ARCHITECTURAL

TERMINOLOGIES & GLOSSARY

OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND BUILT
ENVIRONMENT

Ar Hema Reddy
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• ABACUS
At the top of a capital, a thick rectangular slab of stone that
serves as the flat, broad surface on which the architrave rests.

• AEDICULE
A farming motif consisting pediment support by the columns.

• ARCHITRAVE
A square beam that is the lowest of the three horizontal
components of a classical entablature.

• ASHLAR
Building stone that has been squared and finished, and the
masonry constructed of such blocks.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• ARCADE
Passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or vaults
supported by columns. A “blinds” arcade is a row of arches applied to
the wall as an ornamental feature.

• AWNING
A metal frame clad with fabric attached over a window, door, porch
opening or storefront to provide protection from the weather.

• BALUSTRADE
A series of balusters supporting a handrail or coping.

• AISLE
Subsidiary space along side the body of a building, separated from it by
columns, piers, or posts.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• CANTILEVER
An Unsupported overhang acting as a lever, like a flagpole sticking out of the side of a
wall.

• ATTIC
Small top storey within a roof.

• GABLE
A triangular portion of an end wall between the edges of a sloping roof.

• COLONNADE
A row of columns which support horizontal members,
called an architrave.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• AMBULATORY
A semi-circular or polygonal passageway around the apse of a religious
building.

• ENTABLATURE
The upper part of a classical order comprising architrave, frieze, and cornice.
Also the moulded frame of a door or window.

• ARCH
A curved structure capable of spanning a space while supporting significant
weight.

• BALUSTER
A small moulded shaft supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a
staircase.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• BOND
Brickwork with overlapping bricks. Types of bond include stretcher, English, header,
Flemish, garden wall, herringbone, basket, American and Chinese.

• DRY MASONARY
Masonry laid without mortar.

• FACADE
The main exterior face of a building.

• GAZEBO
A freestanding pavilion structure often found in parks, gardens and public areas.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• GUTTER
A shallow channel of metal or wood set immediately below and along the
eaves of a building to catch and carry off rainwater. The projecting edge of a
roof that overhangs an exterior wall to protect it from the rain is eaves.

• INTERCOLUMNIATION
The space between adjacent columns in a colonnade.

• CORNICE
A moulding or ornamentation that projects from the top of a building or at the
top of the ceiling below roof.

• GARGOYLE
A Grotesquely carved figure that serves as a spout to carry water from a gutter
away from the building.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• BUTTRESS
Vertical member projecting from a wall to stabilize or to resist the lateral
thrust of an arch, roof, or vault.

• ORIEL
A projecting bay window on an upper floor.

• DORMER
A structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a
sloping roof surface.

• FANLIGHT
Window, semi-circular or semi-ellipitical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery
sets radiating out like an open fan.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• ENTASIS
The slight swelling of the vertical profile of a Classical column as it tapers toward the top to
countered the illusion of concavity. A flying buttress transmits the thrust to a heavy
abutment by means of an arch or half-arch.

• MULLION
A slender upright dividing an opening, usually a Mullion Window, into two or more sections.

• CRENULATION
A wall at the top of a fortified building with regular gaps allowing defenders to shoot from,
Also known as battlement.

• FASICA
The horizontal piece covering the end of rafters.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• PILASTER
A rectangular column with a base, shaft and capital projecting from a wall as an
ornamental motif.

• GAMBREL ROOF
A ridge roof with two slopes at each side, the lower slopes being steeper than
the upper slopes.

• PATIO
Similar to a terrace, a patio is an building, situation above the ground level and
open to the sky.

• RAFTERS
The inclined, sloping framing members of a roof and to which the roof covering
is affixed.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• LINTEL
A horizontal structural element over an opening which carries the weight
of the wall above it.

• POINTING
The treatment of joints between bricks, stone or other masonry components by
filling with mortar.

• PARAPET
A low wall built up above the level of a roof, to hide the roof or to provide protection
against falling.

• BAR (BATT)
A piece of brick usually half the full size or smaller.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• JACK ARCH
A structural element that provides support over an opening in a masonry wall (i.e., made brick
or stone) Jack arches are not actually arch-shaped, but are instead; flat and made of individual
wedge-shaped bricks or stones.

• PERGOLA
A garden structure built up over a path or narrow terrace, lined with evenly spaced columns
or posts that support a wooden-framed roof without sheathing.

• ROOF RIDGE
The horizontal intersection of two roof slopes at the top
of a roof.

• KEYSTONE
The architectural piece at the crown of a vault or arch and marks its apex, locking the other
pieces into position.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• PAVER
A block of stone used in sidewalk or are away paving.

• OCULUS
A circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall.

• SOFFIT
The exposed underside of any architectural element, especially a roof. A monolith is a
large stone which has been used to build a structure or monument, either alone
or together with other stones.

• CAVITY WALL
A wall formed from two thickness of brickwork or blockwork with a space between them.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• STUCCO
A plaster used as a coating for walls and ceilings, and often used for decoration.

• BARREL VAULT
A half-cylindrical vault, semi circular or pointed in cross section: also called tunnel vault.

• EXPANSION JOINT
Vertical or horizontal joints used to separate masonry into segments to control cracking.

• CELLA
The body and main sanctuary of a Classical temple.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• CLERESTOREY
A part of a building that rises above adjoining roof-tops and is pierced by
window opening to admit light to the interior.

• CROSSING
The area where the nave and transept intersect in a cruciform church.

• GROIN VAULT
A vault formed when two barrel vaults of identical size intersect at right angles.

• CAMPANILE
A Freestanding bell tower, usually near a church.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• SPAN
Distance between two supports.

• CAPITAL
The uppermost part of a column, usually shaped to articulate the joint with the lintel or
arch supported.

• MITRE
A joint formed by filling together two pieces bevelled to a specific angle (usually 45
degree) to form a corner.

• CENTERING
Temporary wooden framework used to hold construction used to
hold construction material in place until the structure is self-sustaining.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• COLUMN
A vertical, usually cylindrical, support, commonly consisting of a base, shaft and capital.

• CRYPT
A vaulted space beneath the pavement of a church,
often housing relics or tombs.

• EXEDRA
Semi-circular, often domed recess.

• LOGGIA
An arcade supported by piers or columns, open on one side at least.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• MUDEJAR ARCHITECTURE
A style of Spanish architecture characterized by a fusion of Islamic with Gothic and
Romanesque elements.

• ROTUNDA
A circular room, often with a dome.

• PAGODA
A tower structure, often rectangular or octagonal, with projecting
roofs at each story.

• COFFER
A recessed, usually square or octagonal panel in a ceiling, often used to lighten the weight of a
dome.
 OBJECT, TEXTURE RELATED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• HIPPED ROOF • PEDIMENT
A roof with four sloped sides. The A decorative triangular piece
sides meet at a ridge at the centre of situated over a portico, door,
the roof two of the sides are window, fireplace, etc. the space
trapezoidal in shape, while the inside the triangular piece is called
remaining two sides are triangular the “Tympanum”, and is often
and thus meet the ridge at its end- decorated.
points.

• MANSARD ROOF • QUOINS

A four-sided hipped roof featuring Large, prominent masonry units
two slopes on each side, the lower outlining win. Dows, doorways,
slopes being very steep, almost segments and corners of buildings.
vertical and the upper slopes
sometimes being so horizontal that
they are not visible from the ground.