GLOSSARY
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.
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 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.
allée
French term for a narrow passage between houses, or a broad walk planted with trees.
amalaka
The bulbous, ribbed stone finial of a sikhara in Indian architecture.
ambulatory
The covered walk of an atrium or cloister. Also, an aisle 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 or 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 east end of a church.
arabesque
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 of arches supported on piers or columns. Also, an arched, roofed gallery or passageway with shops 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 central 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 around 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.
baptistery
A part of a church or a separate building in which the rite of baptism is administered.
base
The lowermost portion of a wall, column, pier, or other structure, usually distinctively 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 by timber trusses, and a raised dais in a semicircular apse for the tribunal. The Roman basilica served as a model 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 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.
caravansary
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 on 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 and 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.
concrete
An artificial, stonelike 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 course 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, slablike 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, esp. 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.
cyma 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.
dian
A palace hall in Chinese architecture, always on the median axis of the site 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, particularly during the second half of the 19th century in Europe and the U.S.
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 slight convexity given to a column to correct an optical illusion of concavity if the sides were straight.
ergonomics
An applied science concerned with the characteristics of people that need to be considered in the design of devices and systems in order that people and things will interact effectively and safely.
exedra
A room or covered area open on one side and provided with seats, used as a meeting place in ancient Greece and Rome. Also, a large apsidal extension of the interior volume of a church, normally on the main axis.
facade
The front of a building or any of its sides facing a public way or space, esp. one distinguished by its architectural treatment.
fascia
One of the three horizontal bands making up the architrave in the Ionic order. Also, any broad, flat, horizontal surface, as the outer edge of a cornice or roof.
field
A region or expanse of space characterized by a particular property, feature, or activity.
fenestration
The design, proportioning, and disposition of windows and other exterior openings of a building. Also, an ornamental motif having the form of a blind arcade or arch, as in medieval cabinetwork.
figure
A shape or form, as determined by outlines or exterior surfaces. Also, a combination of geometric elements disposed in a particular form or shape.
figure-ground
A property of perception in which there is a tendency to see parts of a visual field as solid, well-defined objects standing out against a less distinct background.
finial
A relatively small, usually foliated ornament terminating the peak of a spire or pinnacle.
floor
The level, base surface of a room or hall upon which one stands or walks. Also, a continuous supporting surface extending horizontally throughout a building, having a number of rooms and constituting one level in the structure.
flying buttress
An inclined bar of masonry carried on a segmental arch and transmitting an outward and downward thrust from a roof or vault to a solid buttress that through its mass transforms the thrust into a vertical one; a characteristic feature of Gothic construction.
form
The shape and structure of something as distinguished from its substance or material. Also, the manner of arranging and coordinating the elements and parts of a composition so as as to produce a coherent image; the formal structure of a work of art.
forum
The public square or marketplace of an ancient Roman city, the center of judicial and business affairs, and a place of assembly for the people, usually including a basilica and a temple.
fresco
The art or technique of painting on a freshly spread, moist plaster surface with pigments ground up in water or a limewater mixture.
frieze
The horizontal part of a classical entablature between the cornice and architrave, often decorated with sculpture in low relief. Also, a decorative band, as one along the top of an interior wall, immediately below the cornice, or a sculptured one in a stringcourse on an outside wall.
gable
The triangular portion of wall enclosing the end of a pitched roof from cornice or eaves to ridge.
galleria
A spacious promenade, court, or indoor mall, usually having a vaulted roof and lined with commercial establishments.
gallery
A long, relatively narrow room or hall, esp. one for public use and having architectural importance through its scale or decorative treatment. Also, a roofed promenade, esp. one extending inside or outside along the exterior wall of a building.
garbha-griha
A ‘womb chamber,’ the dark, innermost sanctuary of a Hindu temple, where the statue of the deity is placed.
gestalt
A unified configuration, pattern, or field of specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of the component parts.
Gestalt psychology
The theory or doctrine that physiological or psychological phenomena do not occur through the summation of individual elements, as reflexes or sensations, but through gestalts functioning separately or interrelatedly.
golden section
A proportion between the two dimensions of a plane figure or the two divisions of a line, in which the ratio of the smaller to the larger is the same as the ratio of the larger to the whole: a ratio of approximately 0.618 to 1.000.
gopura
A monumental, usually ornate gateway tower to a Hindu temple enclosure, esp. in southern India.
groin vault
A compound vault formed by the perpendicular intersection of two vaults, forming arched diagonal arrises called groins. Also called cross vault.
ground
The main surface or background in painting or decorative work. Also, the receding part of a visual field against which a figure is perceived.
hall
The large entrance room of a house or building, as a vestibule or lobby. Also, a large room or building for public gatherings or entertainment.
hacienda
A large, landed estate for farming and ranching in North and South American areas once under Spanish influence. Also, the main house on such an estate.
haiden
The hall of worship of a Shinto shrine, usually in front of the honden.
harmonic progression
A sequence of numbers whose reciprocals form an arithmetic progression.
harmony
The orderly, pleasing, or congruent arrangement of the elements or parts in an artistic whole.
hashira
A sacred post in Shinto architecture, shaped by human hands.
hierarchy
A system of elements ranked, classified, and organized one above another, according to importance or significance.
hippodrome
An arena or structure for equestrian and other spectacles. Also, an open-air stadium with an oval track for horse and chariot races in ancient Greece and Rome.
hypostyle hall
A large hall having many columns in rows supporting a flat roof, and sometimes a clerestory: prevalent in ancient Egyptian and Achaemenid architecture.
in antis
Between antae, the rectangular piers or pilasters formed by thickening the end of a projecting wall.
intercolumniation
A system for spacing columns in a colonnade based on the space between two adjacent columns measured in diameters.
interfenestration
A space between two windows. Also, the art or process of arranging the openings in a wall.
interstitial
Forming an intervening space.
intrados
The inner curve or surface of an arch forming the concave underside.
iwan
A large vaulted hall serving as an entrance portal and opening onto a courtyard: prevalent in Parthian, Sassanian and later in Islamic architecture. Also, ivan, liwan.
jami masjid
Friday mosque: A congregational mosque for public prayer, esp. on Fridays.
joist
Any of a series of small, parallel beams for supporting floors, ceilings, or flat roofs.
Ka‘ba
A small, cubical stone building in the courtyard of the Great Mosque at Mecca containing a sacred black stone and regarded by Muslims as the House of God, the objective of their pilgrimages, and the point toward which they turn in praying.
keystone
The wedge-shaped, often embellished voussoir at the crown of an arch, serving to lock the other voussoirs in place. Until the keystone is in place, no true arch action is incurred.
kondo
Golden Hall: the sanctuary where the main image of worship is kept in a Japanese Buddhist temple. The Jodo, Shinshu, and Nicheiren sects of Buddhism use the term hondo for this sanctuary, the Shingon and Tendai sects use chudo, and the Zen sect uses butsuden.
lacunar
A ceiling, soffit, or vault decorated with a pattern of recessed panels.
lantern
A superstructure crowning a roof or dome having open or windowed walls to let in light and air.
linga
A phallus, symbol of the god Siva in Hindu architecture.
lingdao
The spirit way that led from the south gate to a royal tomb of the Tang dynasty, lined with stone pillars and sculptured animal and human figures.
lintel
A beam supporting the weight above a door or window opening.
loggia
A colonnaded or arcaded space within the body of a building but open to the air on one side, often at an upper story overlooking an open court. The loggia is an important feature of the architecture of the Italian palazzi.
madrasah
A Muslim theological school arranged around a courtyard and attached to a mosque, found from the 11th century on in Egypt, Anatolia, and Persia.
mandala
A diagram of the cosmos, often used to guide the design of Indian temple plans.
mandapa
A large, porchlike hall leading to the sanctuary of a Hindu or Jain temple and used for religious dancing and music.
mass
The physical volume or bulk of a solid body.
massing
A unified composition of two-dimensional shapes or three-dimensional volumes, esp. one that has or gives the impression of weight, density, and bulk.
mastaba
An ancient Egyptian tomb made of mud brick, rectangular in plan with a flat roof and sloping sides, from which a shaft leads to underground burial and offering chambers.
mausoleum
A large and stately tomb, esp. that in the form of a building for housing the tombs of many individuals, often of a single family.
megalith
A very large stone used as found or roughly dressed, esp. in ancient construction work.
megaron
A building or semi-independent unit of a building, typically having a rectangular principal chamber with a center hearth and a porch, often of columns in antis: traditional in Greece since Mycenaean times and believed to be the ancestor of the Doric temple.
menhir
A prehistoric monument consisting of an upright megalith, usually standing alone but sometimes aligned with others.
mezzanine
A low or partial story between two main stories of a building, esp. one that projects as a balcony and forms a composition with the story beneath it.
mihrab
A niche or decorative panel in a mosque designating the qibla.
minaret
A lofty, slender tower attached to a mosque, having stairs leading up to one or more projecting balconies from which the muezzin calls the Muslim people to prayer.
mirador
In Spanish architecture, an architectural feature affording a view of the surroundings, as a bay window, loggia, or roof pavilion.
model
An example serving as a pattern for imitation or emulation in the creation of something.
module
A unit of measurement used for standardizing the dimensions of building materials or regulating the proportions of an architectural composition.
monastery
A place of residence for a community of persons living in seclusion under religious vows, esp. monks.
monolith
A single block of stone of considerable size, often in the form of an obelisk or column.
mosque
A Muslim building or place of public worship.
mullion
A vertical member between the lights of a window or the panels in wainscoting.
muqarnas
A system of decoration in Islamic architecture, formed by the intricate corbeling of brackets, squinches, and inverted pyramids; sometimes wrought in stone but more often in plaster. Also called stalactite work.
mural
A large picture painted on or applied directly to a wall or ceiling surface.
naos
See cella.
narthex
The portico before the nave of an early Christian or Byzantine church, appropriated to penitents. Also, an entrance hall or vestibule leading to the nave of a church.
nave
The principal or central part of a church, extending from the narthex to the choir or chancel and usually flanked by aisles.
necropolis
A historic burial ground, esp. a large, elaborate one of an ancient city.
niche
An ornamental recess in a wall, often semicircular in plan and surmounted by a half dome, as for a statue or other decorative object.
nuraghe
Any of the large, round or triangular stone towers found in Sardinia and dating from the second millennium B.C. to the Roman conquest.
obelisk
A tall, four-sided shaft of stone that tapers as it rises to a pyramidal point, originating in ancient Egypt as a sacred symbol of the sun-god Ra and usually standing in pairs astride temple entrances.
oculus
A circular opening, esp. one at the crown of a dome.
order
A condition of logical, harmonious, or comprehensible arrangement in which each element of a group is properly disposed with reference to other elements and to its purpose. Also, an arrangement of columns supporting an entablature, each column comprising a capital, shaft, and usually a base.
oriel
A bay window supported from below by corbels or brackets.
orthographic
Pertaining to, involving, or composed of right angles.
pagoda
A Buddhist temple in the form of a square or polygonal tower with roofs projecting from each of its many stories, erected as a memorial or to hold relics. From the stupa, the Indian prototype, the pagoda gradually changed in form to resemble the traditional multistoried watch tower as it spread with Buddhism to China and Japan. Pagodas were initially of timber, but from the 6th century on, were more frequently of brick or stone, possibly due to Indian influence.
pailou
A monumental gateway in Chinese architecture, having a trabeated form of stone or wood construction with one, three, or five openings and often bold projecting roofs, erected as a memorial at the entrance to a palace, tomb, or sacred place: related to the Indian toranas and the Japanese torii. Also, pailoo.
palazzo
A large, imposing public building or private residence, esp. in Italy.
Palladian motif
A window or doorway in the form of a round-headed archway flanked on either side by narrower compartments, the side compartments being capped with entablatures on which the arch of the central compartment rests.
panopticon
A building, as a prison, hospital, library, or the like, so arranged that all parts of the interior are visible from a single point.
pantheon
A temple dedicated to all the gods of a people. Also, a public building serving as the burial place of or containing the memorials to the famous dead of a nation.
parapet
A low, protective wall at the edge of a terrace, balcony, or roof, esp. that part of an exterior wall, fire wall, or party wall that rises above the roof.
parterre
An ornamental arrangement of flower beds of different shapes and sizes.
parti
Used by the French at the École des Beaux-Arts in the nineteenth century, the design idea or sketch from which an architectural project will be developed. Now, the basic scheme or concept for an architectural design, represented by a diagram.
passage grave
A megalithic tomb of the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages found in the British Isles and Europe, consisting of a roofed burial chamber and narrow entrance passage, covered by a tumulus: believed to have been used for successive family or clan burials spanning a number of generations.
pavilion
A light, usually open building used for shelter, concerts, or exhibits, as in a park or fair. Also, a central or flanking projecting subdivision of a facade, usually accented by more elaborate decoration or greater height and distinction of skyline.
pedestal
A construction upon which a column, statue, memorial shaft, or the like, is elevated, usually consisting of a base, a dado, and a cornice or cap.
pediment
The low-pitched gable enclosed by the building’s horizontal and raking cornices of a Greek or Roman temple. Also, a similar or derivative element used to surmount a major division of a facade or crown an opening.
pendentive
A spherical triangle forming the transition from the circular plan of a dome to the polygonal plan of its supporting structure.
pergola
A structure of parallel colonnades supporting an open roof of beams and crossing rafters or trelliswork, over which climbing plants are trained to grow.
peristyle
A colonnade surrounding a building or a courtyard. Also, the courtyard so enclosed.
piano nobile
The principal story of a large building, as a palace or villa, with formal reception and dining rooms, usually one flight above the ground floor.
piazza
An open square or public place in a city or town, esp. in Italy.
pier
A vertical supporting structure, as a section of wall between two openings or one supporting the end of an arch or lintel. Also, a cast-in-place concrete foundation formed by boring with a large auger or excavating by hand a shaft in the earth to a suitable bearing stratum and filling the shaft with concrete.
pilaster
A shallow rectangular feature projecting from a wall, having a capital and a base and architecturally treated as a column.
pillar
An upright, relatively slender shaft or structure, usually of brick or stone, used as a building support or standing alone as a monument.
piloti
A column of steel or reinforced concrete supporting a building above an open ground level, thereby leaving the space available for other uses.
Platonic solid
One of the five regular polyhedrons: tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, or icosahedron.
plaza
A public square or open space in a city or town.
plinth
The usually square slab beneath the base of a column, pier, or pedestal. Also, a continuous, usually projecting course of stones forming the base or foundation of a wall.
podium
A solid mass of masonry visible above ground level and serving as the foundation of a building, esp. the platform forming the floor and substructure of a classical temple.
porch
An exterior appendage to a building, forming a covered approach or vestibule to a doorway.
porte-cochère
A porch roof projecting over a driveway at the entrance to a building and sheltering those getting in or out of vehicles. Also, a vehicular passageway leading through a building or screen wall into an interior courtyard.
portico
A porch or walkway having a roof supported by columns, often leading to the entrance of a building.
post
A stiff vertical support, esp. a wooden column in timber framing.
postern
A private or side entrance, as one for pedestrians next to a porte-cochère.
promenade
An area used for a stroll or walk, esp. in a public place, as for pleasure or display.
proportion
The comparative, proper, or harmonious relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity, or degree. Also, the equality between two ratios in which the first of the four terms divided by the second equals the third divided by the fourth.
propylaeum
A vestibule or gateway of architectural importance before a temple area or other enclosure. Often used in the plural, propylaea.
propylon
A freestanding gateway having the form of a pylon and preceding the main gateway to an ancient Egyptian temple or sacred enclosure.
prototype
An early and typical example that exhibits the essential features of a class or group and on which later stages are based or judged.
proxemics
The study of the symbolic and communicative role of the spatial separation individuals maintain in various social and interpersonal situations, and how the nature and degree of this spatial arrangement relates to environmental and cultural factors.
pylon
A monumental gateway to an ancient Egyptian temple, consisting either of a pair of tall truncated pyramids and a doorway between them or of one such masonry mass pierced with a doorway, often decorated with painted reliefs.
pyramid
A massive masonry structure having a rectangular base and four smooth, steeply sloping sides facing the cardinal points and meeting at an apex, used in ancient Egypt as a tomb to contain the burial chamber and the mummy of the pharaoh. The pyramid was usually part of a complex of buildings within a walled enclosure, including mastabas for members of the royal family, an offering chapel and a mortuary temple. A raised causeway led from the enclosure down to a valley temple on the Nile, where purification rites and mummification were performed. Also, a masonry mass having a rectangular base and four stepped and sloping faces culminating in a single apex, used in ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian Central America as a tomb or a platform for a temple.
qibla
The direction toward which Muslims face to pray, esp. the Ka‘ba at Mecca. Also, the wall in a mosque in which the mihrab is set, oriented to Mecca.
quoin
An external solid angle of a wall, or one of the stones forming such an angle, usually differentiated from the adjoining surfaces by material, texture, color, size, or projection.
rampart
A broad embankment of earth raised as a fortification around a place and usually surmounted by a parapet.
rath
A Hindu temple cut out of solid rock to resemble a chariot.
ratio
Relation in magnitude, quantity, or degree between two or more similar things.
reentrant
Reentering or pointing inward, as an interior angle of a polygon that is greater than 180°.
regular
Having all faces congruent regular polygons and all solid angles congruent.
repetition
The act or process of repeating formal elements or motifs in a design.
rhythm
Movement characterized by a patterned repetition or alternation of formal elements or motifs in the same or a modified form.
roof
The external upper covering of a building, including the frame for supporting the roofing.
room
A portion of space within a building, separated by walls or partitions from other similar spaces.
rustication
Ashlar masonry having the visible faces of the dressed stones raised or otherwise contrasted with the horizontal and usually the vertical joints, which may be rabbeted, chamfered, or beveled.
sanctuary
A sacred or holy place, esp. the most sacred part of a church in which the principal altar is placed or a especially holy place in a temple.
scale
A proportion determining the relationship of a representation to that which it represents. Also, a certain proportionate size, extent, or degree, usually judged in relation to some standard or point of reference.
semiotics
The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior.
shell structure
A thin, rigid, curved surface structure formed to enclose a volume. Applied loads develop compressive, tensile, and shear stresses acting within the plane of the shell. The thinness of the shell, however, has little bending resistance and is unsuitable for concentrated loads.
shoro
A structure from which the temple bell is hung, as one of a pair of small, identical, symmetrically placed pavilions in a Japanese Buddhist temple.
shrine
A building or other shelter, often of a stately or sumptuous character, enclosing the remains or relics of a saint or other holy person and forming an object of religious veneration and pilgrimage.
sikhara
A tower of a Hindu temple, usually tapered convexly and capped by an amalaka.
sill
The lowest horizontal member of a frame structure, resting on and anchored to a foundation wall. Also, the horizontal member beneath a door or window opening.
solarium
A glass-enclosed porch, room, or gallery used for sunbathing or for therapeutic exposure to sunlight.
solid
A geometric figure having the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thickness.
space
The three-dimensional field in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction, esp. a portion of that field set apart in a given instance or for a particular purpose.
spandrel
The triangular-shaped, sometimes ornamented area between the extrados of two adjoining arches, or between the left or right extrados of an arch and the rectangular framework surrounding it. Also, a panellike area in a multistory frame building, between the sill of a window on one level and the head of a window immediately below.
spire
A tall, acutely tapering pyramidal structure surmounting a steeple or tower.
stair
One of a flight or series of steps for going from one level to another, as in a building.
stalactite work
See muquarna.
steeple
A tall ornamental structure, usually ending in a spire and surmounting the tower of a church or other public building.
stele
An upright stone slab or pillar with a carved or inscribed surface, used as a monument or marker, or as a commemorative tablet in the face of a building.
stoa
An ancient Greek portico, usually detached and of considerable length, used as a promenade or meeting place around public places.
story
A complete horizontal division of a building, having a continuous or nearly continuous floor and comprising the space between two adjacent levels. Also, the set of rooms on the same floor or level of a building.
stringcourse
A horizontal course of brick or stone flush with or projecting beyond the face of a building, often molded to mark a division in the wall.
stupa
A Buddhist memorial mound erected to enshrine a relic of Buddha and to commemorate some event or mark a sacred spot. Modeled on a funerary tumulus, it consists of an artificial dome-shaped mound raised on a platform, surrounded by an outer ambulatory with a stone vedika and four toranas, and crowned by a chattri. The name for the stupa in Ceylon is dagoba, and in Tibet and Nepal, chorten.
symbology
The study of use of symbols.
symbol
Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, esp. a material object used to represent something invisible or immaterial, deriving its meaning chiefly from the structure in which it appears.
symmetry
The exact correspondence in size, form, and arrangement of parts on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane, or about a center or axis. Also, regularity of form or arrangement in terms of like, reciprocal, or corresponding parts.
synagogue
A building or place of assembly for Jewish worship and religious instruction.
ta
A pagoda in Chinese architecture.
technology
Applied science: the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.
tectonics
The art and science of shaping, ornamenting, or assembling materials in building construction.
temenos
In ancient Greece, a piece of ground specially reserved and enclosed as a sacred place.
tensile structure
A thin, flexible surface that carries loads primarily through the development of tensile stresses.
terrace
A raised level with a vertical or sloping front or sides faced with masonry, turf, or the like, esp. one of a series of levels rising above one another.
tetrastyle
Having four columns on one or each front.
tholos
A circular building in classical architecture.
threshold
A place or point of entering or beginning.
tokonoma
Picture recess: a shallow, slightly raised alcove for the display of a flower arrangement or a kakemono, a vertical hanging scroll containing either text or a painting. One side of the recess borders the outside wall of the room through which light enters, while the interior side adjoins the tana, a recess with built-in shelving. As the spiritual center of a traditional Japanese house, the tokonoma is located in its most formal room.
topography
The physical configuration and features of a site, area, or region.
torana
An elaborately carved, ceremonial gateway in Indian Buddhist and Hindu architecture, having two or three lintels between two posts.
torii
A monumental, freestanding gateway on the approach to a Shinto shrine, consisting of two pillars connected at the top by a horizontal crosspiece and a lintel above it, usually curving upward.
trabeate
Of or pertaining to a system of construction employing beams or lintels. Also, trabeated.
transept
The major transverse part of a cruciform church, crossing the main axis at a right angle between the nave and choir. Also, either of the projecting arms of this part, on either side of the central aisle of a church.
transformation
The process of changing in form or structure through a series of discrete permutations and manipulations in response to a specific context or set of conditions without a loss of identity or concept.
trellis
A frame supporting open latticework, used as a screen or a support for growing vines or plants.
trullo
A circular stone shelter of the Apulia region of southern Italy, roofed with conical constructions of corbeled dry masonry, usually whitewashed and painted with figures or symbols. Many trulli are over 1,000 years old and still in use today, usually located among vineyards to serve as storage structures or as temporary living quarters during the harvest.
truss
A structural frame based on the geometric rigidity of the triangle and composed of linear members subject only to axial tension or compression.
tumulus
An artificial mound of earth or stone, esp. over an ancient grave.
tympanum
The recessed triangular space enclosed by the horizontal and raking cornices of a triangular pediment, often decorated with sculpture. Also, a similar space between an arch and the horizontal head of a door or window below.
uniformity
The state or quality of being identical, homogeneous, or regular.
unity
The state or quality of being combined into one, as the ordering of elements in an artistic work that constitutes a harmonious whole or promotes a singleness of effect.
vault
An arched structure of stone, brick, or reinforced concrete, forming a ceiling or roof over a hall, room, or other wholly or partially enclosed space. Since it behaves as an arch extended in a third dimension, the longitudinal supporting walls must be buttressed to counteract the thrusts of the arching action.
veranda
A large, open porch, usually roofed and partly enclosed, as by a railing, often extending across the front and sides of a house.
vestibule
A small entrance hall between the outer door and the interior of a house or building.
vihara
A Buddhist monastery in Indian architecture often excavated from solid rock, consisting of a central pillared chamber surrounded by a verandah onto which open small sleeping cells. Adjacent to this cloister was a courtyard containing the main stupa.
villa
A country residence or estate.
void
An empty space contained within or bounded by mass.
volume
The size or extent of a three-dimensional object or region of space, measured in cubic units.
wainscot
A facing of wood paneling, esp. when covering the lower portion of an interior wall.
wall
Any of various upright constructions presenting a continuous surface and serving to enclose, divide, or protect an area.
wat
A Buddhist monastery or temple in Thailand or Cambodia.
ziggurat
A temple-tower in Sumerian and Assyrian architecture, built in diminishing stages of mud brick with buttressed walls faced with burnt brick, culminating in a summit shrine or temple reached by a series of ramps: thought to be of Sumerian origin, dating from the end of the 3rd millennium B.C.