Glossary of Architecture - B

B

Bahut

A small parapet or attic wall bearing the weight of the roof of a cathedral or church

Ball flower

An architectural ornament in the form of a ball inserted in the cup of a flower, which came into use in the latter part of the 13th, and was in great vogue in the early part of the 14th century.

Baluster

A Small moulded shaft, square or circular, in stone or wood, sometimes metal, supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase; a series of balusters supporting a handrail or coping.

Barrel vault

An architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance

Basement

Lowest, subordinate storey of building often either entirely or partially below ground level; the lowest part of classical elevation, below the piano nobile.

Basilica

Originally a Roman, large roofed hall erected for transacting business and disposing of legal matters.; later the term came to describe an aisled building with a clerestory. Medieval cathedral plans were a development of the basilica plan type.

Batter

Upwardly receding slope of a wall or column.

Bays

Internal compartments of a building; each divided from the other by subtle means such as the boundaries implied by divisions marked in the side walls (columns, pilasters, etc.) or the ceiling (beams, etc.). Also external divisions of a building by fenestration (windows).

Bay window

Window of one or more storeys projecting from the face of a building. Canted: with a straight front and angled sides. Bow window: curved. Oriel: rests on corbels or brackets and starts above ground level; also the bay window at the dais end of a medieval great hall.

Belfry

Chamber or stage in a tower where bells are hung. The term is also used to describe the manner in which bricks are laid in a wall so that they interlock.

Boss

1. Roughly cut stone set in place for later carving.

2. An ornamental projection, a carved keystone of a ribbed vault at the intersection of the ogives.

Bossage

Uncut stone that is laid in place in a building, projecting outward from the building, to later be carved into decorative moldings, capitals, arms, etc. Bossages are also rustic work, consisting of stones which seem to advance beyond the surface of the building, by reason of indentures, or channels left in the joinings; used chiefly in the corners of buildings, and called rustic quoins. The cavity or indenture may be round, square, chamfered, beveled, diamond-shaped, or enclosed with a cavetto or listel.

Bond

Brickwork with overlapping bricks. Types of bond include stretcher, English, header, Flemish, garden wall, herringbone, basket, American, and Chinese.

Boutant

Type of support. An arc-boutant, or flying buttress, serves to sustain a vault, and is self-sustained by some strong wall or massive work. A pillar boutant is a large chain or jamb of stone, made to support a wall, terrace, or vault. The word is French, and comes from the verb bouter, "to butt" or "abut".

Bracket (see also corbel)

Weight-bearing member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall

Bressummer

(literally "breast- beam") - Large, horizontal beam supporting the wall above, especially in a jettied building.

Brise soleil

Projecting fins or canopies which shade windows from direct sunlight.

Bullseye window

Small oval window, set horizontally.

Bulwark

Barricade of beams and soil used in 15th and 16th century fortifications designed to mount artillery. On board ships the term refers to the woodwork running round the ship above the level of the deck. Figuratively it means anything serving as a defence. Dutch loanword; Bolwerk

Buttress

Vertical member projecting from a wall to stabilize it or to resist the lateral thrust of an arch, roof, or vault. A flying buttress transmits the thrust to a heavy abutment by means of an arch or half-arch.