BUILDING

TERMINOLOGY

1
DEFINITION
•A building can be defined as a structure consisting of walls, floors and roofs to
provided covered space for different uses such as residence, education
hospitalization, entertainment, worship etc.
•A building can be broadly divided in two parts:
•Substructure
•Superstructure
•Substructure: The substructure is the lower portion of the building, which is located below
ground level which transmits the load of the superstructure to the subsoil. It includes
Foundations.
•Foundation-The basic function of foundation To Transmit the load from building to the
subsoil, in such a way that Settlement are within permissible limit.
•Superstructure-The superstructure is that part of the building which is above the ground
and which serves the purpose of building’s intended use.It includes
•Plinth
•Wall
• columns
•Beams
•Floors
•Roofs and slabs
•Lintel and arches
Chajjas
•Parapet
•Steps and stairs
• Doors and Windows
•sill
•Plinth: Plinth is that part of the building between surrounding ground surface and
floor space immediately above the ground.
 ABACUS

The flat slab on the top of a capital.

 AISLE
Open area of a church parallel to the nave and
separated from it by columns or piers.
 ARCH
A basic architectural structure composed of
bricks or stones so arranged as by mutual
pressure to support one another.
 ARCADE
A range of arches carried on piers or columns,
either free-standing or blind
 ARCHITRAVE
The lowest division of the entablature in classical
architecture . The main lintel or beam spanning
from column to column.
 BALCON
A platformYprojecting from a wall directly
outside a door on an upper level of a building.
 Balustrade
A railing system, generally around a
balcony or on a second level, consisting of
balusters and a top rail.
 BASEMENT
A basement is one or more floors of a
building that are either completely or
partially below the ground floor.
 BA
Y
Bay – A vertical division of the exterior or
interior of a building
BAY-
WINDOW
a window space projecting outward from
the main walls of a building and forming
a bay in a room, either square or
polygonal in plan.
 BRACKET
A small supporting piece of stone or
other material, often formed of scrolls
or volutes, to carry a projecting weight
 BUTTRESS
A mass of masonry or brick-
work projecting from or built
against a wall to give additional
strength.
CANTILEVER
A cantilever is a beam anchored at
only one end
 CHAJJA
STRUCTURAL OVERHANG PROVIDED
OVER OPENINGS ON EXTERNAL WALLS
TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM SUN
AND RAIN
 CHATTR
ANIUMBRELLA SHAPED CUPOLA
A coffer (or coffering), is a sunken panel in the shape of a
square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. COFFER

Pantheon, Rome
 Colonnade – A row of columns carrying an
entablature or arches. Colonnade
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative
molding that crowns any building or furniture element:
the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the
CORNICE
cornice around the edge of a pedestal
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often
a space enclosed by a building that is open to COURTYARD
the sky.
 CURTAIN WALL
A curtain wall system is an outer covering of a
building in which the outer walls are non-
structural, but merely keep out the weather.
 DADO
The lower portion of the wall of a room,
decorated differently from the upper section
 DOME
A dome is a structural element
of architecture that resembles the hollow upper
half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various
materials have a long architectural lineage
extending into prehistory.
 DORMER WINDOW
Extension built out from a sloping roof to
accommodate a vertical window
 ELEVATIO
ANscale drawing of the side, front,
or rear of a structure.
 F.A.
R
The Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or Floor Space Index (FSI) is the ratio of the total floor area of
buildings on a certain location to the size of the land of that location, or the limit
imposed on such a ratio.
FACADE
The front or face of a
building, emphasized
architecturally.
 FOUNDATION
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure.
Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow
foundations and deep foundations
GARBHA GRIHA
Garbhagriha or Garbha griha is
the small unlit shrine of a Hindu
temple. A sanskrit word
meaning the interior of
the sanctum sanctorum, the
innermost sanctum of a Hindu
temple where resides
the murti (idol or icon) of the
deity of the temple.

Literally the word means

"womb chamber", from
the Sanskrit words
garbha for
womb and griha for
house.
 GOPURAM
A Gopuram or Gopura, is a
monumental tower, usually
ornate, at the entrance of any
temple, especially in Southern
India.

This forms a prominent feature

of Hindu temples of
the Dravidian style
 The sides of doors and windows are called
jambs. JAMB
 LOFT
Residual space, usually used for storage, A loft can be an
upper storey or attic in a building, directly under the roof. Also
can be the ‘maaliya’
 MEZZANINE
In architecture, a mezzanine or
entresol is an intermediate floor
between main floors of a building, and
therefore typically not counted among
the overall floors of a building
Moulding is a strip of material with various
profiles used to cover transitions between
MOULDING
surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally
made from solid milled wood or plaster.
MOULDING
NICHE
• A recess in a wall
created to house
the statue or for
ornamentation
purpose

2
Presentation By- Ar. 3
AREA INSIDE THE PLOT LEFT OPEN TO SKY FOR
LIGHT AND VENTILATION PURPOSES.
OPEN SPACE
FRONT, REAR, SIDE AND COMMON OPEN
SPACES
 ORDERS
A column, in Greek/Roman architecture with
base, shaft, capital, and entablature, decorated
and proportioned according to one of the
accepted modes – Doric, Tuscan, Ionic,
Corinthian, or Composite.
An open space, usually oblong, surrounded by
buildings. PIAZZA (PLAZA)
A low wall placed to protect any spot where there is
a sudden drop, for example, at the edge of a bridge, PARAPET
quay, or house-top.
A floor plan in architecture and building engineering is a
diagram, usually to scale, of the relationships between
PLAN
rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a
structure.

The top view of an object

In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform
upon which a column, pedestal, statue, PLINTH/PODIUM
monument or structure rests.
 PORCH/PORTIC
O

Porch is a covered shelter on the outside of

a building. A roofed space, open or partly
enclosed.

Portico is a porch leading to the entrance

to a building.
 PURLIN

Horizontal beam in a roof

ROSE WINDOW

A Rose window is often used as a

generic term applied to a circular
window, but is especially used for
those found in churches of the Gothic
architectural style.
ROSE WINDOW
SECTION

A REPRESENTATION OF A
SOLID OBJECT AS IT WOULD
APPEAR OF CUT BY AN
INTERSECTING PLANE, SO
THAT THE INNER
CONFIGURATION IS CLEAR
SHUTTERING

TEMPORARY MOULD IN
WHICH CONCRETE IS
POURED AND ALLOWED TO
SET, INTO BEAMS, WALLS
AND COLUMNS ETC
 SPA
N
DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO SUPPORTS OF A
BEAM/ARCH/ROOF
SPACE FRAME
A FRAME EXTENDING INTO
THREE DIMENSIONS, COVERS
LARGE SPANS
A stupa (literally meaning "heap") is a mound-like
structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the
remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place
of worship.
STUP
A
SKIRTING
Vernacular architecture is a category of
architecture based on localized needs and
construction materials, and reflecting local
VERNACULAR
traditions.
WATER CLOSET
(WC)