Baldachin
A canopy over an altar or throne.
Barrel vault
Also known as a tunnel or wagon vault; the simplest form of vault, resembling a barrel or tunnel cut in half lengthways.
Bascule
A counter-balanced structure; when one end is lowered the other is raised.
Bas-relief
A carving in which the design is raised from a flat background.
Bartizan
An overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of ancient fortifications.
Buttress
Masonry or brickwork that supports a wall. Flying buttresses are arches or half-arches that push back against a building’s outward thrust.
Castellated
Finished with turrets and battlements.
Chinoiserie
An imitation of Chinese styles, popular in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Corbels
Structural pieces of stone, wood or metal extending from a wall, serving as brackets.
Crenellations
Battlements, especially the symmetrical, geometric forms on the top of of a parapet.
Cupola
A small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building mostly on top of a larger roof or dome, and often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air.
Duplex
A residential building divided into two separate apartments.
Entablatures
Major elements of classical architecture; the horizontal mouldings above columns that rest on the capitals.
Gambrel roof
A roof with a small gable forming the upper part of each end.
Groin vaults
Two barrel vaults that intersect at right angles.
Gypsum mortar
also called Plaster of Paris; a mixture of plaster and sand used in the construction of many ancient structures.
Himorogi
In Shinto architecture, these are sacred spaces or altars used for worship.
Hypogeum
A term usually refering to an underground temple or tomb.
Hypostyle hall
A hall with a roof supported by columns.
Keystone
A wedge-shaped stone in the apex of an arch or vault that holds the other stones in place.
Machicolations
Openings between supporting corbels in a battlement, through which stones and other objects can be dropped.
Mansard roof
A roof with four sloping sides, each becoming steeper halfway down.
Mihrab
A semi-circular niche in the wall of a mosque, indicating the direction of Mecca for Muslims to face when praying.
Mullions
Vertical bars between the panes of glass in windows.
Obelisk
A tall, four-sided, tapering monument with a pyramid-like shape at the top.
Ogee arches
Pointed arches with s-shaped curves on both sides.
Pendentives
Triangular spaces that allow circular domes to be placed on to square or polygonal bases – or rooms – beneath.
Pilotis
Pillars, columns, or stilts that support buildings, popularized by Le Corbusier.
Pylons
Support structures for suspension bridges or highways.
Quatrefoil
An ornamental tracery design of four leaves. (Trefoil is tracery of three leaves.)
Stucco
Fine, usually white, plaster used for coating wall surfaces or moulding into architectural decorations.
Tracery
Stonework elements that support the glass in Gothic windows.
Trencadís
A type of mosaic used in Catalan modernism, created from broken ceramics.
Vihara
A Buddhist monastery, originally meaning ‘a secluded place in which to walk.’
Voussoir
A wedge-shaped stone in an arch or vault, either the keystone or the springer (the bottom stone of the arch).