Midterm Vocab Architecture Flashcards
(152 cards)
Aisle
The portion of a basilica flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of columns or piers
Abacus
The uppermost portion of the capital of a column, usually a thin slan
Altar frontal
A decorative panel on the front if a church altar
Altarpiece
A panel, painted or sculpted, situated above and behind an altar
Ambulatory
A covered walkway, outdoors (as in a church cloister) or indoors; especially the passageway around the apse and choir of a church
Amphiprostyle
A classical temple plan in which the columns are placed across both the front and back but not along the sides
Amphitheater
Greek, “double theater.” A Roman building type resembling two Greek theaters put together. The Roman amphitheater features a continuous elliptical cavea around a central arena
Antae
The molded projecting ends of the walls forming the pronaos or opisthodomos of an ancient Greek temple
Apse
A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building, commonly found at the east end of a church.
Arcade
A series of arches supported by piers or columns
Arch
A curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks (voussoirs) that transmit the downward pressure laterally.
Architrave
The lintel or lowest division of the entablature; also called the epistyle
Archivolt
The continuous molding framing an arch. In Romanesque and Gothic architecture, one of the series of concentric bands framing the tympanum
Armature
The crossed, or diagonal, arches that form the skeletal framework of a Gothic rib vault.
Ashlar masonry
Carefully cut and regularly shaped blocks of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar
Atrium
The central reception room in a Roman house that is partly open to the sky. Also the open, colonnaded court in front of and attached to a Christian basilica
Baldacchino
A canopy on columns, frequently build over an altar
Baptistery
In Christian architecture, the building used for baptism, usually situated next to a church
Base
In ancient Greek architecture, the molded projecting lowest part of Iconic and Corinthian columns
Basilica
In Roman architecture, a public building for legal and other civic proceedings, rectangular in plan with an entrance usually on a long side. In Christian architecture, a church somewhat resembling the Roman basilica, usually entered from one end and with an apse at the other
Bay
The space between two columns, or one unit in the nave arcade of a church; also, the passageway in an arcuated gate
Beam
A horizontal structural member that carries the load of the superstructure of a building; a timber lintel
Blind arcade
An arcade having no true openings, applied as decoration to a wall surface
Buttress
An exterior masonry structure that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or a vault.