Glossary of Architectural Terms

Arcade

A series of arches carried on columns.

Atrium

An open courtyard surrounded by a building, or a covered entrance hall.

Buttress

A masonry or brickwork projection that strengthens a building.

Clerestory

The part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts.

Cornice

A decorative projection along the top of wall.

Cupola

The element placed at the roof ridge to provide light or ventilation; common to barns.

Dimension

A scaled measurement of building elements shown on a drawing.

Dormer

A window placed vertically in a sloping roof.

Facade

The side of a building emphasized architecturally, usually the front of a building.

Flute, or Fluting

Vertical channeling, roughly semicircular in cross section and used principally on columns.

Footing

The bottom element that anchors a wall or column to the ground.

Fall

A building’s principal room, or sometimes the principal building in a complex

Head

The top of a door, window, or other opening.

Jamb

The side of a door, window, or opening

Joist

A timber stretched from wall-to-wall to support a floor above.

Keystone

The central, uppermost element in an arch.

Loggia

A covered space or building open on one or more sides with arcades or colonnades.

Molding

In architecture, a continuous, narrow surface designed to break up a wider surface as an accent or decoration.

Pillar

A column

Pitch

The slope of a ramp or roof

Plotter

A printer used to print drawings on large sheets of paper.

Portico

A covered entrance to a building

Rafter

The beams that form the support for a roof.

Rendering

A detailed artistic drawing that shows the anticipated final appearance of a building.

Rose Window

The large, circular window with tracery and stained glass that is frequently used in the facades of Gothic churches.

Rotunda

A round building, or large round room.

Scale

A reduced-size proportion used with drawings and models to represent the true size of a building or design (for example: 1/4” = 1’ , 1’ = 20’, etc.).

Sustainable Architecture

Architecture that includes environmentally conscious design techniques.

Truss

A framework of beams attached in a manner to brace each other and to form a single structural element.

Tracing

A way to duplicate a drawing by following lines seen through a transparent medium such as paper vellum.

Vellum

A durable, high-quality paper used for drawing and printing.