Architectural Terminology
By: Jose Mijares
Arch
A structural devise, curved in shape, to span an opening by means of wedge-shaped bricks or stones (voussoirs) that support each other by exerting mutual pressure and that are buttressed at the sides.
Buttress
A projecting mass of masonry serving to provide additional strength for the wall as it resists the lateral thrust exerted by an arch or vault. Plying Buttress: in a church, a buttress in the form of an arch, or set of arches, that carries the thrust of a nave vault over the side aisle roofs down to a massive external pier.
Bracket
Any horizontally projecting support for an overhanging weight, as a corbel, cantilever, or console.
Column
A vertical, usually cylindrical, support, commonly consisting of a base, shaft, and capital; in Classical archtecture, its parts are governed by proportional rules.
Chair Rail
Cornice of a continuous pedestal-like arrangement around the walls of a room, called dado-rail.
Chimney
a structure, usually vertical, containing a passage or flue by which the smoke, gases, etc., of a fire or furnace are carried off and by means of which a draft is created
Column Capital
It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface.
Corbel
A masonry block projecting from a wall to support a superincumbent element.
Cupola
A small structure projecting above a roof that provides ventilation and can serve as a "look-out."
Dormer
A small structure that projects from a sloping roof, with a window in the façade face.
Eaves
The projecting overhang at the lower edge of a roof.
Façade
The exterior faces of a building, often used to refer to the wall in which the building entry is located.
Fanlight
A half-circle window, often with sash bars arranged like the ribs of a fan.
Finial
it is a decorative device, typically carved in stone, employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a dome, spire, tower, roof, or gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure.
Floor Plan
a drawing to scale of the arrangement of rooms on one floor of a building.
Fluting
The shallow concave channels cut vertically into the shaft of a column or pilaster. In Doric columns, they meet in a sharp edge (arris); in Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite columns, they are separated by a narrow strip.
Frieze
A horizontal band, sometimes painted or decorated with sulpture or moldings. It may run along the upper portion of a wall just beneath a cornice or it may be that part of a classical entablature that lies between the architrave and cornice. A Doric frieze often has continuous relief sculpture.
Lintel
It can be a load-bearing building component, a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item.
Masonry
A type of construction using stone, brick, tile or concrete block using mortar.
Molding
A sculpted, ornamental band, carved with a distinctive profile or pattern; highly developed in Classical architecture.
Mullion
A slender upright dividing an opening, usually a window, into two or more sections.
Parapet
A low wall for protection at the edge of a balcony, terrace, roof, bridge, etc.
Pediment
A triangular space formed by the raking cornices (sloping sides) and horizontal cornice of a gabled temple; also used above a door or window. If the apex or base is split, the pediment is described as broken.
Pendant
An ornamental piece of wood or metal hanging down from a porch, cornice or bracket.
Pilaster
A column is flattened, rectangular shape, projecting slightly form the face of the wall.
Pillar
A support column without classical detailing.
Porch
A roofed space outside the mains support walls of a building.
Portico
An open, colonnaded, roofed space serving as a porch before the entrance to a building.
Quoins
Large stone or block laid at the corner of a building (or at an opening) used either for reinforcement of the angle or for ornament.
Rafters
The wooden structural support beams for a roof, sometimes visible on the exterior for certain building types and styles.
Roof
Roofs can be steep, flat or gently sloped and take many forms, gable, gambrel, hipped, stepped gable, shed, pent or Mansard. The roof type is an important key to identifying the style of a building.
Sill
The flat horizontal bottom piece of a window or door, often of wood, but sometimes of stone.
Stoop
The uncovered wide step leading into the front or main door of a building.
Stucco
A thin coating of plaster applied over exterior walls.
Tower
A tall structure,either square or round in shape, rising higher than the rest of the building.
Transom Light
A flat, glass panel above a door, usually multi-paned.
Wainscot
The wainscot is the wood covered lower portion of an interior wall, usually topped by a chair rail. A wooden wainscot can be plain or paneled with a patten of raised wooden trim.