Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

ornament, in architecture

(Encyclopedia)ornament, in architecture, decorative detail enhancing structures. Structural ornament, an integral part of the framework, includes the shaping and placement of the buttress, cornice, molding, ceiling...

orders of architecture

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Orders of architecture orders of architecture. In classical tyles of architecture the various columnar types fall, in general, into the five so-called classical orders, which are named Doric, ...

cast-iron architecture

(Encyclopedia)cast-iron architecture, a term used to designate buildings that incorporate cast iron for structural and/or decorative purposes. After 1800 cast-iron supports were exploited as an alternative to mason...

capital, in architecture

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Types of capitals B. Parts of a capital capital, in architecture, the crowning member of a column, pilaster, or pier. It acts as the bearing member beneath the lintel or arch supported by t...

city

(Encyclopedia)city, densely populated urban center, larger than a village or a town, whose inhabitants are engaged primarily in commerce and industry. In the United States a city is legally an incorporated municipa...

Cholon

(Encyclopedia)Cholon chōlônˈ, Fr. shôlôNˈ [key], district and former city, since 1932 part of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; on the right bank of the Saigon River, a tributary of the Dong Nai. Cholon is the Chine...

Hamlin, Talbot Faulkner

(Encyclopedia)Hamlin, Talbot Faulkner, 1889–1956, American historian of architecture, b. New York City. He was librarian of the Avery Library, Columbia (1934–45), and professor of architecture there. Hamlin wro...

Sturgis, Russell

(Encyclopedia)Sturgis, Russell stûrˈjĭs [key], 1836–1909, American architect and writer, b. Baltimore co., Md., grad. College of the City of New York, 1856. He practiced architecture until 1880; the buildings ...

Tsin

(Encyclopedia)Tsin or Chin both: jhĭn [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 265 to 420, after the period of the Three Kingdoms. It was divided into two phases: the Western Tsin (265–317) and the Eastern Tsin (...

Mexican art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Mexican art and architecture, works of art and structures produced in the area that is now the country of Mexico. Such arts were already highly developed in the ancient civilizations flourishing befor...

Browse by Subject