Fire
Glossary
For additional
architectural terms, click
here.
For additional
architectural styles, click
here.
Aesthetic:
Of
or concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste:
the aesthetic faculties.
Arch:
A typically curved
structure, made of wedge-shaped elements (voussoirs),
which spans an opening and is capable of supporting
not only it's own weight but also the weight above it.
Architecture:
The art or science
of building; specifically: the art or practice of designing
and building structures and especially habitable ones.
Art
Deco: A popular architectural
style of the 1920s and 1930s characterized especially
by bold outlines, geometric and zigzag forms, and the
use of new materials.
Art
Glass: Colored or
ornamental glass used in decorative windows.
Artifacts:
Something created
by humans for a practical purpose. Artifact usually
refers to an object remaining from a particular period,
such as fire helmet from the 1800s.
Beaux
Arts: An architectural
style characterized by the use of historic forms, rich
decorative detail, and a tendency to resemble a monumental
structure.
Belfry:
The part of a tower
or steeple in which bells are hung.
Brick
Ordinance: A law
requiring builders to construct buildings with brick
as the primary building material. Brick ordinances were
created to prevent large fires because brick is less
flamable than wood.
Bungalow:
A usually one-storied
house with a low-pitched roof.
Craftsman/Bungalow:
Craftsman (1890s-1920s)
and Bungalow (1905-1930): Craftsman-style architecture
was inspired primarily by the work of two architects,
Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, who practiced
in California from 1893 to 1914. It was based
on the Arts and Crafts movement in England led by William
Morris (1834-1896). This movement believed modern
problems were caused by the Industrial Revolution and
supported a return to handcrafted arts. A. Page Brown
built the first bungalow in 1895 near San Francisco.The
bungalow represented a simpler, more efficient, low-maintenance
house, and the characteristic front porch encouraged
outdoor living. Bungalows replaced the Denver Square
as the most popular style of house in Denver from 1910
to 1930.
Highlights
of Craftsman and Bungalow style are: low-pitched gable
roof; wide overhangs; exposed roof rafters and wood
structure; porch; tapered square column supports.
Character:
The aggregate of
distinctive qualities.
Civil
Rights Movement: The
movement for racial equality in the U.S. that, through
nonviolent protest, broke the pattern of racial segregation
and achieved national equal rights legislation for blacks.
Classical:
Of or relating to
the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially their art,
architecture, and literature.
Colonial
Revival: After the
1876 U.S. centennial, there was a renewed interest in
Colonial architecture, perhaps reflecting a desire to
return to simpler times. Early examples of the style
are free interpretations, with borrowed from one or
more Colonial precedents. Often a structure was considered
Colonial simply by application of Colonial details to
other vernacular types, such as a foursquare. Three
major types of Colonial Revival styles are Neo-Georgian,
Neo-Adamesque, and Dutch Colonial Revival. Dutch Colonial
Revival tends to be a free interpretation of the Colonial
originals, it's main distinguishing feature being the
gambrel or cross-gambrel roof. The Governor's Mansion/Cheesman-Evans-Boettcher
Mansion (1908) at 400 East 8th Avenue , by Marean and
Norton, and the Phipps Mansion (Belcaro, 1933) at 3400
Belcaro Drive , by Fisher and Fisher, are two of Denver
's most famous Colonial Revival residences.
Highlights
of Colonial revival architecture are: pedimented front
door; symmetrically balanced, double-hung, multi paned
windows; classical details; single side-gabled roof.
Columns:
An upright supporting member used to support
ceilings and roofs.
Community:
A unified body of
individuals or people with common interests living in
a particular area.
Design:
The arrangement
of elements or details in a building, product or work
of art; a preliminary sketch or outline showing the
main features of something to be executed.
Flammable:
Capable of being
easily ignited and of burning quickly.
Dormers:
A small window projecting
vertically from a sloping roof.
Gabled:
The exterior, usually
triangular, wall segment under a ridged roof.
Gothic:
Relating to, or
having the characteristics of a style of architecture
developed in northern France and spreading through western
Europe from the middle of the 12th century to the early
16th century that is characterized by the slender vertical
piers and counterbalancing buttresses and by pointed
arches and vaulting.
Great
Depression: The
Great Depression was an economic slump in North America,
Europe , and other industrialized areas of the world
that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was
the longest and most severe depression ever experienced
by the industrialized Western world.
Half-timbering:
Wood framing on
a structure with the space between the timbers filled
with masonry.
Historic
Preservationists:
Historic Preservationists are individuals, either professionals
or volunteers, who work to save historic buildings,
sites and objects from destruction.
Historical
Context: The interrelated
conditions in history in which something existed or
occurred.
Historic
District: A collection of historic structures
in a specific geographic area or with a certain geographic
relationship that are permanently protected from demolition.
Horizontally:
Parallel to the
horizon or to a base line.
Integrated:
Incorporation as
equals into society or an organization of individuals
of different groups (as races).
National
Landmark: National
Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic
places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because
they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating
or interpreting the heritage of the United States .
Today, fewer than 2,500 historic places bear this national
distinction.
National
Register of Historic Places:
The National Register of Historic Places is the Nation's
official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.
Authorized under the National Historic Preservation
Act of 1966, the National Register is part of a national
program to coordinate and support public and private
efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic
and archeological resources. Properties listed in the
Register include districts, sites, buildings, structures,
and objects that are significant in American history,
architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture.
Obscure:
Shrouded in or hidden
by darkness, not clearly seen or easily distinguished,
not readily understood or clearly expressed.
Queen
Anne: The term "Queen
Anne" was first used in England to describe medieval
structures with classical ornamentation and decoration.
English architect Richard Norman Shaw developed the
style using English Vernacular architecture, which was
solidly built and of simple wood construction. The style
came to the United States in 1876 and spread throughout
the country. The Watts-Sherman House (1874) in Newport
, Rhode Island , by H.H. Richardson, is considered the
first example of Queen Anne architecture in the United
States.
Americans saw the Queen Anne style as a return to a
more rosy past. Many Denver houses built during the
1880s and early 1890s are Queen Anne. After the silver
crash of 1893, however, it was considered too luxurious.
Highlights
of Queen Anne architecture: asymmetrical; textured surfaces;
classical ornament; towers/turrets; wraparound porches;
balconies; art glass; high brick chimneys.
Segregated:
In reference to
ethnicity segregated means set apart or separated from
others of the same kind or group, restricted to members
of one group or one race by a policy of segregation.
Rafters:
Any of the beams
that slope from the ridge of a roof to the eaves and
serve to support the roof.
Reuse:
Further or repeated
use of a building or item for a new purpose.
Richardsonian
Romanesque: Richardsonian
Romanesque is a style named after American architect
H.H. Richardson (1838-1886). Almost every city in the
United States has a building based on the style Richardson
developed, which was especially popular in the late
1880s. Romanesque Revival (see below) buildings had
been built for some time in the United States . Richardsonian
Romanesque buildings were simpler and more massive.
The style was especially popular with Western architects
because it reflected the size and splendor of the western
landscape. Frank Edbrooke and Franklin Kidder were probably
the two Denver architects most familiar with the work
of Richardson having lived in cities that had Richardsonian
buildings. Other architects, such as William Lang and
John J. Huddart, were influenced by publications made
by other architects on Richardson . Typical Romanesque
architecture in Denver uses massive stone walls and
rounded arches on otherwise Victorian or eclectic structures.
Highlights of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture:
heavy, massive, rough-faced stone masonry; carved Romanesque
details; eyebrow dormers; squat towers; round arches.
Stone:
A piece of rock
for a specified function: such as a building block,
a paving block or a precious stone.
Stucco:
A fine plaster used
in decoration and ornamentation, usually made of portland
cement, sand, and a small percentage of lime and applied
on a surface to form a hard covering for exterior walls.
Style:
A distinctive manner
of expression, a particular manner or technique by which
something is done, created, or performed.
Tudor:
Tudor, which should
imply a revival of architecture popular during Tudor
(sixteenth-century) England , actually is loosely based
on a variety of late medieval English prototypes. Some
consider it to be a combination of Jacobean (James I,
1603-1625) and Elizabethan (Elizabeth I, 1558-1603)
architecture and have coined the word "Jacobethan"
to describe it. Unlike the Queen Anne style that preceded
it, Tudor was mainly a masonry or masonry-veneered style.
The first examples of the style were typically large
architect-designed landmarks such as Denver 's Verner
Z. Reed Mansion (1931) by Harry James Manning. During
the 1920's and 1930's, with innovations in brick veneering
techniques, even small inexpensive houses could be built
in the style, and it became extremely popular. Tudor
houses range from large rambling complexes to small
cottages. Nearly every U.S. city boasts a Tudor neighborhood
Highlights
of Tudor architecture include: half-timbering; steep
roof; grouped tall, narrow, multi-paned windows; massive
decorated chimneys; brick.
Turret:
A small tower, usually
corbeled, at the corner of a building and extending
above it.
Vertically:
Perpendicular to
the plane of the horizon or to a primary axis.
Works
Progress Administration:
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a relief
measure established in 1935 by the President in an effort
to ease the brudens created by the Great Depression.
The program offered work to the unemployed on an unprecedented
scale by spending federal money on a wide variety of
programs, including highways and building construction,
slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation.
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