Architecture, MUM-PRI
Architecture is a sphere of art and design in which functionality and aesthetics can combine to produce visually stunning structures that manage to both catch the eye and serve a functional purpose. The expansive variety of architectural styles that have been employed throughout the ages underscores the fact that not every building need look the same, a principle that is readily apparent when comparing Gothic cathedrals with igloos or pagodas with cliff dwellings. Although architecture is commonly associated first and foremost with the design and construction of buildings, landscape architects may work with gardens, parks, and other planned outdoor areas, aiding in the development and decorative planning of such spaces.
Architecture Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Lewis Mumford was an American architectural critic, urban planner, and historian who analyzed the effects of technology......
Murano Tōgo was a Japanese architect particularly noted for the construction of large department stores with solid......
Glenn Murcutt is an Australian architect who was noted for designing innovative climate-sensitive private houses.......
Mysore Palace, a sprawling three-story, gray granite, Indo-Saracenic building capped by a five-story tower that......
nailhead, projecting ornamental molding resembling the head of a nail, used in early Gothic architecture. Nailheads......
narthex, long, narrow, enclosed porch, usually colonnaded or arcaded, crossing the entire width of a church at......
John Nash was an English architect and city planner best known for his development of Regent’s Park and Regent......
National Trust, British organization founded in 1895 and incorporated by the National Trust Act (1907) for the......
naumachia, in ancient Rome, a mimic sea battle and the specially constructed basin in which such a battle sometimes......
nave, central and principal part of a Christian church, extending from the entrance (the narthex) to the transepts......
Neoclassical architecture, revival of Classical architecture during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The movement......
Neoclassical art, a widespread and influential movement in painting and the other visual arts that began in the......
Pier Luigi Nervi was an Italian engineer and architect, internationally renowned for his technical ingenuity and......
Walter Netsch was an American architect whose geometrically complex buildings, designed according to his own “field......
Balthasar Neumann was a German architect who was the foremost master of the late Baroque style. Neumann was apprenticed......
Richard Joseph Neutra was an Austrian-born American architect known for his role in introducing the International......
Newgrange, Neolithic passage grave in the valley of the River Boyne, County Meath, Ireland. Built by Stone Age......
Oscar Niemeyer was a Brazilian architect, an early exponent of modern architecture in Latin America, particularly......
Isamu Noguchi was an American sculptor and designer, one of the strongest advocates of the expressive power of......
Queen Noor is an American-born architect who was the consort (1978–99) of King Hussein of Jordan. (Read Queen Noor’s......
Norman style, Romanesque architecture that developed in Normandy and England between the 11th and 12th centuries......
North Indian temple architecture, style of architecture produced throughout northern India and as far south as......
Norwich, city (district), administrative and historic county of Norfolk, England. It is located along the River......
Notre-Dame de Paris, cathedral church in Paris. It is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages......
Jean Nouvel is a French architect who designed his buildings to “create a visual landscape” that fit their context—sometimes......
Novembergruppe, group of artists from many media formed in Berlin in December 1918 by Max Pechstein and César Klein.......
Nymphenburg, palace, formerly the summer residence outside Munich of the Wittelsbachs, the former ruling family......
Joseph Olbrich was a German architect who was a cofounder of the Wiener Sezession, the Austrian manifestation of......
Old Bailey, byname of the Central Criminal Court in London. It is perhaps the best known of several buildings housing......
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American landscape architect who designed a succession of outstanding public parks,......
One World Trade Center (One WTC), skyscraper in New York, New York, that is the centerpiece of reconstruction at......
oratory, in architecture, a small, private chapel...
Andrea Orcagna was the most prominent Florentine painter, sculptor, and architect of the mid-14th century. The......
order, any of several styles of classical or Neoclassical architecture that are defined by the particular type......
orientation, (from Latin oriens, orientum, “the rising sun”), in architecture, the position of a building in relation......
ornament, in architecture, any element added to an otherwise merely structural form, usually for purposes of decoration......
ornamentation, in architecture, applied embellishment in various styles that is a distinguishing characteristic......
Osborne House, former residence of the British royal family on the Isle of Wight, England. It lies southeast of......
Frei Otto was a German architect and design engineer and winner of the 2015 Pritzker Prize, who is known for his......
Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud was a Dutch architect notable for his pioneering role in the development of modern......
Arguably the most famous office in the world, the Oval Office has become synonymous with the White House and the......
Juan O’Gorman was a Mexican architect and muralist, known for his mosaic designs that adorned the facades of buildings.......
pagoda, a towerlike, multistory, solid or hollow structure made of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with......
palace, royal residence, and sometimes a seat of government or religious centre. The word is derived from the Palatine......
Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland, located at the eastern end......
Palacio de Bellas Artes, cultural centre in Mexico City that was built between 1904 and 1934. The palace includes......
Palazzo del Te, summer palace and horse farm near Mantua, Italy, of Duke Federico Gonzaga II. It was designed and......
Palladianism, style of architecture based on the writings and buildings of the humanist and theorist from Vicenza,......
Andrea Palladio was an Italian architect, regarded as the greatest architect of 16th-century northern Italy. His......
Timothy Palmer was a U.S. pioneer builder of covered timber truss bridges. A millwright, he was also a self-taught......
Panathenaic Stadium, stadium built for the first of the modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, Greece. Built on......
Pancho Villa House, mansion of 50 rooms in Chihuahua, Mexico, where revolutionary leader Pancho Villa lived with......
panopticon, architectural form for a prison, the drawings for which were published by Jeremy Bentham in 1791. It......
Panthéon, building in Paris that was begun about 1757 by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot as the Church of......
parapet, a dwarf wall or heavy railing around the edge of a roof, balcony, terrace, or stairway designed either......
Houses of Parliament, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the seat of the bicameral Parliament,......
Petr Parléř was the best-known member of a famous German family of masons. His works exemplify the tendency toward......
Alexander Parris was an American architect, a principal exponent of the Greek Revival style in early 19th-century......
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English landscape gardener and designer of hothouses, who was the architect of the Crystal......
I.M. Pei was a Chinese-born American architect noted for his large, elegantly designed urban buildings and complexes.......
Cesar Pelli was an Argentine-born American architect who was widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s preeminent......
pendant, in architecture, sculpted ornament or elongated boss terminating the fan, or pendant, vaulting, associated......
Pentagon, large five-sided building in Arlington county, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., that serves as the headquarters......
penthouse, enclosed area on top of a building. Such a structure may house the top of an elevator shaft, air-conditioning......
Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine were a pair of French architects and interior designers who carried out many......
Perpendicular style, Phase of late Gothic architecture in England roughly parallel in time to the French Flamboyant......
Claude Perrault was a French physician and amateur architect who, together with Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun,......
Dominique Perrault is a French architect and designer known for his striking Modernist designs and inventive repurposing......
Auguste Perret was a French architect notable for his pioneering contributions to the vocabulary of reinforced-concrete......
Baldassarre Peruzzi was a Sienese architect and painter, one of the earliest artists to attempt illusionist architectural......
Petronas Twin Towers, pair of skyscraper office buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that are among the world’s......
Petworth, town (parish), Chichester district, administrative county of West Sussex, historic county of Sussex,......
Renzo Piano is an Italian architect best known for his high-tech public spaces, particularly his design (with Richard......
piazza, square or marketplace in an Italian town or city. The word is cognate with the French and English “place”......
picturesque, artistic concept and style of the late 18th and early 19th centuries characterized by a preoccupation......
Pietro da Cortona was an Italian architect, painter, and decorator, an outstanding exponent of Baroque style. Pietro......
Jean-Baptiste Pigalle was a French sculptor noted for his stylistically varied and original works. Born into a......
Germain Pilon was a French sculptor whose work, principally monumental tombs, is a transitional link between the......
pinnacle, in architecture, vertical ornament of pyramidal or conical shape, crowning a buttress, spire, or other......
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian draftsman, printmaker, architect, and art theorist. His large prints......
Giovanni Pisano was a sculptor, sometimes called the only true Gothic sculptor in Italy. He began his career under......
piscina, in Roman times, an artificial reservoir used for swimming or as a fish pond. During the Middle Ages a......
Plateresque, (“Silversmith-like”), main architectural style in Spain during the late 15th and the 16th centuries,......
playground, controlled setting for children’s play. This institutionalized environment consists of a planned, enclosed......
plinth, Lowest part, or foot, of a pedestal, podium, or architrave (molding around a door). It can also refer to......
Hans Poelzig was a German architect who is remembered for his Grosses Schauspielhaus (1919), an auditorium in Berlin......
Pompidou Centre, French national cultural centre on the Rue Beaubourg and on the fringes of the historic Marais......
Antonio da Ponte was an architect-engineer who built the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Though he was undoubtedly the......
Gio Ponti was an Italian architect and designer associated with the development of modern architecture and modern......
John R. Pope was an American architect whose most important design was the National Gallery of Art (completed in......
Giacomo della Porta was an Italian architect whose work represents the development in style from late Mannerism......
porte cochere, in Western architecture, either of two elements found in large public and private buildings, popular......
Legend holds that Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, was founded by the ancient Greek hero Odysseus. Although these 17......
Christian de Portzamparc is a French architect and urban planner whose distinctly modern and elegant designs reflected......
Pieter Post was an architect who, along with Jacob van Campen, created the sober, characteristically Dutch Baroque......
Potala Palace, immense religious and administrative complex in Lhasa, southern Tibet Autonomous Region, southwestern......
Prairie style, in architecture, American style exemplified by the low-lying “prairie houses” such as Robie House......
presbytery, in Western architecture, that part of a cathedral or other large cruciform church that lies between......
Sir Uvedale Price, 1st Baronet was a British landscape designer and, with the writer-artist William Gilpin and......
prison, an institution for the confinement of persons who have been remanded (held) in custody by a judicial authority......