Glossary of Architecture Terms

 

ABACUS:

the flat slab on the top of a capital

ACROTERIA:

statues or ornaments placed at the apex and the ends of pediments

ARCH:

the spanning of an opening by reasons other than that of a lintel

ARCHITRAVE:

the lintel extending from one column or pier to another

BUTTRESS:

a mass of masonry or brickwork projecting from or built against a wall to give more strength

CAPITAL:

the head or crowning feature of a column

COLONNADE:

a row of columns carrying an entablature or arches

COLUMN:

a free-standing, upright member of a circular section, usually for a support

DENTIL:

a small square shape often repeated in a horizontal line

DOME:

a vault of even curvature on a circular base which can be segmental, semicircular, pointed, or bulbous

DORIC ORDER:

the earliest of the Greek orders also adapted by the Romans

DORMER WINDOW:

a window placed vertically in a sloping roof and with a roof of its own

DRUM:

a vertical wall supporting a dome; it may be circular, square, or polygonal

EAVES:

the underpart of an overhanging cornice or sloping roof

ENGAGED COLUMN:

a column attached to, or partly sunk into, a wall or pier

EYE:

the center of a volute

FACADE:

the front of face or a building, emphasized architecturally

FINIAL:

a formal ornament at the top of a canopy, gable, or pinnacle

FLUTING:

shallow, concave grooves running vertically on the shaft of a column, pilaster, or other surface

FRIEZE:

the middle division of an entablature, between the ARCHITRAVE and the cornice, usually decorated but may be plain

GABLE:

the triangular upper portion of a wall at the end of a pitched roof corresponding to a pediment in classical architecture

HOGYO ROOF:

a square, pyramidal roof with curved ears common in Japanese architecture

HYPOSTYLE:

a hall or other large space over which the roof is supported by rows of columns like a forest.

IONIC ORDER:

an order that originated in Asia Minor in the mid-sixth century B.C.

JAMB:

the vertical face of an archway, doorway, or window

KEYSTONE:

the central stone of a true arch of rib vault

LANTERN:

a small circular or polygonal turret with windows all round, crowning a roof or a dome

LINTEL:

a horizontal beam or stone bridging an opening

LOAD BEARING CONSTRUCTION:

construction in which walls, posts, columns, or arcades support the weight of the ceilings and upper floors

METOPE:

the square space between two triglyphs in the frieze of a Doric order; it may be carved or be left plain

MINARET:

a tall, usually slender tower or turret connected with a mosque. From a balcony on the minaret the muzzin calls people to prayer

MOSQUE:

an Islamic religious building for communal prayer

NICHE:

a vertical recess in a wall or pier, usually arched and containing a statue or urn

OBELISK:

a tall, tapering shaft of stone, usually monolithic, of square or rectangle section and ending pyramidally

OCULUS:

a circular opening in a wall or at the apex of a dome

ONION DOME:

a pointed, bulbous dome common in Russia, Eastern European, and Islamic architecture

PALAZZO:

a fortress-like, three-storied home during the Italian Renaissance, usually featuring a rusticated stone exterior

PARAPET:

a low wall placed to protect any spot where there is a sudden drop

PEDIMENT:

in classical architecture, a low-pitched, triangular gable above a portico. A pediment can also be a similar feature above doors and pictures

PENDENTIVE:

a concave spandrel leading from the angle of two walls to the base of a circular dome; the structural means of support for a circular dome to rest on a square dome, a common Byzantine architecture

PIER:

a solid masonry support, as distinct from a column; the solid mass between doors, windows, and other openings in buildings

PORTAL:

a door or entrance

PORTICO:

a roofed space, open or partly enclosed, forming the entrance of the facade of a temple, house, or church, often with detached or attached columns and a pediment

POSTS:

the main verticals of walls or doorways that support a lintel

PYLON:

in ancient Egyptian architecture, the rectangular, truncated, pyramidal towers flanking the gateway of the temple

PYRAMID:

in ancient Egyptian architecture, a sepulchral monument in the form of a huge stone structure with a square base and sloping sides meeting at an apex

QUOIN:

the stones at the corners of buildings, usually laid so that their faces are alternately large and small

ROTUNDA:

a building or room circular in plan and usually domed

ROUNDEL:

a circular ornament, often decorated with sculptural reliefs or glazed terra-cotta

RUSTICATION:

masonry cut in massive blocks, sometimes in a crude state to give a rich and bold texture to an exterior wall

SHAFT:

the trunk of a column between the base and the capital

SKYSCRAPER:

a multi-storied building constructed on steel skeleton, combining extraordinary height with ordinary rooms such as would be found in low buildings, the term originated in the United States in the later 1880s after buildings in New York reached ten stories

SORI:

the curved eaves line of a Japanese roof

SPANDREL:

the triangular space between the side of an arch, the horizontal above its apex, and the vertical of it's springing; the surface between two arches in an arcade

SPIRE:

a tall, pyramidal, polygonal, or conical structure rising from a tower, turret, or roof (usually of a church) and terminating in a point

TERRA-COTTA:

fired but unglazed clay, used mainly for wall or roof covering and ornamentation

THATCH:

a roof covering of straw, reeds, or other vegetable material, held in place by stones, ropes, or poles, or interspersed with layers or mud

TRACERY:

the ornamental work in the upper part of a window, screen. or panel, or used decoratively in blank arches and vaults

TRIGLYPH:

a block separating metopes in a Doric frieze; each has two vertical grooves (or glyphs) in the center and half grooves at the edges

TURRET:

a very small, slender tower

TYMPANUM:

the area between the lintel of a doorway and the arch above it

VAULT:

an arched ceiling or roof of stone, brick, or concrete

VERANDA:

and open gallery or balcony with a roof supported by light supports

VOLUTE:

a spiral scroll on an Ionic capital

VOUSSOIR:

a brick or wedge-shaped stone forming one of the units or an arch

 

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