Flashcards: Architectural elements

A distribution board (also known as panelboard, breaker panel, or electric panel) is a component of an electricity supply system that divides an electrical power feed into subsidiary circuits, while providing a protective fuse or circuit breaker for each circuit in a common enclosure.

A pyramidion (plural pyramidia) is the uppermost piece or capstone of an Egyptian pyramid or obelisk, in archaeological parlance.

In architecture, a bay is the space between architectural elements, or a recess or compartment.

A chimney is a structure that provides ventilation for hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere.

A flat roof is a roof which is almost level in contrast to the many types of sloped roofs.

Mihrab (Arabic: محراب‎‎ miḥrāb, pl. محاريب maḥārīb) is a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying.

Trompe-l'œil (French for "deceive the eye", pronounced [tʁɔ̃p lœj]) is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions.

A wheelchair ramp is an inclined plane installed in addition to or instead of stairs.

A fountain (from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), a source or spring) is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air to supply drinking water and/or for a decorative or dramatic effect.

A foundation (or, more commonly, foundations) is the element of an architectural structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads from the structure to the ground.

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches.

A sundial is a device that tells the time of day by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky.

A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor.

A gabion (from Italian gabbione meaning "big cage"; from Italian gabbia and Latin cavea meaning "cage") is a cage, cylinder, or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping.

In architecture the capital (from the Latin caput, or "head", Greek kapita) forms the topmost member of a column (or a pilaster).

Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame.

In architecture, an atrium (plural versions: atria in Latin or atriums in American English) is a large open air or skylight covered space surrounded by a building.

The muqarnas (Arabic: مقرنص‎‎; Persian: مقرنس‎‎) are a form of architectural ornamented vaulting, the "geometric subdivision of a squinch, or cupola, or corbel, into a large number of miniature squinches, producing a sort of cellular structure", sometimes also called "honeycomb" vaults from their resemblance to these.

A pier, in architecture, is an upright support for a structure or superstructure such as an arch or bridge.

A cornice (from the Italian cornice meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns a building or furniture element— the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the top edge of a pedestal or along the top of an interior wall.

Thin-shell structures are also called plate and shell structures.

In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assemblage as a whole behaves as a single object".

A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide stability or support.

A terrace is an external, raised, open, flat area in either a landscape (such as a park or garden) near a building, or as a roof terrace on a flat roof.

A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall.

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below.

A curtain wall system is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep the weather out and the occupants in.

The purpose of Minarets in traditional Eastern region Architecture is to serve as a ventilation system for a building in very hot climate.

A stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs is a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps.

A cantilever is a rigid structural element, such as a beam or a plate, anchored at only one end to a (usually vertical) support from which it is protruding.

Ironwork is any weapon, artwork, utensil or architectural feature made of iron especially used for decoration.

The bell gable (Spanish: espadaña, Catalan: espadanya, French: clocher-mur, Italian: campanile a vela) is an architectural element crowning at the upper end of the wall of church buildings, usually in lieu of a church tower.

A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof.

A roof lantern is a daylighting cupola architectural element.

A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top.

An ambulacrum is an architectural term for the atrium, courtyard, or parvise in front of a basilica that is surrounded by arcades or colonnades, often containing a fountain, and is surrounded by trees.

A Hindu temple is a pancharatha when there are five rathas (on plan) or pagas (on elevation) on the tower of the temple (generally a shikhara).

Dougong (Chinese: 斗拱; pinyin: dǒugǒng; literally: "cap [and] block") is a unique structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, one of the most important elements in traditional Chinese architecture.

A roof garden is a garden on the roof of a building.

Copper has earned a respected place in the related fields of architecture, building construction, and interior design.

A timber roof truss is a structural framework of timbers designed to bridge the space above a room and to provide support for a roof.

This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic (Stone Age) structures.

Plasterwork refers to construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls.

In urban architecture, a stoop is a small staircase ending in a platform and leading to the entrance of an apartment building or other building.