ARCHITECTURAL TERMS | Intermediate Level Vocabulary

What is architecture? Architecture is the art of planning, building, constructing, and designing structures. In this lesson, we are going to learn some professional words linked to architecture.

• Parthenon
  – a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis in Greece. It is built to honor the goddess and patroness Athena. It combines elements of the Doric and Ionic orders. The Parthenon is typically regarded as the pinnacle of architectural evolution of the Doric order, and it was built during the High Classical period.

• colonnade
  – a lengthy sequence row of columns linked by entablature (row of horizontal moldings) which separates each other by an equal distance.

• fenestration
  – refers to the openings that make up the exterior of a building, particularly the windows, doors, skylights, and curtain walls. It could be anything that permits access from the outside to the inside.

• polyhedral
  – a shape widely used in architecture. Pentagon-shaped building.

• capital
  – also called a chapter, forms the topmost member of a column which provides support.

• pilaster
  – a rectangular support that is like a flat column, and where a pier is attached to a wall.

• dentil
  – are a series of decorative tooth-like blocks which are used in forming a molding under cornices.

• entablature
  – It is frequently used to finish off the top of a wall where columns are not present.

• zoophorus
  – an Ancient Greek term for a decorative frieze with a continuous bas-relief that is located between the architrave and cornice.

• coplanarity
  – a rectangular opening, such as a door or window, that is framed by a molded or ornamented band.

• architrave
  – a rectangular opening, such as a door or window, that is framed by a molded or ornamented band.