Architecture, MES-PER
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
Jakob Messikomer was a Swiss farmer and archaeologist who excavated one of the most important Late Stone Age lake......
Metabolist school, Japanese architectural movement of the 1960s. Tange Kenzō launched the movement with his Boston......
MI6/SIS Building, headquarters building of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in London. It was designed......
Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet who exerted an unparalleled influence......
Michelozzo was an architect and sculptor, notable in the development of Florentine Renaissance architecture. Michelozzo......
Michigan Stadium, the home field of the University of Michigan’s gridiron football team, located in Ann Arbor.......
Middle Ages, the period in European history from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century ce to the......
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German-born American architect whose rectilinear forms, crafted in elegant simplicity,......
mihrab, prayer niche in the qiblah wall (that facing Mecca) of a mosque; mihrabs vary in size but are usually ornately......
Milan Cathedral, cathedral in Milan whose construction began in 1386 and took five centuries to complete. Final......
military bridge, temporary bridge that must usually be constructed in haste by military engineers, from available......
Robert Mills was one of the first American-born professional architects. He was associated with Thomas Jefferson,......
minaret, in Islamic religious architecture, the tower from which the faithful are called to prayer five times each......
minbar, in Islam, the pulpit from which the sermon (khutbah) is delivered. In its simplest form the minbar is a......
Mnesicles was a Greek architect known (from Plutarch) to have been the designer of the Propylaea, or the entrance......
moat, a depression surrounding a castle, city wall, or other fortification, usually but not always filled with......
Modernism, in the fine arts, a break with the past and the concurrent search for new forms of expression. Modernism......
molding, in architecture and the decorative arts, a defining, transitional, or terminal element that contours or......
monastery, local community or residence of a religious order, particularly an order of monks. See abbey;...
Jean Mone was a French sculptor who gained fame for the work he produced in Flanders as court sculptor to Holy......
Rafael Moneo is a Spanish architect and educator who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1996. He is known for......
Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, located in south-central Virginia, U.S., about 2 miles (3 km) southeast......
Julia Morgan was one of the most prolific and important woman architects ever to work in the United States. Morgan......
mortuary temple, in ancient Egypt, place of worship of a deceased king and the depository for food and objects......
Robert Moses was a U.S. state and municipal official whose career in public works planning resulted in a virtual......
mosque, any house or open area of prayer in Islam. The Arabic word masjid means “a place of prostration” to God,......
motel, originally a hotel designed for persons travelling by automobile, with convenient parking space provided.......
Mount Vernon, home and burial place of George Washington, in Fairfax county, Virginia, U.S., overlooking the Potomac......
Mir Hossein Mousavi is an Iranian architect, painter, intellectual, and politician who served as Iran’s prime minister......
Mozarabic architecture, building style of Christians who stayed in the Iberian Peninsula after the Arab invasion......
Mughal architecture, building style that flourished in northern and central India under the patronage of the Mughal......
Alfred B. Mullett was a British-born American architect best known as the designer of the State, War, and Navy......
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......
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......
New Brutalism, one aspect of the International Style of architecture that was created by Le Corbusier and his leading......
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......
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......