Content tagged with “architecture” under “Stuff I Looked Up”

“This is a large, Gilded Age home in Ashville, North Carolina. It was built by the Vanderbilts in the early 1890s. It would technically be the largest private residence in the United States at 135,000 sq. ft., but it’s been a museum since the 1950s. It’s owned by a private company, open to the…”

“In it’s strictest terms, this is simply a physical element that’s only connected to a large structure at one end, so the other end ‘hangs out in space.’ Architecturally, a cantilever is a building structure that protrudes into open space, such as a balcony. A great example is The Guthrie Theater…”

“Basically, it’s a railing of some kind, like those on a balcony or open staircase. Technically, the balustrade is the horizontal part (where your hands would rest), while the vertical parts are called balusters (the balustrade sits atop of the balusters). It comes from an Italian word for the…”

“ This is the French word meaning ‘stock exchange’ or ‘merchant exchange.’ It comes from a historic word meaning ‘meeting of merchants.’ ”

“It’s for the National Guard. Many cities have buildings that were built to house the local National Guard’s equipment (including weapons). Hence, this became known as ‘the armory.’ In many cases, these buildings are no longer used for those purposes – the National Guard unit has moved into other…”

“Lots of churches are named ‘Hagia Sofia,’ it turns out. The phrase is Greek for ‘holy wisdom,’ which can apply to a lot of things. The Hagia Sofia is a mosque in Istanbul. It was originally an orthodox church, then a Roman Catholic church, then a museum, and now (very recently) it’s a mosque. When…”

“Originally, ‘penthouse’ referred to a small building on top of another building. From the French word apentis for ‘attached building.’ The penthouse was literally on the roof, set back from the walls of the building. Thus, the person occupying the penthouse got the benefit of usage of the flat…”

“Basically, the ‘lobby’ of a Christian church. From Wikipedia: […] the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church’s main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper. There was a specific…”

“This is a zoning code formula that compares the total floor size of a building (all floors together) to the lot size it’s built on. There are rules around this number. For example, if I want to build a 100-story building with each floor having 20,000 square feet of space, that’s a total of 2…”