Architectural Word of the Day; 241 - 250

CHEVET

The east end of an abbey or cathedral distinguished by radiating chapels protruding from the apse.










 

PLATE TRACERY

An early Gothic adaptation for rose windows, plate tracery gives the appearance of perforations through a thin stone slab in an otherwise solid wall.

The West front of Chartres Cathedral provides an amazing example, exceeding 12 metres across.

CROSSETTE

The horizontal projection of a voussoir that rests upon an adjacent stone.








DOUGONG, TOU KUNG

A Chinese tradition of timber framing, consisting of a complex system of interlocking, corbeled joined bracketing allowing the rafters and eaves to be cantilevered well beyond the supporting columns.

ENRICHMENT

Embellishment with ornament, well...just because.

LANCET

A narrow pointed arch typically utilized for open, blind or glazed windows. The lancet can be arranged in an infinite possibility of widths that facilitates a rhythmic composition.

GUILLOCHE

The linear pattern of two or more interlacing bands that create a series of circular openings. A prominent feature of COSMATESQUE work, an intricate style of marble, glass and stone inlay dominated by the Cosmati family of 12th and 13th century Italy.

Contributed by Patrick Webb

Architectural Word of the Day; 231 - 240

INTERSECTING ARCADE


A series of intersecting arches, crossing on the same plane, resting on alternating column supports.




 









INTERLACING ARCADE

A series of arches resting on the same plane but that visually appear to overlap. Both interlacing and intersecting arches are a common decorative feature of Norman Romanesque architecture.

BARTIZAN

The projecting turrets of a fortification placed at the corners and near entrances, with machiolations and meurtrières for defensive purposes.

VASTUPURUSAMANDALA

A combined Sanskrit expression to describe the architecture of the ancient Hindu, Buddhist, Jain temple complex. VASTU denotes the 'physical site', including placement and orientation. PURUSA refers to the 'spirit, soul or essence' of the place. MANDALA embodies the 'form' manifesting the concepts of the 'circle, unity and the universe' enclosed by the square plan.

TROMPE

A truncated vault utilized in lieu of brackets or corbels as a support structure for a projecting architectural feature, permitting a change of vertical plane.












SIKHARA

Sanskrit for "mountain peak", the great tower of the Hindu temple complex, typically having a convex taper towards the crowning great stone disc or AMALAKA, inspired by the shape of a local fig variety and symbolic of the sun and the heavenly realm.

SQUINCH

An alternative to the pendentive, the conical or arcuated corbelling placed in the corners of a square plan to support the cylindrical or octagonal drum above, whilst at the same time resolving the smaller drum to the walls or piers below.

CASTRUM DOLORIS

Latin for the "Castle of Grief", a memorial structure raised to offer a measure of protection from the elements of the CATAFALQUE or raised bier of the deceased.

Contributed by Patrick Webb

Architectural Word of the Day; 221 - 230

CHAMBRANLE

The particularly enriched frame enclosing a door, window or fireplace. The horizontal top piece or lintel is called the TRANSVERSE whilst the vertical supporting members are called the MONTANTS or ASCENDANTS.


 


 


BATTLEMENT

A parapet featuring MERLONS, upright defensive extensions of a fortification alternated with lower, open intervals called CRENELS. Such a parapet or battlement is said to be 'Crenelated'.

BARGEBOARD

In a traditional timber frame building an oft elaborately carved and ornamented fascia board that hangs down from the projecting gable so as to mask and protect the otherwise exposed purlins supporting the roof.












NOGGIN, DWANG

In timber frame construction Noggin or Dwang refers to the horizontal bracing pieces rebated between the vertical wall studs.

Noggin can also refer to the brick masonry infill between timbers, occasionally left exposed, more often parged (stuccoed).

Contributed by Patrick Webb

Architectural Word of the Day; 211 - 220

SCISSOR, STRAINER ARCH

As far as I'm aware, Wells Cathedral is the only example. Not part of the original design, it was added almost 160 years after initial construction to stabilize a sagging tower on the verge of collapse.









STUPA

The sacred burial mound architecture of Buddhist architecture typically enclosing sacred relics and providing a means for circumambulation and meditation. The main features correspond anthropomorphically to the seated posture of the Buddha as well as the 5 purified elements:

Earth - the square base

Water - the dome

Fire - the upper stone fence

Air - the pole of the umbrella

The Void (Space) - The umbrella itself

PORTCULLIS

Of French origin, Portcullis quite literally means the "sliding door" referencing the defensive grating of iron and heavy timber lowered between the grooved jambs of a stone opening.

MACHICOLATION

Machicolation means the "breaking of the neck" describing the floor openings or "murder holes" between corbeled overhangs through which rocks, hot oil and all manner of nasty things might be dropped upon a besieging force.

MEURTRIÉRE

"The Murderess". A slender opening that allowed for the launch of projectiles with the least exposure, the most common form being an arrowslit.


RAMPANT ARCH

An arch formed along an inclined plane where one impost sits higher than another. The rampant vault would include the ceiling thus formed.

HALF TIMBERING

A building exposing its timber frame as the principal means of structural support with masonry & plaster or wattle & daub infill. In long lasting examples the ground floor was composed of masonry construction so as to provide a suitable water table and the timber framing began on the first floor, hence the description "half" timbering.

PARAPET

A low guard wall or screened railing at the edge of a roof or terrace.

RAMPART

A defensive wall of earth, stone or combination thereof. Originally dating to the 17th century, parts of the Quebec City rampart, particularly the gates have been rebuilt more than once. It is the only remaining walled city in North America.

Contributed by Patrick Webb

Architectural Word of the Day; 191 - 200

NEWEL 

The post at the head, foot or landing of a stair to which the handrail is attached and supported. When there exists immaculate taste and a love of craftsmanship they can get quite elaborate.









 


QUADRIVIUM

In a classical liberal arts program these are the "four paths" of the higher mathematical studies and search for truth. 

In our modern, hyper-rational educational system a disproportionate emphasis is placed on the purely conceptual approach to number, the least instinctive and humanistic of the four and why most students dread math in my opinion (Polynomial long division anyone?)


ARITHMETIC - the all to familiar number in concept

GEOMETRY - number in space

HARMONY - number in time or sequence

COSMOLOGY - the dynamic study of number in time and space



VESICA PISCIS, MANDORLA

The upright almond shape formed by the two radial arcs, each passing through each other's centre. The shape has held sacred meaning at least since Egyptian times and geometrically is the key to unlocking several regular polygons, the golden section and other fundamental spatial forms.

 




CHEVRON

A V-shaped stripe of ornamentation forming a zig-zag pattern, the best examples of which were employed during the Norman period, the name for Romanesque architecture of 11th and 12th century England.

 

FANLIGHT, SUNBURST

The semi-circular, sometimes semi-elliptical window above a doorway characterized by radiating muntins.

If you look carefully, this recognizable example quite literally, if subtlety stylizes the rays of the sun.

PANACHE

The French word for 'plume', panache came to be used for flamboyance and reckless courage, manifested in architecture as the highly decorated triangular surface of a pendentive.

Simona Albanese captured this amazingly detailed photo at the basilica Sant'Andrea della Valle when it was under renovation.

MOON GATE

A circular portal, typically leading to a garden courtyard in traditional Chinese architecture.

Contributed by Patrick Webb

Architectural Word of the Day; 201 - 210

ATTICURGE

A doorway having the jamb inclined inwards from the threshold to the top. A common feature of Mycenaean, Incan and Roman architecture it made its way back prominently into classical architecture as an Egyptian Revival style.









ZELLIGE

The particularly Moroccan tradition of geometric tile mosaic. Each of the myriad terra cotta pieces are cut by hand, glazed and fired. Layouts are made according to sacred geometric principles, in tri-, quatre- and cinque-fold arrangements.

Typical of zellige geometric layout is an infinite web that could extend infinitely beyond the border. This is a visible symbol of the infinite, uncentralized, nature of the universe, a implication of deep, underlying spiritual order without iconography.

BUTTRESS

With the introduction of radial arches, vaults and domes came the structural necessity for buttresses, attached supportive masses built along the lines of introduced lateral thrust through which the load is transferred to the ground.







ONION DOME

A dome of ogee profile in section that turns back upon itself on the bottom, thus giving a bulbous character to the dome which terminates at a point. Ubiquitously associated with the Russian Orthodox church such domes can also be found in Mughal and Islamic architecture.

  
TRUSS

The more or less triangular arrangement of support for a gabled roof, traditionally a combination of timber members form the rigid framework.











RIAD

An Arabic word for "garden", the Riad has come to describe an urban villa prominently featuring an interior, open courtyard with a pool or fountain and often mosaic floors. This Domus Italica tradition was established in North Africa during the days of Imperial Rome.

The inward facing design features thick adobe walls with little to no outside windows. Private rooms open off of colonnaded galleries with communal spaces in the courtyard below and a rooftop terrace above. The design is ideal for hot, dry climates providing privacy, security and comfort.

MULLION, TRANSOM, MUNTIN

Primarily applied to windows but also terminology applicable to doors and portals. The MULLION forms the primary vertical divisions and support for the opening whereas the TRANSOM provides the secondary horizontal structural support and is also a term used for the bar separating a door below from a window above.

The MUNTINS are smaller members that secure the individual lights or panes of glass and may have any orientation.

"Rycharde Dale carpeder made thies windovs by the grac of God"
Awesome quote!!




SENSUS COMMUNIS

A shared community of taste. A subjective yet universal judgement of what ought to be considered beautiful or sublime. Not an aesthetic that can be legislated or fully determined by reason it occurs naturally in a society where experience and feeling are valued and cultivated.

Contributed by Patrick Webb

Architectural Word of the Day; 181 - 190

RUBBED, GAUGED

Rubbed and gauged brickwork is the highest artistic expression of the medium and craft. Appropriate bricks are fired at low heat, made of the finest clay, sieved of any rocks.

They are then hand "gauged" or cut to the appropriate shape with axes, saws, rasps etc. and subsequently "rubbed" to a precise fit and finish against a harder rubbing stone.

SPIRAL COLUMN, SALOMÓNICA

A column whose shaft is twisted and often enriched with running vines. Having a purported origin from the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, the spiral column is often found as the support of the canopy over the high altar of a Catholic church. 

HEMICYCLIUM, GNOMON
A hemicyclium is one form of an ancient sundial in the form of a concave quarter sphere or more accurately conic section.

The shadow casting rod or "gnomon" is oriented so that it points north and is parallel to the rotation axis of the Earth, marking the surface of the hemicyclium.

MUQARNAS

Highly detailed, corbeled arches or vaults unique to Islamic architecture.

The appearance is intentionally designed to stylize stalactites in symbolism of Muhammad having received his revelation from Allah, by means of the angel Gabriel in the Cave of Hira outside of Mecca.

 

TESSELLATION, TESSERAE

An ornamental mosaic composed of small cubes of coloured marble, glass or tile called 'tesserae', Latin for 'dice'.

This guilloche patterned example from the Roman port city of Ostia is about two thousand years old.

GORGONEION

Gorgons were seen as simultaneously endowed with beauty and terror, the writhing snakes of their hair, a symbol of fertility and a talisman against evil influences.

The name of the iconic gorgon, "Medusa" literally means "protector". The head of the Medusa was utilized as a symbol of royal "aegis", shield or protection.

 

 

 Contributed by Patrick Webb

Architectural Word of the Day; 171 - 180

VOUSSOIR

The individual wedge-shaped arch stones or bricks whose converging sides are cut according to one or more radii depending on the type of arch or vault.

CONSONANCE

Repetition with variation. This echo in the parts of what manifests in the whole or climax is well exemplified in the minor domes of Santa Maria del Fiore which prepare the viewer for Brunelleschi's great dome that would otherwise overwhelm the composition.

DIOCLETIAN, THERMAL WINDOW

A large semi-circular window typically divided by two mullions or alternatively four mullions into an odd number of compartments. The core of the Thermae commissioned by the Roman Emperor Diocletian is largely preserved, windows included, within the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli.






MASHRABIYA, SHANASHEEL

An oriel balcony of Islamic architecture typically projecting over the street that features elaborately carved screens allowing for the passage of light and air while offering privacy.

The design was maintained and incorporated into Western architecture on the Iberian peninsula and subsequently in Latin America such as the early 20th century example of the Archbishop's Palace in Lima, Peru.

 

FLAMBOYANT

Flame On!
The Flamboyant (French for "flaming") later period of predominantly French Gothic architecture characterized by flowing, ogee window traceries resembling flickering flames.

ENFILADE

French for "to thread" (as in a needle), architecturally it refers to a suite of rooms directly connected, the doors aligned along a common axis. Frequently employed in palace architecture of the Baroque period, guests would be escorted to the farthest room their rank would permit.

OGEE

A compound curve combining a concave and convex curve in a continuous line, otherwise referred to as an S-curve. They are often used to form moulding profiles, arches, roofs or a tracery as in this handsome circa 1923 Gothic Revival example I saw recently at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA.





ROSE WINDOW

A large, circular window often placed in the gable of a church or cathedral, with tracery laid out in a radial pattern and an interior window of stained glass.

This Norman church in Kent, England features the most amazing of grotesque ornamentation.

Contributed by Patrick Webb