Vocabulary
A mat used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms.
Tatami
Classic Greek, Propylaea (?????, 437 BCE)
Athens
A type of building that has (but not limited to) a rectangular shape and a central nave flanked by two or more longitudinal aisles.
Basilica
????????, Painted Caves (Lascaux, 20,000-10,000 BCE)
Prehistoric
A type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward sloping sides, constructed out of mudbricks or limestone.
Mastaba
A type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders.
Cyclopean Masonry
Hindu, Meenakshi Temple (?????, from 700 CE)
Madurai
A monumental gate of an Egyptian temple.
Pylon
???????????, The Pyramids at Giza
Old Kingdom Egypt
One of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with un-fluted columns and a simpler entablature with no triglyphs or guttae.
Tuscan Order
A building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them.
Trabeation
Chinese, Hall of Supreme Harmony (?????, 15th c.)
Beijing
In ancient Greek architecture, is a covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use.
Stoa
?????????, Portonaccio Temple (Veii, 515-490 BCE)
Etruscan
????????, Angkor Wat (Cambodia, c. 1120 CE)
Hindu
Optical correction used in architecture to give the illusion of strength and stability to a column, spire, or other upright member.
Entasis
Byzantine, Hagia Sofia (???????, 532-37)
Constantinople
An architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them.
Triglyph
??????????, Sant’ Apollonare in Classe (Ravenna, 532-49)
Byzantine
Byzantine, San Vitale (??????????, 538-48)
Ravenna
A technical treatise on architecture and craftsmanship written by the ancient Chinese author Li Jie, the Directorate of Buildings and Construction during the mid Song Dynasty of China.
Yingzao-Fashi
Russian, St. Basil the Blessed (??????, 1555-60)
Moscow
The word for the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah.
Qibla
????????, Masjid-i-Shah (Isfahan, Iran, 1611-1630)
Islamic
Islamic, Mosque of Süleyman the Magnificent (??????????, 1550-57)
Istanbul