GEE M.

MAGMANLAC
COMPREHENSIVE COURSE
BS ARCHITECTURE 5
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
DICTIONARY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION by Cyril M. Harris
1. PILASTER STRIP / LESENE same as pilaster mass but usually applied to
slender piers of slight projection; in medieval architecture and derivatives,
often joining an arched corbel table.
2. HAUNCH the middle part between the crown and the springing of an arch;
the part of a beam projecting beneath a roof slab
3. WELSH ARCH a small flat arch consisting only a keystone supported on
each side by two projecting stretchers that are shaped to fit keystone
4. PALLADIAN MOTIF, SERLIAN MOTIF, VENETIAN MOTIF a door or
window opening in three parts, divided by posts, with a lintel flat over each
side but arched over the center
5. SEVERY one bay or compartment in a vaulted ceiling or structure in a
vaulted ceiling or structure
6. OGEE ROOF a roof whose section is an ogee
7. THOLOS in Greek architecture, any round building; the corbeled, domed
tombs of the Mycenaean period
8. CULT TEMPLE a temple devoted to the worship of a divinity, as
distinguished from a mortuary temple
9. BUTTRESS an exterior mass of masonry set at an angle to or bonded into a
wall ehich it strengthens or supports
10.STUPA a Buddhist memorial mound, erected to enshrine a relic or to
commemorate a sacred site
11.ROSTRAL COLUMN - a column, in honor of a naval triumph, ornamented
with the rostra or prows of ships
12.SARCOPHAGUS an elaborate coffin for an important personage, of terracotta, wood, stone, metal, or other material, decorated with painting, carving,
etc. and large enough to contain a body
13.SPHINX in Egyptian antiquity, a figure having the body of a lion and a male
human head, or an animal head; commonly placed in avenues leading to
temples or tombs
14.KIOSK - a small pavilion, usually open, built in gardens and parks
15.OBELISK a monumental, four-sided stone shaft, usually monolithic and
tapering to a pyramidal tip
16.ANTECHAMBER a room preceding a chamber
17.LAMASSU the monumental human-headed, winged bulls that guarded the
entrances to Mesopotamian palaces and temples
18.PLINTH a square or rectangular base for column, pilaster, or door framing
19.DODECASTYLE having twelve columns in the front row; said of buildings of
classical type
20.GLYPH a groove or channel, usually vertical, intended as an ornament
21.ECHINUS the convex projecting molding of eccentric curve supporting the
abacus of the Doric capital
22.CYMA REVERSA a molding of double curvature which is convex at the
outer edge and concave at the inner edge

GEE M. MAGMANLAC
COMPREHENSIVE COURSE
BS ARCHITECTURE 5
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
23.ACANTHUS a common plant of the Mediterranean, whose leaves, stylized,
from the characteristic decoration of capitals of Corinthian and Composite
orders
24.CYMA RECTA a molding of double curvature which is concave at the outer
edge and convex at the inner edge
25.FRIEZE the middle horizontal member of a classical entablature, above the
architrave and below the cornice
26.SEKOS in ancient Greece, a shrine or sanctuary; a building which only the
specially privileged might enter
27.ROTUNDA a circular hall in a large building, esp. one covered by a cupola
28.MEGARON- the principal hall of a Mycenaean palace, consisting of a squarish
room with a hearth in the center and a porch of columns in antis
29.CULINA in ancient Rome, a kitchen
30.KERKIS in an ancient Greek theatre, one of the wedge-shaped sections of
seating of the theatre, divided by radiating staircase
31.BALTEUS the band in the middle of the bolster of an Ionic capital
32.FRIGIDARIUM the cold section of a Roman bath, sometimes including a
swimming pool
33.MACELLUM a Roman meat or produce market in a covered hall
34.PLATEA in ancient Rome, a wide passageway or a wide street
35.APSIDIOLE a small apsidal chapel, esp. one projecting from an apse
36.AISLE a longitudinal passage between sections of seats in an auditorium or
church
37.SCRIPTORIUM a writing room; specifically, the room assigned in a
monastery for the copying of manuscripts
38. CLOISTER a covered walk surrounding a court, usually linking a church to
other buildings of a monastery
39.CATHEDRA the bishops throne, set at the end of apse in Early Christian
church
40.TRIFORIUM in medieval church architecture, a shallow passage above the
arches of the nave and choir and below the clerestory; characteristically
opened into the nave
41.GROIN the ridge, edge, or curved line formed by the intersection of the
surfaces of two intersecting vaults
42.POSTERN a minor, often inconspicuous, entry; small door near a large one;
any small door or gate esp. one far from the main gate in a fortified place
43.BRATTICE in medieval fortifications, a tower or bay of timber construction
44.TURRET a diminutive tower, characteristically corbeled from a corner
45.TREFOIL a three-lobed, cloverleaf pattern
46.NICHE a recess in a wall, usually to contain sculpture or an urn; often
semicircular in plan, surmounted by a half dome
47.CELTIC CROSS a cross with a long vertical shaft and short horizontal arms,
and with a circle struck from their intersection, joining all four
48.MANDORLA an aureole, almond-shaped, depicted around the full form of a
sacred person

GEE M. MAGMANLAC
COMPREHENSIVE COURSE
BS ARCHITECTURE 5
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
49.TORII a monumental; freestanding gateway to a Shinto shrine, consisting of
two pillars with a straight crosspiece at the top and lintel above it, usually
curving upward
50.FLEURON the small flower at the center of each side of the Corinthian
abacus; any small flower-like ornament in general