interlaced lines.

arbor

a shady shelter of shrubs and branches or of latticework intertwined with climbing vines and flowers.

arcade

a series or arches supported on piers or columns. Also, an arched, roofed gallery or passageway with ships on one or both sides.

arch

A curved structure for spanning an opening, designed to support a vertical load primarily by axial compression.

architrave

the lowermost division of a classical entablature, resting directly on the column capitals and supporting the frieze.

arcuate

curved or arched like a bow; a term used in describing the arched or vaulted structure of a Romanesque church or Gothic cathedral, as distinguished from the trabeated architecture of an Egyptian hypostyle hall or Greek Doric temple.

ashlar

a squared building stone finely dressed on all faces adjacent to those of other stones so as to permit very thin mortar joints.

atrium

originally, the main or center inner hall of an ancient Roman house, open to the sky at the center and usually having a pool for the collection of rainwater. Later, the forecourt of an early Christian church, flanked or surrounded by porticoes. Now, an open, skylit court aorund which a house or building is built.

axis

a central line that bisects a two-dimensional body or figure or about which a three-dimensional body or figure is symmetrical. Also, a straight line to which elements in a composition are referred for measurement or symmetry.

background

the part of an image represented as being at the maximum distance from the frontal plane.

balance

a state of equilibrium between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements. Also, the pleasing or harmonious arrangement or proportion of parts or elements in a design or composition.

balcony

an elevated platform projecting from the wall of a building and enclosed by a railing or parapet.

baldachin

an ornamental canopy of stone or marble permanently placed over the high altar in a church.

baluster

any of a number of closely spaced supports for a railing. Also called banister.

bapistery

a part of a church or a separated building in which the rite of baptism is administered.

base

the lowermost portion of a wall, column, pier, or other structure, usually distinctly treated and considered as an architectural unit.

basilica

a large oblong building used as a hall of justice and public meeting place in ancient Rome, typically having a high central space lit by a clerestory and covered y timber trusses, and a raised dais in a semicircular apse for the tribunal. The Roman basilica served as a mode for early Christian basilicas, which were characterized by a long, rectangular plan, a high colonnaded nave lit by a clerestory and covered by a timbered gable roof, two or four lower side aisles, a semicircular apse at the end, a narthex, and often other features, as an atrium, a bema, and small semicircular apses terminating the aisles.

batter

a backward slope of the face of a wall as it rises.

bay

a major spatial division, usually one of a series, marked or partitioned off by the principal vertical supports of a structure. Also, any of a number of a principal compartments or divisions of a wall, roof, or other part of a building marked off by vertical or transverse supports.

beam

a rigid structural member designed to carry and transfer transverse loads across space to supporting elements.

bearing wall

a wall capable of supporting an imposed load, as from a floor or roof of a building.

belvedere

a building, or architectural feature of a building, designed and situated to look out upon a pleasing scene.

bema

a transverse open space separating the nave and the apse of an early Christian church, developing into the transept of later cruciform churches.

berm

a bank of earth placed against one or more exterior walls of a building as protection against extremes in temperature.

blind

describing a recess in a wall having the appearance of a window (blind window) or door (blind door), inserted to complete a series of windows or to provide symmetry of design.

bosket

a grove or thicket of trees in a garden or park.

brise-soleil

a screen, usually of louvers, placed on the outside of a building to shield the windows from direct sunlight.

buttress

an external support built to stabilize a structure by opposing its outward thrusts, esp. a projecting support built into or against the outside of a masonry wall.

campanile

a bell tower, usually one near but not attached to the body of a church.

cantilever

a beam or other rigid structural member extending beyond a fulcrum and supported by a balancing member or a downward force behind the fulcrum.

capital

the distinctively treated upper end of a column, pillar, or pier, crowning the shaft and taking the weight of the entablature or architrave.

carvansary

an inn in the Near East for the overnight accommodation of caravans, usually having a large courtyard enclosed by a solid wall and entered through an imposing gateway.

caryatid

a sculptured female figure used as a column.

catenary

the curve assumed by a perfectly flexible, uniform, cable suspended freely from two points not in the same vertical line. For a load that is uniformly distributed in a horizontal projection, the curve approaches that of a parabola.

cathedral

the principal church of a diocese, containing the bishop’s throne called the cathedra.

ceiling

the overhead interior surface or lining of a room, often concealing the underside of the floor or roof above.

cella

the principal chamber or enclosed part of a classical temple, where the cult image was kept. Also called naos.

cenotaph

a monument erected in memory of a deceased person whose remains are buried elsewhere.

chaitya

a Buddhist shrine in India, usually carved out of solid rock on a hillside, having the form of an aisled basilica with a stupa at one end.

chancel

the space about the altar of a church for the clergy and choir, often elevated above the nave and separated from it by a railing or screen.

chapel

a subordinate or private place of worship or prayer.

chatri

in Indian architecture, a roof-top kiosk or pavilion having a dome usually supported oon four columns.

chattri

an umbrella-shaped finial symbolizing dignity, composed of a stone disk on a vertical pole.

church

a building for public Christian worship.

clerestory

a portion of an interior rising above adjacent rooftops ad having windows admitting daylight to the interior. Also, the uppermost section of a Gothic nave characterized by a series of large windows rising above adjacent rooftops to admit daylight to the interior.

cloister

a covered walk having an arcade or colonnade on one side opening onto a courtyard.

colonnade

a series of regularly spaced columns supporting an entablature and usually one side of a roof structure.

column

a rigid, relatively slender structural member designed primarily to support compressive loads applied at the member ends. In classical architecture, a cylindrical support consisting of a capital, shaft, and usually a base, either monolithic or built up of drums the full diameter of the shaft.

computer graphics

The field of computer science that studies methods and techniques for creating, representing, and manipulating image data by computer technology; the digital images so produced. Architectural applications of computer graphics range from two-dimensional architectural drawing to three-dimensional modeling and energy, lighting, and acoustic simulations of building performance.

computer modeling

The use of computer technology and mathematical algorithms to create abstract models of systems and processes to simulate their behavior. For architectural applications, computer modeling software enables the creation and manipulation of virtual, three-dimensional models of existing or proposed buildings and environments for analysis, testing, and appraisal.

concrete

an artificial, stone-like building material made by mixing cement and various mineral aggregates with sufficient water to cause the cement to set and bind the entire mass.

contrast

opposition or juxtaposition of dissimilar elements in a work of art to intensify each element’s properties and produce a more dynamic expressiveness.

corbel

to set bricks or stones in an overlapping arrangement so that each source steps upward and outward from the vertical face of a wall.

cornice

the uppermost member of a classical entablature, consisting typically of a cymatium, corona, and bed molding.

corona

the projecting, slab-like member of a classical cornice, supported by the bed molding and crowned by the cymatium.

corridor

a narrow passageway or gallery connecting parts of a building, eps. one into which several rooms or apartments open.

cortile

a large or principal courtyard of an Italian palazzo.

court

an area open to the sky and mostly or entirely surrounded by walls or buildings.

courtyard

a court adjacent to or within a building, esp. one enclosed on all four sides.

cromlech

A circular arrangement of megaliths enclosing a dolmen or burial mound.

cupola

A light structure on a dome or roof, serving as a belfry, lantern, or belvedere. Also, a small dome covering a circular or polygonal area.

curtain wall

an exterior wall supported wholly by the structural frame of a building and carrying no loads other than its own weight and wind loads.

cryma recta

a projecting molding having the profile of a double curve with the concave part projecting beyond the convex part.

cymatium

the crowning member of a classical cornice, usually a cyma recta.

dado

the major part of a pedestal between the base and the cornice or cap. Also, the lower portion of an interior wall when faced or treated differently from the upper section, as with paneling or wallpaper.

datum

any level surface, line, or point used as a reference for the positioning or arrangement of elements in a composition.

diagrid

contraction for diagonal + grid: the exterior lattice-like framework of a building created by crisscrossing diagonal members and unifying the vertical-load-carrying function of columns and the lateral-load resistance of angled braces, while horizontal rings or belts serve to triangulate the frame, restrain it from buckling, and counter any outward expansion.

dian

a palace hall in Chinese architecture, always on the median axis of the side plan and constructed on a raised platform faced with brick or stone.

dolmen

a prehistoric monument consisting of two or more large upright stones supporting a horizontal stone slab, found esp. in Britain and France and usually regarded as a tomb.

dome

a vaulted structure having a circular plan and usually the form of a portion of a sphere, so constructed as to exert an equal thrust in all directions.

dormer

a projecting structure built out from a sloping roof, usually housing a vertical window or ventilating louver.

dougong

A bracket system used in traditional Chinese construction to support roof beams, project the eaves outward, and support the interior ceiling. The absence of a triangular tied frame in Chinese architecture made it necessary to multiply the number of supports under the rafters. In order to reduce the number of pillars this would normally require, the area of support afforded by each pillar was increased by the dougong. The main beams support the roof through intermediary queen posts and shorter upper beams, enabling the roof to be given a concave curve. This distinctive curve is believed to have developed at the beginning of the Tang period, presumably to lighten the visual weight of the roof and allow more daylight into the interior.

eclecticism

a tendency in architecture and the decorative arts to freely mix various historical styles with the aim of combining the virtues of diverse sources, or of increasing allusive content.

emphasis

stress or prominence given to an element of a composition by means of contrast, anomaly, or counterpoint.

enfilade

an axial arrangement of doorways connecting a series of rooms so as to provide a vista down the entire length of the suite. Also, an axial arrangement of mirrors on opposite sides of a room so as to give an effect of an infinitely long vista.

engaged column

a column built so as to be truly or seemingly bonded to the wall before which it stands.

entablature

the horizontal section of a classical order that rests on the columns, usually composed of a cornice, frieze, and architrave.

entasis

a slightly convexity given to a column to correct an optical illusion of concavity if the sides were straight.