Architecture Dictionary
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_chicago-board-of-trade-marble.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_chicago-board-of-trade-marble.jpg)
marble
Term
a medium-hard metamorphic rock of crystallized limestone
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_glessner-house-masonry.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_glessner-house-masonry.jpg)
masonry
Term
unit blocks of stone, brick, or concrete used for construction
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_emil-bach-house-massing.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_emil-bach-house-massing.jpg)
massing
Term
the arrangement of forms of a building
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_inland-steel-building-05-2.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_inland-steel-building-05-2.jpg)
Mid-Century Modernism
Style
By the middle of the 20th century, architects trained in the tenets of Modernism began to experiment…
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe.jpg)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Architect/Firm
It’s difficult to imagine what the skyline of Chicago might look like without architect Ludwig Mies van…
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_saint-john-cantius-church-nave-ear.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_saint-john-cantius-church-nave-ear.jpg)
nave
Term
the middle part of a church, typically where the congregation gathers
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_frederick-law-olmsted-portrait-pd-01.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_frederick-law-olmsted-portrait-pd-01.jpg)
Frederick Law Olmsted
Architect/Firm
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed some of the Chicago area’s most picturesque green…
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_clarke-house-pediment.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_clarke-house-pediment.jpg)
pediment
Term
a large triangular form on top of a series of columns
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_marquette-building-pier.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_marquette-building-pier.jpg)
pier
Term
a vertical section of the wall, between two window openings
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_holy-name-cathedral-pinnacle-2.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_holy-name-cathedral-pinnacle-2.jpg)
pinnacle
Term
a small vertical structure that is on top of a Gothic buttress or pier
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_harold-washington-library-01.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_harold-washington-library-01.jpg)
Postmodern
Style
A reaction to Modernism Postmodernism began as a critique. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Modernism…
Term Details![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_lrg_schurz-high-school-eric-allix-rogers-005-2.jpg)
![](http://s3.amazonaws.com/architecture-org/files/glossary/sqr_sml_schurz-high-school-eric-allix-rogers-005-2.jpg)
Prairie Style
Style
The Prairie style emerged in Chicago around 1900 from the work of a group of young architects, including…
Term Details