ARCHITECTURAL TERMS 1

ARCHITECTURAL TERMS ..

1. ABACUS The flat slab on the top of a capital.

2. ACROPOLIS ACRO = HIGH POLIS = CITY

3. ACROPOLIS ACRO = HIGH POLIS = CITY ATHENS

4. AGORA TYRE The was a central spot in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is "Gathering place" or "Assembly". The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city

5. ADOBE BAM, IRAN Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material (sticks, straw, and/or manure), which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun

6. AISLE Open area of a church parallel to the nave and separated from it by columns or piers.

7. ARCH A basic architectural structure composed of bricks or stones so arranged as by mutual pressure to support one another.

8. ARCADE A range of arches carried on piers or columns, either free-standing or blind

9. ARCHITRAVE The lowest division of the entablature in classical architecture . The main lintel or beam spanning from column to column.

10. Awning A metal, glass, or cloth protective roof over a window, deck ,or door to offer shade or relief from rain.

11. ATTIC Small top storey within a roof.

12. BALCONY A platform projecting from a wall directly outside a door on an upper level of a building.

13. Balustrade A railing system, generally around a balcony or on a second level, consisting of balusters and a top rail.

14. BAPTISTERY In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate planned structure surrounding the baptismal font for the baptismal rites

15. Baroque The word Baroque means a misshapen pearl. This period of architecture was called baroque because it was considered very odd. Baroque architecture evolved out of Renaissance architecture in Italy. In the 1600's, the renaissance architects began to get bored with the symmetry and same old forms they had been using for the past 200 years. They started to make bold, curving, and not at all symmetrical buildings, with ornate decorations. They started to make curving facades, and used the double curve on many different buildings.

16. BASEMENT A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor.

17. BAY Bay – A vertical division of the exterior or interior of a building

18. BAY-WINDOW a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan.

19. BASCILICA LARGE HALL USED FOR ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE OR COMMERCIAL EXCHANGE ST PETER’S BASCILICA, VATICAN CITY

20. FRAME STRUCTURE OPPOSITE TO SOLID WALL CONSTRUCTION

21. BRACKET A small supporting piece of stone or other material, often formed of scrolls or volutes, to carry a projecting weight

22. BUTTRESS A mass of masonry or brick-work projecting from or built against a wall to give additional strength.

23. CANTILEVER A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end

24. CHAITYA A BUDDHIST/JAIN SHRINE CONTAINING A HALL

25. CHAJJA STRUCTURAL OVERHANG PROVIDED OVER OPENINGS ON EXTERNAL WALLS TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM SUN AND RAIN

26. CHATTRI AN UMBRELLA SHAPED CUPOLA

27. CLEAR STOREY/ CLERESTORY The upper part of the main walls of a church above the aisle roofs, pierced by windows

28. COFFER A coffer (or coffering), is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. Pantheon, Rome

29. Colonnade Colonnade – A row of columns carrying an entablature or arches.

30. COLLAGE Design composition of photoghaphs and papers of different textures, forms and materials on a hard surface

31. CORNICE Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal

32. COURTYARD A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky.