Untitled Flashcards Set

Term

Definition

Mandala

“A geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction”

Coffering

“A series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit, or vault.”

Mihrab

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

Minaret

“A type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques; generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer but they also serve as landmarks and symbols of Islam in a city.”

Mosque

“A place of worship for Muslims; a place where Islamic prayers are performed.”

Qibla Wall

The wall in which a mihrab appears.

Apse

“A semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an exedra.”

Baptistry

“In Christian architecture, the separate, centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal font, where the sacrament of baptism was performed.”

Basilica

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

Narthex

“An architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or vestibule, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper.”

Nave

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

Pendentive

“Triangular segments of a sphere that rise up from the corners of the room and curve inward, the upper corners meeting to form a circular base for the dome. The pendentives receive the weight of the dome and concentrate it to the four corners where pillars and piers bear the load.”

Transpet

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

Clerestory

“A high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.

Flying Buttress

“A masonry structure typically consisting of an inclined bar carried on a half arch that extends (“flies”) from the upper part of a wall to a pier some distance away and carries the thrust of a roof or vault.”

Pinnacle

“An architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress
or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers
and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire.”

Kiva

“A large room that is circular and underground, and used for spiritual ceremonies.”

Baroque

A Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry and other arts that flourished form the early 17th century until the 1750s

Folly

A building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.

Picturesque

An aesthetic category developed in the 18th century to describe, in the words of artist and author William Gilpin, 'that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture'.

Sublime

The sublime is the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual, or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement, or imitation

Plantation

“An estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated by resident labor, historically slave labor.”

Salt Box House

“a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a wooden lidded box in which salt was once kept.”

Timber/wood frame construction

“A traditional method of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs.”