Is My House Like Molly`s? - Molly Brown House Museum

Is My House Like Molly's?
The Built Environment and You
Is My House Like Molly’s
is a fun way to learn about the buildings you live in, go to school in and
play in. To talk about these buildings you will learn about
Architecture [ahr-ki-tek-cher] which the dictionary says is:
1. the job of designing buildings, parks, cities, and other parts that make up where we live, usually trying
to make it look nice. Architecture often includes picking furniture and decorations, supervision of the
construction work, and the studying and making new of existing buildings.
2. the character or style of building; the architecture of Paris; Romanesque architecture.
3. the action or process of building; construction.
4. the result or product of architectural work such as a building.
5. buildings collectively.
Our environment is all that surrounds us, both natural and man made. The built environment, all the buildings
that we build, is our responsibility, to create and to change. The future of our cities, our quality of life and our
ability to protect the natural environment depends upon us learning to look at what we've built and accept
ownership of it. Only then can we decide what to keep (preserve), what to change and what to build next.
Part 1: Name That Dome!
Let’s lay the foundation of your architectural knowledge with the history of our built environment and
how the basic building techniques and materials have evolved throughout the ages.
Part 2: Form vs. Function?
Now that you know how to speak like an architect, let’s apply that knowledge to the buildings around
you. What style is your own house and the buildings around you? Let’s look at the different
architectural elements that help identify styles such as rooflines, materials, and windows.
Name That Dome!
Can you imagine living in a house without electricity or running water? That taking an indoor bath was a luxury
most people never had? Or, that as the child you had to collect firewood so your mom could cook dinner or boil
the laundry? Let’s take a trip back through time and see how people have lived and worked, what they
considered home, and why the house that “Molly” bought and the house you live in is so amazing…
When Margaret (Molly) and James Joseph Brown purchased their new home at 1340 Pennsylvania Street in
Denver, Colorado, they were happy to have bought a house with all the modern conveniences. When it was
built in 1889, it had electric lights, a telephone, indoor plumbing, which included an indoor bathroom with hot
and cold running water, and forced heat and air. There was also a large, very modern kitchen complete with
both a coal-fueled cook stove and an ice box to keep food cool. It was a large, sturdy house made from local
stone materials– sandstone and rhyolite, which was deposited millions of years ago by volcanic eruption.
Nature provided early humankind with its first shelters. As nomadic man kept on the move, following herds of
wild animals, he relied on what was around him for shelter. If there were trees he could use branches and leaves
to build a shelter. In desert areas they would dig pits in the earth. Caves provided the safest environment of all
and the knowledge of where they were located was very important.
About 8,000 years ago humankind began to control the food supply by planting crop foods and keeping
domestic animals such as goats and cows. This meant that they didn’t have to move around to find food
anymore, and this made a more permanent home possible. Climate (the long-term weather) still decided what
kind of shelter was needed. Available materials (like stone and wood) decided how it was built.
In the temperate climate (changing seasons, not too hot or too cold) of Northern Europe shelter took the form of
stone, earth and timber (wood) structures. To keep warm in the winter, they would move their animals inside
with them, hang skins on the walls and build fires. In hot desert climates such as in Egypt, they built their
houses to stay cool. Thick mud and stone walls would keep out the heat and high ceilings inside meant the
rooms stayed cool. Cooking was done outside and sometimes so was sleeping.
5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia many new ways of living were developed. People lived together in
large groups forming cities. They did this to increase their defenses against nature and other people. Religion (a
belief in gods) was an important part of every day living and newly built churches or temples became the
centerpiece of every city. And, the newly created art of writing helped establish a history of mankind and how
they lived.
Over the next few thousand years, buildings dedicated to a god or king grew larger and more elaborate. Around
the world man was erecting the pyramids in Egypt (2500 BCE), Stonehenge in Neolithic Europe (2,000 BCE),
and cities on top of mountains in Machu Picchu, Peru (1500 BCE). Mankind found ways to use posts, beams,
and lintels to enclose larger spaces than ever before. Yet, it was still massive, solid architecture where the
building itself was larger than the space inside of it; that the “negative” space - the space inside the building for
people to be in was not large enough to have it’s own presence. It was architecture of mass, not space.
Your Turn:
Post-and-Lintel Construction was first seen in ancient Egypt. It is said to come from an early building method
where firmly bound bundles of swamp reeds were used to support roofs in adobe structures. Builders eventually
switched the reeds with stone columns and could enclose very large spaces. Look up post-and-lintel in the
glossary of terms located at the end. What famous structure mentioned above is a good example of post-andlintel construction? Look around your house- how many post-and-lintel examples can you find? (Hint: look at
the doorways and porches.)
500 BCE – 375 CE: The Greeks & Romans
The Greek culture greatly improved the building methods the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians began.
Using mathematical order and giving sculptural beauty to post-and-lintel construction, the Greeks took their
native blue and white marble and created structures that are still copied today. Look at your local courthouse,
bank, or city hall and you’ll probably see a building that looks very much like the Parthenon in Athens, Greece .
Many of the words we use today to describe architectural elements were invented by the Greek people at this
time. They also gave us the three types of columns we see today:
Doric, Corinthian, and Ionic Columns
The column was of great importance to Greek architecture and was an important part of each of the three
orders: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Each had its own set of rules which controlled proportion or the size
relationship of each part to the other.
Greek culture also saw a shift from architecture that served a god or king to architecture that served a more
human purpose. Hellenistic Era Greeks started planning to use the inside space instead of just stressing the
exterior form. They built theaters, offices, and restaurants.
Greek order not only applied to one structure, it was applied to whole cities. Here began the layout of street
grids and traffic flow planning essential to any modern city. Separation of building usage or zoning also began
during this period with separate areas set aside for housing and business. In the era known as Hellenistic,
Greeks also planned housing for those who couldn’t normally afford it.
It was also at this time in architecture that one could look at a domestic structure and actually call it a “house.”
There was typically a wall around the house separating it from the street, and an entrance that opened into the
first of a bunch of rooms that each had its own purpose.
And, what the peoples of Greece improved in architecture, the Romans seem to have perfected. They continued
using the columned building, creating vast buildings for public use- government buildings and temples. Where
the Greeks thought of a building as a separate sculptural piece, the Romans began to blend a building with its
surroundings.
One of the first original contributions the Romans made to architecture was concrete. Wait. Concrete? Yes, the
stuff sidewalks and parking garages are made of. Early concrete was made from a mixture of lime mortar, water
and volcanic dust. The volcanic dust made it stronger compared to earlier attempts at concrete. It wasn’t as
strong as modern concrete and was often covered with marble sheets to make it look more appealing. But
concrete allowed the Romans to build even bigger and better. Especially when used in conjunction with the next
great Roman invention- the arch.
First used by the Etruscans, the original Italian peoples, the arch became an important part of Roman building.
When used with concrete, the arch could enclose vast spaces with less interior support. They used the arch in
their famous aqueduct system that carried water all over the countryside, and it played a key role in civic events
such as triumphant processions and theatre and games.
Your Turn:
What actually keeps an arch from collapsing in? The “key” to an arch is the “keystone” or the voussoir. Look
up voussoir in the glossary. Now draw an arch and color the voussoir a different color. Draw more arches on
either side of your first one; now you have the beginnings of a Roman bridge. Now draw a line across the top
your arches and draw a second row of arches – it’s a Roman aqueduct! Draw a third row of arches; what famous
building in Rome does this look like? (Think gladiators!)
Romans gave domestic architecture an increasing role as home, hearth and family were considered sacred to the
Romans. Their house was the most important part of their life. Large courtyards, fountains, gardens, statues and
brightly painted walls decorated the houses of the wealthy families. Indoor plumbing and heating were
conveniences that could be found in grander homes.
With a population of over one million, not all people of the city of Rome lived quite so well. Public housing
was built in multi-story apartment buildings called insulae. 90% of Rome’s population called an insulae home.
The ground floor was occupied by shops and community toilets used by most of the residents. The upper floors
had the apartments- some quite spacious with private toilets, some with balconies overlooking the inner
courtyard. A Roman apartment would look very similar to a modern apartment building of today.
Public baths were available to all. They were an important part of Roman culture because they acted as a social
center. To heat the water, slaves kept very hot fires burning in underground chambers. The hot air from these
fires was sent through pipes that would heat the pools of water, the walls and floors. Some of these baths could
contain some 1600 bathers at once!
Perhaps the most important contributions of the Romans to architecture were the vault and the dome. The
challenge they faced was how to enclose the largest amount of space without losing any light or having to use
any interior support for the roof. By combining the arch with the continually improved concrete, they first
created a vault called a tunnel or barrel vault which was simply an arch that was really deep. Here, the weight
of the half-cylinder ceiling was carried by the upright post part of the arch – and, if necessary additional wall
support in the form of buttresses. The only support the roof needed now was temporary support until the
concrete hardened. Two barrel vaults can be made to intersect each other forming a cross shape, called a groin
vault. With a groin vault there are four ends to let in light instead of just the two ends in a barrel vault. The
Romans kept improving the vault system by making them bigger and more light-filled.
The dome is also based on the arch. It is simply an arch that is turned around and around. Picture yourself
holding an arch like a spinning top, the handle right above the keystone. Now give it a spin once around. The
shape you just made is a dome! The dome was a shell of concrete that was thicker at the bottom for strength.
Often they left a round hole in the top completely open to let in light. To decrease the weight of the ceiling the
dome would be coffered or have sunken panels. This decreased the thickness in many areas, which decreased
the weight, all without losing strength. A perfect example of the dome in Roman architecture would be the
Pantheon built 118-125 CE. Can you think of other examples of the dome in architecture? How about the
stadium where your favorite sports team plays? One more you could discover would be just a few blocks from
Molly Brown’s house in Denver, Colorado .
375 CE –1400 CE: TheMiddle Ages
When you think of The Middle Ages what comes to mind? Monks bent over manuscripts? Castles filled with
knights and princesses? Soaring Gothic cathedrals? Well, all of those would be correct. For simplicity, we’ll
divide The Middle Ages into three separate periods: Early Medieval, Romanesque and Gothic.
The Early Medieval period is marked as the migration period. After the decline of the Roman Empire, many
different groups of people began migrating from Eurasia and across the Mediterranean and into Western
Europe. Barbarian Huns settled the Danube, Vikings raided across Northern Europe, and the Goths and Vandals
had frequent battles, all creating a society that was ever-changing and confusing. Great, vast forests covered
Northern Europe and those forests provided the people with ready building materials. Though the landscape of
Europe was dotted with the stone architecture of the Roman Empire, timber-frame structures were preferred
for the material’s availability and easy construction.
A typical Northern European timber-frame structure began with a bay; four posts connected horizontally to
form a rectangle. A bay could be multiplied many times over to create structures of almost any size. This bay
was covered with a pitched roof (pointed at the top and sloping down so that snow and rain can not
accumulate.) The roofing material used was usually thatch or tightly packed straw. On some houses the roof
sloped all the way down to the ground, creating an A-frame type house. Others had walls that were stone or
wood covered in straw and mud.
Inside these homes, many things happened. Often many generations of family lived together and right along
with their animals. The floor was packed dirt covered with straw, and the windows were just openings covered
with wood shutters or animal skins. A loft was often built under part of the roof for a sleeping area. In colder
climates, more insulation was needed. More straw was used on the roofs and floors and the fire was the most
important part of the home. Timber-frame structures are still how we build most houses today, though with
many major improvements.
Your turn:
What would your house look like if it was built 1500 years ago? Draw a picture of your house in pencil and
don’t forget to include all the details. Now, grab your eraser. First, let’s erase the windows and in their place
draw some that are half that size and put a wooden door or some skins or fabric on top to replace the glass. If
you have modern parts like porches, decks, and garages you’d better erase those all together. And, no basement,
no satellite dish and no swing set. What else do you need to do to move your house back in time?
After 1000 CE a new millennium dawned and people were happy to have lived through it. The castles and
churches that were the center of life to everyone at this time are now classified as being Romanesque in style.
The features of these buildings were blunt, heavy walls, round arches and an overall blocky appearance and
they had a similar look to ancient Roman architecture. The buildings were groupings of simple, geometric
masses such as rectangles, cylinders and cubes. Many churches had to be rebuilt after the earlier roaming tribes
had attacked villages, often setting fire to the wood-roofed churches.
Do you remember how the Romans used concrete in their construction? Well, concrete had become a lost art to
the Europeans and they had to build their churches and castles entirely out of stone blocks. This meant that the
barrel-vaulted ceilings of fitted, cut stone needed thicker outer walls and larger buttresses to support the
weight of the ceiling. The biggest problem that faced these builders was how to let in more light because
windows would weaken the sidewall structure. The solution evolved over time by adapting a groin vault (two
barrel vaults intersected in a cross shape.)
By the middle of the 1200’s, society had settled down with centralized governments creating order; kings held
supreme power and vast trade routes brought greater commercial wealth. Wandering minstrels sang tales of fair
maidens rescued by powerful knights and monastic schools evolved into the university. All this happened
around the soaring Gothic cathedral, reaching up towards the heavens, a symbol of unity in religion, philosophy
and art.
The first advancement made in Gothic architecture was with the vaulting system. The rib vault was perfected at
this time by using pointed arches crossed at the groin of the vault or where two barrel vaults meet. This system
allowed for greater flexibility in the shape and size of the spaces created and builders could plan better for how
the weight was to be buttressed.
The next advancement made was the use of flying buttresses. These were different from previous buttresses.
Instead of being hidden under the aisle roofs, they were left intentionally exposed and made a decorative part of
the cathedral as well as a support structure. Flying buttresses, used with rib vaults, meant that the thick
Romanesque walls previously used could be reduced to mere skeletal frames for windows and galleries. The
first cathedral built this way was Notre Dame in Paris, France, begun in 1163.
Your turn:
Romanesque architectural elements were used again in Victorian times. These elements were first re-used by
the architect H.H. Richardson on the east coast of the United States. Richardsonian Romanesque became
popular with other architects and was used by William Lang in many Denver houses including the Molly Brown
House Museum. Look at the following photos of the Molly Brown House Museum and pick out the
Romanesque elements.
1400 CE –1750 CE: The Renaissance & Baroque
Can you imagine a family so strong, so wealthy, that they started a cultural revolution? The Medici family of
Florence, Italy was such a family. With their vast wealth and influence, the Medici family helped spark the
Renaissance. But what was the Renaissance? It was a new age of thinking- of new advances in literature, fine
art, law, philosophy, and science. The Medici family gave vast amounts of money as patrons of the arts, set up
scholarships, and spent over $20 million dollars on books over a thirty-year period. Some of the most intelligent
and creative thinkers came out of this period such as Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and
Michelangelo.
Since Italy had a much older culture than the rest of Europe and Roman ruins were everywhere, Gothic
architecture was seen as a passing fad and didn’t take hold. Renaissance architecture in Italy was based on
reason rather than emotion. What guided a builder during this time period were proportion, simple geometric
figures, balance, symmetry, and a return to the Greek Order. They relied on the mathematical principles behind
the architecture to guide their design. The way in which Gothic cathedrals were built (a long, narrow central
seating section or nave) meant that seating was often behind a column, pier, or, on the side aisle which limited
the view of the alter area and the function of the building. Renaissance architects conceived the central-plan
structure to combat this problem. Instead of being cross-shaped, chapels were built as squares or circles. This
plan opened up the view plane with a central focus. This break from traditional Christian building was
questioned, however, since there did not seem to be a logical place for a main altar. Leon Battista Alberti
derived a solution from the shape of the Greek cross (a plus sign shape.) The rectangular bump-outs on the four
sides of the squares allowed space for altars and chapels.
Your turn:
You’ve just read some words that describe design that we need to define. Can you match up the words to the
definition?
Proportion
The total appearance of all the visual elements
Balance
The intended use for a structure / if it works as intended
Symmetry
Arranging the visual elements to achieve unity
Form
The comparative relationship between the parts of a whole
Function
A mirror-like duplication of elements on both sides of a centerline
To span these vast central spaces, domes were also changed. Fillipo Brunelleschi was given the task of finishing
the Florence cathedral and had to cover a 140 ft wide space, too wide for current dome technology. What
Brunelleschi engineered was not the typical hemispherical or half-circle dome, but a dome that has been pulled
up in the center, elongated. This polyhedral dome had a skeleton of 24 ribs sandwiched by a thin shell. He left
8 of the ribs exposed. On the top he put a really heavy lantern. Wait, why did he put something really heavy on
top? Well, the weight of this lantern kept all the sections together, kept them from peeling outwards, so it
stabilized the structure.
But where did the Medicis and families like them live? An Italian palazzo of this time was a very formal affair.
Each story was shorter than the one below using specific rules of proportion. Arches were used, but as wallopenings for windows and doors instead of support. Rusticated stone was used to create dimension on the walls
often getting smoother towards the top. Do any of these elements sound familiar? Maybe Romanesque?
Columns were also used but they were attached to the wall and most didn’t stick out more than a few inches.
We still see buildings like this today, usually in business areas that are used as offices. We call them Italianate
or Renaissance Revival.
You are probably wondering what was happening in the rest of the world at this time. Commerce and the
accumulation of wealth were also happening in Northern Europe. Power truly lay in the middle class or
bourgeoisie, whose life was dominated by the guild system. The guild system controlled the different crafts
such as painting, sculpting, metal-smithing and ceramics. A young boy would apprentice or study with a master.
Next he would become a journeyman traveling from city to city learning new skills. Finally he could become a
master and join the guild. As a master, he was expected to uphold the standards set by the guild.
A very important center in Northern Europe was Flanders. This Dutch area was on an important trade route for
the wool industry. It is at this time that we see the single-family house appear. In a single house, functions were
performed in different rooms instead of all in one great hall. The kitchens were often in the rear of the house.
Physical comfort was important with larger sleeping rooms for the head of the household and spaces for
entertaining. A single-family unit would inhabit this space instead of multiple generations as before. These
houses gave the first real sense of the domestic space as we recognize it today. Timber-frame construction was
still the primary building method with brick and wood enclosures. Architects were for the wealthy and houses
were often built by the family or through a local craftsman. Styles varied from city to city and were called
Vernacular Style.
Gothic architecture was still the primary building style through much of the Renaissance as it was seen as a
classical style for a younger European culture. However, France was influenced by the Italian style and, by the
16th century they were merging the Italian style with French Gothic to create a new French Classicism. Often
the buildings were built in the manner of an Italian palazzo with the typical balanced façade but finished off
with a very ornamented and Gothic roofline filled with turrets and spire. More ornamentation was also added to
the facades with decorative statuary, cartouches, and swags.
Between 1600 and 1750 CE there was the lavishness that was Baroque, and at it’s most extravagant, Rococo,
and the more restrained Neo-Classical . A perfect example of Baroque architecture and the luxury of the time is
the Palace of Versailles in France. Built to replace a hunting lodge, Louis XIV’s Versailles was over a quarter
of a mile long (that’s nearly 4 ½ football fields long) and surrounded by a vast park. Of the more than one
hundred rooms, the most famous is the Hall of Mirrors. This long room overlooks the park and has mirrors set
in the wall and twenty chandeliers hanging from an elaborately painted ceiling.
Just 15 miles away in Paris an example of Neo-Classical architecture was being built at the same time as
Versailles: The Louvre. While one side had been built more than one hundred years earlier, the east façade of
the Louvre marked the new official French taste for government buildings. Looking like a classical Greek
temple with paired columns, pavilions, balustraded roof-line, and decorated pediments, this building firmly
turned away from the up and down style of Gothic with its stately horizontal façade.
Palace of Versailles
1750 CE – 1900 CE: The Birth of the Modern
The birth of the modern world began with the Age of Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason. New advances in
science and philosophy were made as revolutions and population explosions reshaped the world. Travel and war
brought people all around the globe, in contact with new cultures and new styles. Great thinkers such as
Voltaire and Rousseau challenged the rules that governed society. Great scientists such as Locke and Newton
rewrote the laws that governed the universe. And Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution challenged everything.
Peoples and cultures were finding new forms of expression and discovering the power of individual identity.
As modern thinking progressed and individual morality gained importance, a longing for the past grew.
Looking back at the classical Greek and Roman cultures that had morality at their heart, Romanticism was a
style and way of life that embodied the feelings of the past and present. It looked to the past for all forms of
ideal beauty and grand emotion. By combining past styles, architecture became a reflection of thousands of
years of building styles. Neo-Classical reflected Greco-Roman styles with its columns of marble; Neo-Gothic
the church spires reaching towards heaven; and Neo-Baroque the grandeur and riches. It was not unusual to
find an estate house made to look like a Gothic castle surrounded by gardens done in the Chinese manner with a
Greek temple set off in the trees. This eclecticism, a mix of different styles, provided a sense of worldliness and
mystery to people swept up in an ever-expanding world.
Neo-Classical was adopted whole-heartedly in a new country, the United States. Seen as a reflection of the
democratic feelings of this new country, many of the buildings, from capitol buildings to libraries and schools,
reflected a new sense of liberty and justice. Thomas Jefferson, a founding father of the United States, even built
his home Monticello in the Neo-Classical manner.
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
Your turn:
Some very well known structures were built in one of the styles of Romanticism. Find information on each of
the following, then match it with its location and style.
Houses of Parliament
Washington D.C.
Neo-Baroque
United States Capitol
Paris , France
Neo-Gothic
L’Opera
London , England
Neo-Classical
The world, however, would soon outgrow Romanticism. Very quickly, a modern style called Realism was
taking hold. Artists were portraying what was really happening around them instead of a myth or ideal. The
invention of photography in 1839 by Louis J.M. Daguerre and Henry Fox Talbot had much to do with this. The
photograph offered proof of the real human condition and was accessible to all.
What finally pushed the world into the modern era was the Industrial Revolution. As the global market grew
with more colonies needing goods, methods were developed to mass-produce those goods. Scientific
achievements such as the steam engine, the cotton gin, and later, electricity and the telephone allowed
production and communication on a larger scale. The Industrial Revolution also created a new working class.
This new class of workers included all the men, women, and children laboring in the textile mills, pottery
works, and mines. Often skilled artisans found themselves as mere laborers as machines mass - produced the
products they used to make by hand. Wages were small, hours were long, and working conditions unpleasant
and dangerous. So also were the living conditions. The cities grew rapidly as workers moved off their farms and
into the cities to find employment. The factory towns were hovels of poorly built tenements, while the mining
towns had rows of company-built cottages, little more than shelter. The poor living conditions in the towns
could be traced to a lack of good materials, the absence of building codes, and the lack of public sanitation.
Do you remember the Roman insulae or Roman apartment building? With so many people living in the cities,
apartments were necessary. How about that single-family house in Flanders? These two dwelling types were
what people were still living in by the end of the 19th century. Growing cities required complex planning but
they were soon able to accommodate indoor plumbing, maybe not to every apartment, but at least to every floor
and almost every house. More furnishings began to appear along with gas lighting and coal heating. New
machines were being developed to help with the household chores such as vacuums and sewing machines. But
what moved people towards modern living the most would be indoor electricity. Thomas A. Edison wanted to
bring light into every home and factory. He directed the operation of the first central commercial incandescent
electric generating station in the country. It provided electricity to one square mile in New York City in 1882.
The first day it operated only 52 customers wanted electricity. But that would soon change.
Large structures were also used as factories and warehouses. What allowed them to be built many stories tall
was cast iron or wrought iron. Many disastrous fires showed that cast iron wasn’t so strong so they encased the
iron in masonry. As the cities grew, space became more limited and buildings got higher. New materials such as
steel and inventions like the elevator now meant that the sky was the limit, literally, and the skyscraper was
born.
Louis Sullivan, called the first truly modern architect, was the king of the first “tall buildings.” Sullivan’s
mentor was Henry Hobson Richardson . Does that name sound familiar? See where you can find his name
above. Richardson designed buildings using Romanesque design. His Romanesque Revival lent itself to the
skyscraper with massive rows of masonry, arched window openings, and a clean façade. These elements all
stood behind the new support structure of iron or steel framing. Sullivan adapted these methods but went one
step further and left some of the steel structure exposed, allowing it to become decorative. Sullivan’s buildings
expressed the function in its form and his famous saying “form follows function” was born. Architects began
to see that both the exterior and interior design was important; that new materials and a break from tradition
could bring about a new era of building.
1900 CE – Present: 20th Century and Beyond
Twentieth Century architecture saw the complete flexibility of design and materials and, as Frank Lloyd Wright
stated, “the reality of a building was not the container but the space within.” Wright, as an apprentice to Louis
Sullivan, drew his early design inspirations from children’s learning blocks, Japanese architecture and Thomas
Jefferson’s belief in the common man. Wright’s architecture progressed to become a unified plan between the
materials, the structure and the site creating a natural flow through a free space. His “prairie houses” had
sweeping, horizontal lines, extended roofs, and an absence of symmetry. In the 1930’s, Wright began to provide
his prairie house plans to be used for lower income housing.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House in Chicago, Illinois
In contrast to Wright’s theories, architect Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret-Gris) believed that a
building must function as a “machine for living.” His buildings were designed with complete freedom in
subdividing the interior into functional spaces. Le Corbusier also wanted to build whole cities with living,
working, and recreation spaces suiting the needs of each individual.
German architect Walter Gropius wanted to provide space for large sections of the population, not specific
individuals like Le Corbusier. Gropius and his Bauhaus school students designed factories and group housing;
furniture, pottery, and advertising; all meant as good design to be mass-produced and available to all.
Mass-production was the key after World War II as the war-based economy was replaced by peacetime values.
The demand for housing exploded and cities grew outward with suburban housing developments. Economical
housing was created by the standardization of a few simple designs and by using materials that blended with the
local environment. Though criticized as “cookie-cutter” design, these housing provided a comfortable living
space for thousands of families.
Modernism adopted new technology as an evolution of architectural progress and made a building’s function
apparent in its design. This continued until the 1970’s when a new generation of artists and designers rejected
Modernism and adopted a Post-Modern viewpoint. Post-Modernism revived vernacular styles but used cuttingedge building materials and techniques. This allowed for a reinterpretation of traditional ideas while inventing
revolutionary new forms in architecture.What do you think is next for architecture? What kind of house do you
see people living in 100 years from now? Do you think Margaret Brown could have imagined that she would
have a 40-story skyscraper just a few blocks from her house? Or, that computers would become the command
center of a house, opening the curtains, turning on the heat, and starting your dinner?
Next: Form vs. Function?
Form vs. Function?
form (fôrm) noun
1. The shape and structure of an object.
2. The essence of something
3. The mode in which a thing exists, acts, or manifests itself; kind: a form of animal
life; a form of blackmail.
func·tion (f
ngk sh
n) noun
1. The action for which a person or thing is particularly fitted or employed.
2. Assigned duty or activity.
3. A specific occupation or role
Form vs. Function is a fun way to learn the different architectural styles, terms, and elements so you can
begin describing your home and other buildings important in your day-to-day life. This will help you see not
only how architecture differs, but will also help you to distinguish historic from recent architecture. Our
environment is all that surrounds us both natural and man-made. The built environment is totally humankind's
responsibility, to create and to change. The future of our cities, our quality of life and our ability to protect the
natural environment depends upon educating ourselves to look at what we've built and accept ownership of it.
Only then can we decide what to preserve, what to change and what to build now.
There are many different elements that make up architecture. Let’s break it down like this:
We will define the terms that describe the site of the building or where it is on the land.
We will decide the use of the building. Is it a place people sleep, work, or eat?
We will look at the building itself and describe the shapes that make it different such as its roof and windows.
We will decide what kind of materials the is building made of. Is it wood, brick or maybe mud?
And lastly, we will put all these elements together so we can decide what styles our buildings are.
Let’s go to the site!
The site on which a building is built is the primary force behind the design and use of a building. Geography
and climatology both have shaped the site. These buildings have to be able to adapt to the changes of seasonal
weather and the ever-moving earth. Where on earth would you build the following building? Match them up:
Igloo
New York City, New York
Skyscraper
Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
Adobe Church
Marina del Rey, California
Houseboat
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Think about the reasons why you matched up the ones you did. It’s not possible to build an igloo in Santa Fe
because it’s a dry, desert climate. Take a look at where you live. What kind of weather happens? Is it mostly
cold outside, mostly hot, dry or wet? Look at your own house and point out the parts that help protect you from
the weather.
Once we’ve determined how the building protects us from the weather, we can look at how the building sits on
the site or its placement.
“Orientation” is the direction in which the building faces. Most buildings are oriented towards the street but
some can be oriented toward an inner court or hidden by privacy fencing. Think about orientation the next time
you go to your favorite restaurant. Do you enter from the back by the dumpster or through a nice front door?
“Setback” is the distance from the street to the front of the building. Is the building right next to the street or is
there some space in between? Think about what people do if there is space in between.
“Alignment” is the relationship of the setbacks along the street. Do the front facades of the all buildings on the
block line up or are they different?
“Spacing” is the amount of space between the building and the neighboring buildings. Is your house far away
from your neighbors or close by?
Next: Use
The term “building use” refers to the current occupancy of a structure. Any building used for living quarters,
whether single family home, apartment, or renovated warehouse, becomes residential. Commercial refers to
buildings that contain stores, services and offices. Industrial architecture is all structures that relate to industry:
mills, factories, warehouses, and stockyards. Public, or institutional architecture is the buildings owned by
government agencies, churches, museums, and hospitals.
City planners and special boards decide where to put these different types of buildings and how they can be
used. They pre-decide what kinds of buildings can be built where and mark out the separate zones on a map.
These zoning boards take in to consideration what a buildings original use is/was and what the surrounding
buildings are used for. They typically don’t allow people to build restaurants in between factories or put grocery
stores in houses for the safety of the occupants. But, in this present age of renovation and rehabilitation, when
there is not enough space to build new buildings, factories have become shopping centers, railroad stations
turned into art museums, and even churches remodeled into homes. This adaptive re-use has to be approved by
the zoning board.
Can you guess what the following buildings would be used for?
Next: Shapes
Building shapes have some major elements to consider: outline, scale and proportion, and openings .
•
The outline shape of a building is most frequently defined by the shape of the roof; is it flat, hipped,
gabled, or gambrel?
•
The scale is the height, width, length and general feeling of mass of the building as it relates to people.
•
The proportions of a building are the ratio of width to height creating horizontal, vertical or nondirectional, or square-like buildings, and how the different elements relate to each other.
•
Openings are windows and doors. Their placement may be symmetrical or asymmetrical and their
outline shape and proportions contribute to the appearance of the building.
When we discuss the outline of a house or building the biggest part of the shape is the roof. Typically roofs
fall in to three categories: pitched, flat, and domed . Stand in front of your house and draw the line that forms
the shape of your house. When you drew the top of the line was it pointed or flat? Let’s look at some of the
different types of roofs and the elements that add to it.
Gabled Roof
Turret Roof
Hipped Roof
Dome
Some of the structural elements that add to the roof can be purely to hold up the roof or can be decorative as
well. Some examples are:
Does anything stick up from your roof? Do you have chimneys or pipes? Is there maybe a weathervane? Don’t
forget to include these items in your outline.
Look at the following two buildings and describe their roofs and any additional roof elements:
An example of scale would be if you went to see the Statue of Liberty. Before your visit it was hard to tell how
big it was in the pictures but now, standing next to it, you see how large it really is. You can see its true size
because your eyes can compare its scale to the other objects around it such as buildings, boats and even you.
When houses and other buildings are designed, scale affects many parts of the building. Doorways have to be
large enough so that people can comfortably pass through them and ceilings have to be high enough so people
don’t bump their heads. But can a doorway be too large? Can a ceiling be too high?
Proportions have been an important part of art and architecture for thousands of years. The Classical Greeks
developed a mathematical philosophy they called the Golden Mean. The Golden Mean used math as a way to
express how small parts related to larger parts as the larger parts related to the whole. Remember how we
looked at the scale of the Statue of Liberty? We can also look at it with proportion in mind. Compare the size
of her hand to her head or compare her foot to her arm. Do the same thing with your own body. How many
hand lengths long are your legs?
The same Golden Mean of proportions can be applied to architecture as well. Look at your own house and
thinks about the different shapes in your house and how they are put together. Is your house two squares stacked
on top of each other? Or, maybe a rectangle set on its side?
The last set of shapes that we can find on buildings would be the openings. These include windows and doors.
Grab a pencil and paper and head outside again. Count all the windows. Now count all the doors. Can you what
it would be like if your house had no windows? What if it was all windows?
Let’s look at a few different kinds of windows and their parts:
Bay Window
Chicago Window
Oriel Window
Casement Window
Lattice Window
Palladian Window
Roundel Window
Sash Window
A door and its surrounding frame make up a doorway. There are two main types of doors, paneled and matchboarded, both of which were used as long ago as ancient Egyptian times. Paneled doors consist of a frame of
horizontal rails and vertical muntins, with inside panels of wood or glass. Match-boarded doors consist of long
vertical boards held together by horizontal rails and diagonal braces. Doorways that are particularly grand or
imposing are known as portals and can be found on castles and cathedrals. Doors that lead to the outside are
always stronger than doors between interior rooms.
Let’s look at materials!
Throughout history the construction of buildings has been done mainly with materials that can be found
locally. In Italy and Greece they relied on marble as large quarries were near-by. In Northern Europe timber was
abundant so timber-frame structures out-numbered stone. The farther away the material had to come from, the
more money it would cost.
Let’s start at the bottom of a building and see what materials its’ made of!
The foundation of a building has to hold everything that is built above. Until recently many people built their
houses and businesses right on the bare earth, packing it down hard. Wood could be laid down over the ground.
This method didn’t provide much insulation from any cold weather. If stone was available that could be used as
a flat sturdy floor but stone doesn’t stay warm in the winter. Tile and earthen floors have been preferred in hot
climates as they stay cooler than the air temperature. Today we often use a mixture of concrete and steel with
an insulated covering as our preferred foundations. This mixture provides strength and protection from the
elements.
The structure that rises up from the foundation is the skeleton of the building. The most common building
method for thousands of years has been Post-and-Lintel Construction. It was first seen in ancient Egypt. It is
said to come from an early building technique where firmly bound sheaves of swamp reeds were used to
support roofs in adobe structures. Builders eventually switched the reeds to stone columns and could enclose
very large spaces. Look up post-and-lintel in the glossary of terms. The posts and lintels were made out of
wood. For very large structures such as cathedrals and churches stone was used to create large columns or piers
incorporating arches and vaults. In modern construction we still use wood framing for smaller structures but
fortified with concrete and metal. Have you ever seen a skyscraper or very large building being built? They use
concrete and steel as the skeleton and it allows them to build up tens of stories high.
The outer walls of a building or house are called the load-bearing walls because they hold the weight of the roof
and stabilize the internal structure. There are two types of load-bearing walls, the frame-construction walls and
the mass-construction walls. Frame-construction walls have a skeleton of wood or metal that are then filled
in or covered by another material. A good example of this is timber-frame construction found on many Englishstyle houses. In between the timber frame posts thin strips of wood were affixed called wattle. Over the wattle a
mud or clay mixture was applied called daub. When outer walls are completely solid and made of brick or
stone they are called mass-construction. In warmer climates mud brick or adobe is preferred for the walls
because their thickness doesn’t allow the heat to penetrate, keeping the inside cool.
Look at the following picture of the outside of the Molly Brown House Museum. Is it a frame-construction or
mass-construction wall? Is it made of brick or stone?
We’ve already looked at the roof as an outline shape but what is that roof made of? What you see from the
outside is the final layer on the roof and changes with building styles and locations. Tiles are the most common
way to finish a pitched roof and can be made of clay, slate, sandstone, asphalt or wood . Metal roofs can also
be found and are made of copper, lead, tin and even gold like the dome of Denver’s capital building. A third
type of roof is a thatched roof and is made with bundled layers of straw or other plant material.
Look at the following pictures and decide what these roofs are made of:
Let’s look at styles!
Now that we’ve looked at all the elements that make up a house or building let’s put it all together. Why don’t
all of our houses look the same? Schools? Churches? Well, we know that it depends on when it was built and
where, but why not just something that suites it’s function? Why do we also make it look nicer by adding
decorative elements and have different styles?
Style developed first as Vernacular, or the style of the region. Houses and other buildings were constructed of
local materials and built by local builders, most often by the home dweller. Architects were only used when
larger projects were being built such as cathedrals and large government buildings. Wealthy people began to
call on architects to build them very large, ornate houses such as the Palace at Versailles, France . They would
bring in skilled craftsman and employed different decorative elements using rare and expensive materials. As
construction methods have grown more complex and technical, especially with the advent of indoor plumbing
and then electricity, houses and other buildings have had to be built by skilled builders and architects rather than
just the home dweller or local townspeople.
Today, we see our houses as an extension of our selves. The style of our house is seen the same way as how we
choose to dress and what we drive. New houses can be built in a completely contemporary style or can be in the
style of an older building method. Some of the more popular historic styles include the following:
Craftsman and Bungalow: Craftsman-style architecture was inspired primarily by the work of two architects,
Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, who practiced in California from 1893 to 1914. It was
based on the Arts and Crafts movement in England led by William Morris (1834-1896). This movement
believed modern problems were caused by the Industrial Revolution and supported a return to handcrafted arts.
A. Page Brown built the first bungalow in 1895 near San Francisco . The bungalow represented a simpler, more
efficient, low-maintenance house, and the characteristic front porch encouraged outdoor living. A bungalow has
a low-pitched gable roof, wide roof overhangs, exposed roof rafters and wood structure, a porch under the front
roof overhang and tapered square column supports.
Bungalow
Colonial Revival and Cape Cod : After the 1876 U.S. Centennial, there was a renewed interest in Colonial
architecture, perhaps from a desire to return to simpler times. Often a structure was considered Colonial simply
by application of Colonial details to other vernacular types, such as a foursquare. What makes Colonial Revival
architecture is a pedimented front door, windows that are symmetrically balanced, double-hung, and multi
paned, classical details and a single side-gabled roof. In the 1930s, when the trend was for small, economical,
and mass-produced houses, Cape style homes became popular throughout the United States . In the twentieth
century version of this Colonial style, the chimneys were often placed at the side rather than the center and the
shutters were strictly decorative.
Colonial Revival
Queen Anne : The term "Queen Anne" was first used in England to describe medieval structures with
classical ornamentation and decoration. English architect Richard Norman Shaw developed the style using
English Vernacular architecture, which was solidly built and of simple wood construction. The style came to
the United States in 1876 and spread throughout the country. Queen Anne architecture has asymmetrical
elements, textured surfaces, classical ornaments, towers and/or turrets, wraparound porches and/or balconies, art
glass, and high brick chimneys.
Queen Anne
Shingle Style: Shingle-style architecture can be considered a uniquely American invention. A quieter, simpler,
and more horizontal style than Queen Anne, it started in the Northeast with an interest in American Colonial
architecture. Highlights of Shingle Style include continuous wood shingle surfaces, wavy wall surfaces,
extensive porches, eyebrow dormers, rusticated stone, and round arches.
Tudor: Tudor is loosely based on a variety of late medieval English styles. Some consider it to be a
combination of Jacobean (James I, 1603-1625) and Elizabethan (Elizabeth I, 1558-1603). Unlike the Queen
Anne style before it, Tudor was mainly a masonry or masonry covered style. During the 1920's and 1930's, with
innovations in brick building techniques, even small inexpensive houses could be built in the style, and it
became extremely popular. Tudor houses range from large rambling complexes to small cottages. Nearly every
U.S. city boasts a Tudor neighborhood. Elements of Tudor architecture include half-timbering, a steep roof,
grouped tall, narrow, multi-paned windows, a massive decorated chimney, and brick construction.
Tudor
American Vernacular Foursquare or Denver Square : After the silver crash in 1893, the move in
architectural tastes was toward more somber styles. And, with the rise of the middle-class suburb, house after
house was built in the Vernacular Classical style. Typically, they take the shape of a foursquare-a house whose
basic form in both plan and elevation is a square or box. Added to this are a front porch and any classically
inspired ornament. So popular were these houses that they often took on regional names, such as the Seattle
Box, and in Denver , the Denver Square . Here, most have a rectangular plan with hipped roof and attic dormer.
There are two second-story windows, usually identical and the space between them often filled with decorative
brick or terra-cotta panel. Most of Denver 's older suburbs, such as Capital Hill, Cheeseman Park , City Park ,
and West Highland are filled with Denver Squares.
Denver Square
Did you notice that each style was defined by its’ shapes and elements? That it was the materials and
functional elements like roofs and windows that helped decide what form or style it was? Let’s look at some
popular twentieth-century styles:
Spanish Revival: these homes romanticized the simple Spanish churches of colonial America . They featured
red tile roofs, parapets, decorative railings, and carved stonework. This style comes from the entire history of
Spanish architecture, from Moorish to Byzantine to Renaissance. Spanish revival buildings have stucco
archways and tiled courtyards. North America 's Spanish homes reflect the entire Mediterranean world
combined with ideas from Hopi and Pueblo Indians.
Ranch and Split-Level Ranch: These homes reflect the informality of Western culture. Because these homes
are uncomplicated, it is often said the Ranch style has no style. Ranch style is often ignored because it has
become so common. "Ranches" are found in the suburbs throughout North America , making the style
synonymous with the concept of tract housing: fast-built, cookie-cutter homes. They have a horizontal layout,
deep eaves, large windows, attached garages, and a lack of decorative details.
Postmodern and Neo-eclectic: This style evolved from Modernism but without being so minimalist and
anonymous as Modernism. Postmodernism is characterized by two or more styles that co-exist. This can be a
mix of traditional and invented forms, of functional and decorative, or of familiar shapes used in new ways.
Postmodern houses often don't have anything in common with one another and are always unique. Borrowing
from a variety of historic traditions, neo-eclectic houses are customized using a mixture of features. Neoeclectic homes are not usually experimental and do not reflect the artistic vision you would find in a truly
original, architect-designed postmodern home. These homes are often built quickly and cheaply.
Alternative Homes: A-Frames, Earth Homes, and Dome Homes are considered to be alternative styles because
they are less common and are houses for people looking to live differently than most people. The steep slope of
the A-frame roof is designed to help heavy snow to slide to the ground. The roof extends down to the ground
and doesn't need to be painted. A-frame houses have limited living space and are usually built as vacation
homes for the mountains.
Earth homes are just that, they are often built of earth and supported by either a traditional frame or maybe
even tires or hay bales. Some are houses that are built like normal but then covered in dirt as the final exterior.
These homes are considered more environmentally sound. Dome houses are efficient, inexpensive and durable.
They are often made of metal plates but can also incorporate traditional wood and glass. For just a few hundred
dollars, a family can be housed in a corrugated metal dome.
Glossary of Architectural Terms
acanthus: A plant whose leaves and flowers are found on Corinthian columns and other classical ornament.
arch: A typically curved structure, made of wedge-shaped elements (voussoirs), which spans an opening and is capable of supporting not only it's own weight but also the weight above it.
architrave: The bottom part of the entablature that spans from column to column, upon which the frieze, cornice, and pediment
may be found.
art glass: Colored or ornamental glass used in decorative windows.
balance: Composition or placement of elements of design, as figures, forms, or colors, in such a manner as to produce an aesthetically pleasing or harmoniously integrated whole.
balustrade: A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase,
or the eaves of a building.
bay window: These windows project out from the front or side of a house. Bay windows have sharp angles and rise up from the
ground on the first floor.
bargeboard: The vertical-face board set back under the roof edge of a gable, often with decoration.
Baroque: A style of architecture and art originating in Italy in the early 17th century and variously prevalent in Europe and the New
World for a century and a half, characterized by free and sculptural use of the classical orders and ornament, by forms in elevation
and plan suggesting movement, and by dramatic effect in which architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts often
worked to combined effect.
barrel vault: A vault having the form of a very deep arch.
bay: Vertical divisions of a large interior, wall, etc.: The nave is divided into six bays.
beam: a horizontal supporting member of a structural frame used to strengthen floors, ceilings, and roofs; usually tied in to the outer
structure.
bracket: A projecting support for a balcony or roof, sometimes decorated with scrolls or volutes.
bow window: These windows project out from the front or side of a house. Bow windows are rounded. They are often formed of
the window glass itself and do not have any structure beneath it. These windows may be found on any level of a building.
buttress: Any external prop or support built to steady a structure by opposing its outward thrusts, esp. a projecting support built into
or against the outside of a masonry wall.
capital: The top portion of a column or pilaster. The middle section is called the shaft of the column and the bottom, the base.
clapboard: Long, thin, overlapping, horizontal wooden boards used on the exterior of framed construction as a waterproof exterior
covering.
coffered: One of a number of sunken panels, usually square or octagonal, in a vault, ceiling, or soffit.
column/pillar/post: an upright supporting member used to support ceilings and roofs.
corbels: Brick or masonry that sticks out beyond the one below it to act as a support for a window, chimney stack, or bracket, or
that forms an arch or dome.
cornice: A decorative, projecting molding on the top of a wall, pillar, side of building or eave. Also the uppermost order of an entablature.
cupola: Small dome-shaped roof.
dentils: Teeth-like ornament used in Classical cornices consisting of a row of evenly spaced, projecting blocks.
dimension stone: Historically, the term for large quantities of stone that were cut into large blocks. Dimension stones were used in
foundations, piers, and stone-supported walls. It now refers to sized, hewn stone used as exterior facing, or blocks of stone used in
windows, arches, chimneys, and other structures. Usually cut into square, rectangular, columnar, tabular, or wedge-shaped blocks.
dome: A vault, having a circular plan and usually in the form of a portion of a sphere, so constructed as to exert an equal thrust in all
directions.
dormer: A small window projecting vertically from a sloping roof.
eaves: The under part of a sloping roof that hangs over a wall.
eclectic: Composed of many architectural styles.
entablature: A horizontal superstructure supported by columns and composed of architrave, frieze and cornice.
eyebrow: A dormer whose roof line is an arch curve that flattens out to the horizontal plane of the roof; shaped like an eyebrow.
facade: The main face or elevation of a building. From the French word meaning "front" or "face."
facing: A covering applied to the outer surface of a building. Facing is usually both functional and decorative. Stone facing or modern siding provides extra warmth, but also looks pretty.
fenestration: The arrangement of windows and openings in a building.
finial: A decorative ornament that tops off the crest of a gable, tower, or other architectural element.
flying buttress: An arched masonry support serving to bear thrust, as from a roof or vault, away from a main structure to an outer
pier or buttress.
form: The organization, placement, or relationship of basic elements, so as to produce a coherent formal structure.
foundation: The natural or prepared ground or base on which some structure rests.
frieze: The middle division of the Classical entablature found below the cornice and above the architrave. Also a band below a cornice, which may or may not be decorated.
function: The purpose for which something is designed or exists.
gable(d): The exterior, usually triangular, wall segment under a ridged roof.
gingerbread: Carved and pierced wooden ornament often found on Victorian houses. So named because of the resemblance to
sugar-frosted decoration on gingerbread cookie houses.
Gothic: A style of architecture, originating in France in the middle of the 12th century and existing in the western half of Europe
through the middle of the 16th century, characterized by the use of the pointed arch and the ribbed vault, by the use of fine woodwork
and stonework, by a progressive lightening of structure, and by the use of such features as flying buttresses, ornamental gables,
crockets, and foils.
Greek Cross: A floor plan with four equal wings surrounding a square center. The building looks like a plus sign from above.
groin vault: A vault formed by the intersection of two or more barrel vaults.
hemispherical: A half of a sphere bounded by a great circle.
hipped roof: A roof with sloped instead of vertical ends.
Italianate: A mid-Victorian American style remotely based on Romanesque vernacular residential and castle architecture of the Italian countryside, but sometimes containing Renaissance and Baroque.
keystone: The central, wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arch that locks the arch together.
lintel: The horizontal structural beam, spanning a door window, or space between columns that supports the structure above it.
Mansard Roof: A roof having a slope in two planes, the lower of which is usually much steeper. Named after French architect Francois Mansart.
masonry: Construction of brick, stone, adobe, concrete block, or other material set in mortar.
mass: Bulk, size, expanse, or massiveness: towers of great mass and strength.
materials: The substance or substances of which a thing is made or composed: Stone is a durable material.
Neo-Classical: A style developed principally from the mid-18th through the mid-19th centuries, characterized chiefly by an iconography derived from classical antiquity, severity of composition and a strict linear quality in the later phase of the style.
parapet: A continuation of the exterior wall of a building that extends above the roof line.
pediment: In Classical architecture, the triangular end gable that sits upon the horizontal cornice and is often filled with sculpture. In its various revival forms, it is often used as a decorative element and may be broken, curved or scrolled.
pitched roof: A roof sloping downward in two parts at an angle from a central ridge, so as to leave a gable at each end.
porte cochere: A structure with a roof that extends from the sides or front entrance of a home over a nearby driveway to shelter
those getting in or out of vehicles.
post-and-lintel construction: A building method that uses two upright or vertical posts set a distance apart with a horizontal beam
or lintel placed on top of them to span the distance. Walls and roofs can be built on top of the lintel which means greater space can
be enclosed and multiple levels added.
preserve: To keep safe from harm or injury; protect or spare. To keep up; maintain: to preserve historical monuments.
proportion: Proper relation between things or parts; symmetry, harmony, or balance: an architect with a sense of proportion.
quoin: Pronounced "coin." In masonry construction, the brick or stone used to reinforce the corner of a wall. Sometimes a different
or contrasting brick or stone is used for decoration. Also spelled coign or coin.
rafters: Any of the beams that slope from the ridge of a roof to the eaves and serve to support the roof.
Realism: To view or represent things as they really are with a treatment of forms, colors, space, etc., in such a manner as to emphasize their correspondence to actuality or to ordinary visual experience.
Renaissance Revival: A mid-Victorian architectural style adapting the classical forms of 15th- and 16th-century Italian architecture,
especially palace architecture, usually characterized by block-like massing, with refined classicized decorative detail around regularly organized windows.
rib vault: A vault in which the surface is divided into webs by a framework of diagonal arched ribs.
Rococo: A style of architecture and decoration, originating in France about 1720, evolved from Baroque types and distinguished by
its elegant refinement in using different materials for a delicate overall effect and by its ornament of shellwork, foliage, etc.
Romanesque: A style of architecture prevailing in western or southern Europe from the 9th through the 12th centuries, characterized
by heavy masonry construction with narrow openings, features such as the round arch, the groin vault, and the barrel vault, and the
introduction or development of the vaulting rib, the vaulting shaft, and central and western towers for churches.
Romanticism: An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened
interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of
classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.
rotunda: A round building, hall, or room, especially one with a dome.
rusticated or rustication: Stone masonry construction in which the faces of the blocks are rough and the individual blocks are separated by deep joints. Depending on the texture of the rock surface, rusticated blocks may be sorted as smooth, cyclopean (rockfaced), diamond-pointed, or vermiculated.
scale: A certain relative or proportionate size or extent: They built a residence on a yet more magnificent scale.
site: The position or location of a town, building, etc., esp. as to its environment: the site of our summer cabin.
soffit: The underside of an arch, beam, cornice, lintel, vault, or other overhead construction.
space: An empty area (usually bounded in some way between things); "the architect left space in front of the building".
structure: Something built or constructed, as a building, bridge, or dam.
stucco: A sturdy type of plaster used on exterior walls; often spread in a decorative pattern.
style: A distinctive or characteristic form
symmetry: The proper or due proportion of the parts of a body or whole to one another with regard to size and form; excellence of
proportion.
timber-framed: Framed by exposed timbers; "a magnificently timbered old barn"
turret, tourelle: A small tower, usually corbeled, at the corner of a building and extending above it.
vault: An arched structure, usually made of stones, concrete, or bricks, forming a ceiling or roof over a hall, room, sewer, or other
wholly or partially enclosed construction.
veneer: A decorative covering of brick, wood, stone, or other material over rough construction, used to simulate more substantial or
expensive construction.
veranda: A roofed area attached to the side of a structure and supported by columns or pillars.
vermiculated or vermiculation: A decorative motif characterized by shallow channels that appear to have been made by
worms. Usually found as a decorative surface on stone masonry.
vernacular: A style or form of building developed not by architects but by local custom, and based on the use of regional materials,
techniques, and forms.
voussoirs: The wedge-shaped masonry blocks that together form an arch.
wainscoting: Wood paneling or other material applied to the lower portion of an interior wall.
widow's walk: Historically, a platform on a roof from which the wives of colonial New England seamen could watch for their return.
zoning: The division of an area into zones, as to restrict the number and types of buildings and their uses: zoning laws.
zoophorous: Used to describe a frieze decorated with animal or human figures.
Resources:
Websiteshttp://www.historicdenver.org
http://www.nationaltrust.org
http://www.archfoundation.org
http://www.archkidtecture.org
http://www.phlf.org
http://www.getty.edu
http://www.dartfordarchive.org
http://architecture.about.com/library
BooksDenver the City Beautiful
by Thomas J. Noel and Barbara S. Norgren
Published 1987 by Historic Denver, Inc.
Historic Denver Guides: A Guide To Denver's Architectural Styles And Terms
by Diane Wilk
Published 1995 by Historic Denver, Inc.
Gardner's Art Through The Ages I
by Horst De La Croix, Richard G. Tansey, and Diane Kirkpatrick
Published 1991 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers
Gardner's Art Through The Ages II
by Horst De La Croix, Richard G. Tansey, and Diane Kirkpatrick
Published 1991 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers
Art Fundamental: Theory and Practice, 9th Ed.
by Otto G. Ocvirk, Robert E. Stinson, Philip R. Wigg, Robert O. Bone, and David L.Cayton
Published 2001 by McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Dictionary of Architecture
by Henry H. Saylor
Published 1952 by John Wiley & Sons
Homes and Houses Then and Now
by Alastair Smith
Published 1999 by Usborne Publishing Ltd.
I Know That Building
by Jane D'Alelio
Published 1989 by National Trust for Historic Preservation
Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries of Buildings
by Nicola Liddiard
Published 1992 by DK Publishing, Inc.
House: Showing How People Have Lived Throughout History with Examples Drawn from the Lives of Legendary Men and Women
by Albert Lorenz
Published 1998 by Harry N. Abrahms
Photo Credits:
Historic Denver Guides- Cynthia S. Herrick, Jeff Padrick, Elizabeth Metz
Denver the City Beautiful- Illustrations by Liz Steinbeck at Graphic Impressions, Inc.
This education program of the Molly Brown House Museum was funded in part by a grant from the
State Historical Fund of the Colorado Historical Society.