Midterm

Question 1

Rustication

Answer 1

Stone cut in such a way that the joints are sunk in some sort of cannel, the faces of the stones projecting beyond them

Question 2

Plan

Answer 2

Horizontal section, drawn to scale, through a building showing the arrangement of rooms, etc.

Question 3

Elevation

Answer 3

Accurate geometrical projection, drawn to scale, of a building’s facade or any other visible external or internal part on a plane vertical (at a right angle) to the horizontal

Question 4

Column

Answer 4

Detached, slender vertical structural element. In classical orders, a column consists of a base, shaft, and capital

Question 5

Pediment

Answer 5

Low-pitched triangular gable following the roof-slopes over a portico or facade in Classical architecture

Question 6

Cornice

Answer 6

Crowning projecting moulded horizontal top of a building or part of a building. In classical architecture, it is the uppermost division of a classical entablature

Question 7

Arch

Answer 7

Construction made of truncated wedge-shaped blocks that by mutual pressure stay in place, set out in a curved form to span an opening and carry a superimposed load

Question 8

Pilaster

Answer 8

Square or rectangular pier formed by the thickening of the end of a wall. Purely for aesthetic purposes and often have all elements of a classical order column

Question 9

Vaulting

Answer 9

An elongated arch covering a space, or a structure composed of various curved elements in various combinations. Primarily a ceiling over a space but it may also be a roof

Question 10

Storey

Answer 10

Volume between the floors of a building or between its floors and roof.

Question 11

Bays

Answer 11

Regular structural subdivision of a building defined by the buttresses, piers, and vaults with windows inserted into the curtain-wall of each bay

Question 12

Gothic

Answer 12

• Also called pointed
• Evolved late 12th century to 16th century in Europe
• Pointed arch, pointed rib vaults, piers with clusters of shafts, deep buttresses, window tracery, pinnacles, spires, battlements, and a soaring verticality

Question 13

Classical

Answer 13

• Derived from Greek and Roman precedents resemblant of authoritative excellence
• Columns, rounded arches, pediments, porticos

Question 14

Modern

Answer 14

• 20th century movement cutting all architectural links with the past
• Function, honest expression of structure and materials
• Steel, glass, and reinforced concrete with little ornamentation

Question 15

Postmodern

Answer 15

• Styles in reaction to Modernism and associated with a loss of faith in ‘progress, ‘rationality’ and ‘scientific approaches’
• Often draws on elements that are not themselves archaeologically or historically accurate but make vague references to once-familiar motifs like classical orders

Question 16

Transom

Answer 16

Horizontal element framed across a window, generally used during the Gothic period and commonly found in the grid-tracery of Elizabethan and Jacobean houses, dividing the window-aperture into lights framed by bars forming the mullions and transoms

Question 17

Voussoir

Answer 17

Blocks normally in the shape of a wedge, forming part of a structure of an arch or vault, its sides coinciding with the radii of the arch

Question 18

Keystone

Answer 18

Wedge-shaped key-block at the crown of an arch to consolidate it

Question 19

Brutalism

Answer 19

• Mid 20th century style
• Exposed rough concrete finishes, chunky/blocky forms

Question 20

Gable

Answer 20

Wall of a building closing the end of a pitched roof

Question 21

Portico

Answer 21

Covered ambulatory consisting of a series of columns places at regular intervals supporting a roof, normally attached as a colonnaded porch to a building, but sometimes forming a separate structure

Question 22

Parapet

Answer 22

Low-wall or barrier at the edge of a balcony, roof, terrace, or anywhere there is a drop, and therefore danger of persons falling

Question 23

Venetian Door and Window (serliana)

Answer 23

Triparte window or door consisting of a central opening with a semi-circular arch over it springing from two entablatures each supported by two columns or pilasters flanking narrower flat-topped openings on either side

Question 24

Balustrade

Answer 24

Row of balusters supporting a hand-rail of a stair or forming a type of parapet

Question 25

High-tech

Answer 25

Late 20th century style expressive of structures, technologies, and services by exposing and emphasizing them, or appearing to do so

Question 26

Loggia

Answer 26

Roofed structure, open on at least one side, essentially a gallery, arcade, or colonnade, affording a protected seating-place with a view

Question 27

Quoin

Answer 27

Angular course of stone, etc. at the corner of a building, used for strength

Question 28

Frieze

Answer 28

Horizontal central band of a classical entablature below the cornice and over the architrave

Question 29

Finial

Answer 29

Boss, crop, cope, knob, or pommel at the top of a spire, usually decorated

Question 30

Buttress

Answer 30

Pier-like projection built either in close connection with a wall needing extra stability, or standing isolated to counter the outward thrust of an arch, vault, or other elements