Architecture A to Z [Guide to Popular Concepts]

This video introduces and defines common architecture terms from A to Z. It is no secret that architecture is full of jargon and unique vocabulary. This can be the subject of jokes and memes but it can also lead to confusion and frustration. The reliance on jargon is somewhat forgivable - the task of translating complex spatial, geometric, and compositional principles into verbal language is difficult. However, it means that one must invest in learning the language to fully grasp written and verbal communication about buildings. This video helps by providing definitions for 26 common architectural terms in alphabetical order. Terms include: aesthetic, buttress, circulation, diagrammatic, enfilade, fenestration, geodesic, hierarchy, iconic, jamb, kitsch, legibility, morphology, node, ornament, program, quoin, rustication, stereotomy, tectonics, urbanism, yurt, and zeitgeist. Whether you're in architecture school, or an architecture enthusiast, armed with this fundamental vocabulary, you’ll be able to keep up with any architectural conversation.
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_About the Channel_
Architecture with Stewart is a KZbin journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
_About me_
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
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Design With Company: designwith.co
#architecture

[@keggg1234]

For quick reference: A --- Aesthetic B --- Buttress C --- Circulation D --- Diagramattic E --- Enfilade F --- Fenestration G --- Geodesic H --- Hierarchy I --- Iconic J --- Jamb K --- Kitsch L --- Legibility M --- Morphology N --- Node O --- Ornamentation P --- Program Q --- Quoin R --- Rustication S --- Stereotomic T --- Tectonic U --- Urbanism V --- Vernacular W --- Weathering X --- Xylography Y --- Yurt Z --- Zeitgeist

[@stewarthicks]

Thanks for this. The list is also in the description, but not as nicely formatted...

[@singha6]

@@stewarthicks It is a pity that non western architecture is only brought in to explain vernacular although many terms would apply to both western and non western architecture

[@rodgerpiercearchitect]

…you forgot “chubby”…when the client bends over to see and exposes her underpants

[@mar__k]

No Brutalism for B tho?

[@TaylerALong]

​@@mar__kthis video appears to focus on terms, not styles

[@Silvarret]

You know they're a real architect when they mention "zeitgeist" at least once :)

[@mrl9418]

Literary critics too

[@stewarthicks]

Zebras are really in the zeitgeist.

[@mrl9418]

@@stewarthicks "Stripes on zebras: ornament or decoration?"

[@stewarthicks]

@@mrl9418 Hmm, some things are best left unanalyzed...

[@bengilmore5283]

Thank goodness for that. A real estate poser would have went with "Zillow".

[@Orinslayer]

Defenestraton is the act of throwing someone out a window.

[@dovydasgrigas441]

@Fremen if the method of doing so is throwing someone out of a window

[@markrichards6863]

I thought it was throwing them against a fence.

[@DZstudios.]

30 years war

[@cillian_scott]

Something ** not someone

[@rhalfik]

I see you're a man of Czech culture as well.

[@l0_0l45]

Have you ever thought of the architecture of video game level designs? They are purpose built spaces(virtual), meant to convey a certain ambience. Your virtual building walkthroughs kind of remind me of them. A very informative and amazing video though!

[@4.0.4]

Some games actually hire architects - even then, it's usually to make sure buildings make sense. Level design is a field of game development that is separate from the needs and interests of architecture, but I'm sure some architects would find it interesting to dissect such spaces.

[@mitchelllimque2027]

@@4.0.4 The Witness is a great example

[@imadasmone8915]

Very relevant.. As much as I enjoyed this, I would suggest to do a video on architectural styles.. Where I am from, I observed that many students misinterprete words such as organic, modern, style, green etc... if you could take this up, would be great..

[@pras8858]

yesssss please

[@fngprs]

Thats a great idea, maybe in the same format like "arhitectural styles from A to Z"

[@Md2802]

Organic is when you make your building out of carbon.

[@phillipmooseable]

Architecture is a lot more fun when there’s a really cute guy teaching it. Keep making these vids.

[@CS2architecture]

It's nearing 10 years since i graduated from arch school & I'm so happy that i just found this KZbin channel!

[@DianaEstrellaB]

I'm an architect but English isn't my first language so I find these very helpful, I really enjoy your channel and appreciate your work!

[@kiki16br]

I love that you brought up the Geodetic. Other mathematical structures such as paraboloids seem to have been forgotten in the recent years, yet they are extremely aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.

[@studio22a34]

Your channel perfectly fills in the gaps left by architecture schools today. Thank you for doing what you do!

[@ab8jeh]

Just a minor correction, 4:38 Fuller didn't 'invent' the term geodesic, it had been around for years in mathematics, notably investigated by Riemann and used by Einstein in developing relativity. Great video though!

[@g0d5m15t4k3]

Ooooh! Enfilade was a new term for me. I really hadn't consciously realized that museums are a series of rooms. It makes sense now because lots of historic places I've visited were residences turned museums. In my mind, I thought of the series of rooms as very residential and French. And the museum was just working with the existing architecture. But even newly constructed museums follow this same concept! Huh! Love the word! Also, KZbin suggested your channel to me today and I immediately subscribed after watching 1 video. The algorithm knows!

[@stewarthicks]

That all-knowing algorithm. We're all just pawns in its matrix...

[@daviddodds30]

As soon as you said ‘C’ is for Corridor, I knew ‘E’ would be for Enfilade. I still love it when I find this situation in homes. It is so light and airy. I was, however, definitely wrong when it came to predicting which terms you’d use for several of the letters. For some reason, I figured ‘P’ would refer to Palladian (as in a window) or palladiana. Oddly, I’m looking out of one right now as I’m sitting in a suburban AirB&B. Then again, such fenestration references might lead to ‘C’ becoming a modern equivalent, a Chicago window. I also figured ‘T’ would be for Trabeation or Trabeate and ‘A’ would be for Archuation or Arcuate. There are so many terms and so few letters in the alphabet. Good job, as always!

[@sirwilliamwindmill]

Stewart... I've been on a watching spree of your videos.. I really think that you've come up with a great concept.. I've always wanted to learn more about architecture , I'm a filmmaker and this makes so much sense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@harrykendall210]

Love your definition of Weathering as 'visual registration of time'!! so poetic. I will have to look up your referred book. Thanks for the video!

[@stewarthicks]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@wAtSitOri]

Ohmygaadd, you too??? I've posted a similar comment before I scrolled and found your comment. 😀

[@richardpieman]

I live in the south sub of chicago i am a retired body shop mjr .Architecture in chicago always fascinated me thank you for the great vids.

[@wAtSitOri]

I find your definition of "weathering" quite poetic and will therefore be imprinted in my mind. I've never heard it described in that way before. Did you come up with that sir? Beautiful, the way it's put into words. Also, I found an interest in stereotomy, now that you've introduced it to me. Happy, I definitely am.

[@fatoeki]

We use the therm weathering the same way too here at the faculty of architecture in Delft!

[@BartRos1980]

It can be a dense jargon. I am a architecture photographer. And as such havent had any training in the field. Just core design, line and shape principles. This channel has really helped me. And its lovely to watch all these. Even if my interest is mostly Dutch and historical European architecture and stone masonry. Tnx.

[@44drotleff]

I rarely add comments to any video but I have to say your videos are outstanding. Clear, concise, educational. Thank you

[@andykitts]

Very much enjoyed this video which defines the terms so clearly. I live in Edinburgh and there are a lot of examples of rustification, especially for the 'below ground floor' front for tenements prolific in the New Town and other sloping areas. I always wondered what the term for this look was and now I do.

[@danroberts5254]

Great video! I’m a MUPP at UIC and this is both interesting and useful information for planners to communicate with architects. Thanks for posting.

[@VagabondMorrison]

Stewart, thank you so much for existing! This channel is seriously so great!

[@stewarthicks]

Thank you so much!

[@andymejia5437]

just found this channel. Loving it so far

[@ridwan3533]

Finally good quality video explaining architecture from

[@plastic2666]

So dope, cuz there is a lot you can do with a concept! I would love to see you expand on vernacular, like a video on different solutions or the same solution to the same problem or factor would be cool.

[@BigBiLeft]

One word I'm surprised you didn't mention is "Organic"! That was a huge buzz word in my school and one we were constantly corrected.

[@svetline9456]

It's so important video for not native speakers, thank you!

[@leonacollet4051]

I've learnt some new words today; thank you Stewart.

[@stewarthicks]

You are very welcome

[@david_walker_esq]

I was hoping to hear, "H is for Habitable Poché." I remember using it as an example of a typical architectural term while questioning one of my first year architecture professors' use of the term, "interiority" in lecture.

[@tmyhouse]

Was just looking around at different architecture vids, next thing I know I’m listening to a professor from my own school haha. Hopefully I see you around. This vid was super helpful and fun. My fav word was pastiche lol

[@SirGabrielBohrer]

Thank you for this one and please, do more content like this one. I'm a brazillian architect seeking to learn tecnical and professional terms in english. Very inspiring.

[@edasmorante]

I am not an architect, but I would be in my next life. Thanks, Stewart.

[@mattmgarza]

My wife and I went to UIC! Great video!

[@__Mujina__]

The backing rock music spiking up in those transitions is jarring, especially in contrast to your soft spoken delivery.

[@unconventional_magazine]

Awesome video. I'm a game artist, and learning about this terms will help me gather more interesting references for future projects in the gaming industry. Thanks a lot!

[@KiriWiriy]

I reccon you could do one of these vids solely for the vocabulary of collums. I mean it wouldnt be very interesting but i just love how every single contour has a name.

[@stewarthicks]

A is for Anta - A flat, square, column-like structure, usually on either side of a door or the corners of a building's facade. These pilaster-like paired structures, called antae (plural), are really a structural thickening of the wall.

[@702degrees]

omg as a toledo native i was not expecting to see the glass pavilion in this video lol. but regardless it’s a gorgeous building, and the art museum as a whole is great!

[@Josh-yr7gd]

3:02 Did anyone notice the mansion's floor plan showed an area called the "odd room". That's the sort of room we could all use, kind of like a catch-all drawer!

[@SpellboundSpectre]

A study for the abstract

[@bearc]

very useful and great video! thank you so much!

[@brunovitorino3314]

Hello, Stewart. I was reading the other day about IA and architecture, and would like to see a video of yours about it. Love your channel.

[@brplaysm]

i would enjoy learning more about Vernacular Architecture. I'm a 3rd year architecture student and i've heard this term a lot, and would love to hear what you have to say on the matter

[@nareenriyadh6165]

I was waiting for P and thinking maybe it will be "Picturesque" for some reason. "Program" makes more sense I guess. This was really fun and useful.

[@Generallygeneral]

When I was in architecture school the most common rare word was “juxtaposition” every student and profs used it.

[@jaspermolenaar1218]

Interesting distinction between ornamentation and decoration

[@jennifersmith842]

Hello Jasper How are you doing hun

[@AntneeUK]

9:47 I know that building! That's the Moot Hall in Mansfield, a few yards away from the point marked as the geographical centre of Sherwood Forest! Was not expecting to see Mansfield marketplace on one of your videos!

[@louissullivanartist]

I love the Louis Sullivan ornament you displayed. He is my favorite.

[@jennifersmith842]

Hello bill How are you doing

[@lukasallenbaugh4728]

This was very inspiring, thanks for all the time you put into this video!

[@stevengalloway8052]

Excellent presentation of architectural terms. Thank you... 👍

[@kathleenh3975]

I was curious about Buckminster Fuller, so I Googled him, fascinating. Then I Googled his only daughter, Allegra, who was famous in the world of dance choreography. She passed away just last week. This has nothing to do with architecture, of course, but proves that the world is big and small at the same time.

[@maikocarlo]

Loving the vids man! Very helpful and I find myself curious to look up the references you include

[@EmreCanKorkmaz]

B is for 'budget' C is for 'contractor' R is for 'regulations' S is for 'schedule' These are a.k.a _The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse_ for the architects and their design process. 😄

[@JordanSullivanadventures]

Perhaps an odd request, but would you ever showcase some or your students' work on this channel? I would be fascinated to see the next generation of architects' early designs :)

[@ConanDuke]

A is for Ambience. T is for Tensegrity. Y is for Yaldaboath (12:34).

[@SaddamHusain-qo8cl]

Thats very helpful and informative, I wish I was your student in your university.

[@saintmuse12]

I would love to see a video on mass produced housing. Or something that references McMansion Hell.

[@MisterJeffy]

In my experience as an architect and student of architectural history, academic architectural jargoneering is to architecture as musicology is to music.

[@Dev1nci]

Tectonic is one of those word that is sort of contextual (also an architectual word lol) because it has such a wide meaning.

[@antoniopuga7425]

This is the best example for introduce on matter !

[@AbsolutelyPolar]

Video on morphology would be so interesting!

[@sm1522]

too many to remember but interesting to get into the mind of architects

[@camilosanchez9649]

Great video! My only suggestion is to regulate the volume of your voice with the music. Sometimes, in the transitions the music is too loud compared with the volume of your voice. Thats is all. Thanks for the lesson!

[@stewarthicks]

Thanks for the tip!

[@sundaramurthy9214]

Very Informative. Thanks. Please bring out a VIDEO on all types of Architecture such as Gothic, Byzantine, Medieval, Modern and others with illustrations.

[@bisvizstudio1242]

You know someone's an architect when he mentions something like juxtaposition

[@rural_student750]

That art museum at 5:13 was a disaster after it first opened. Twice got flooded and once a fire.

[@abdmuluk]

Good info abt design n architecture

[@ferahgotheassasin]

In Berlin there's a lot of shared apartments and I've seen some listings where the apartment doesn't have a corridor and thus the person living in the end room has to walk through the previous rooms... now I know that's an enfilade!

[@lucdoucet6826]

Also the concept for the American Shotgun House en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shotgun_house_plan.jpg

[@myperspective5091]

I liked that plan diagram from the Seattle library. 👍🏆👍

[@Dev1nci]

Man I hope first-year lecturers are recommending these and Archimarathon's videos to their students. Edit: Which is not to say they are simplistic but that they can give you so much that you struggle to understand in the beginning.

[@ArkMaDuke]

this was the first vid I watch from you, so I was here too

[@inef85]

Zeitgeist, in german is zeit+geist (time + spirit)... Literally the "spirit of the times"

[@kelvinstreater]

Thank you so much for this video! Very insightful and helpful!

[@richardengelhardt582]

Excellent photos to illustrate the vocsabulary

[@pongop]

Very interesting video! Shout out to the Seattle Library!

[@paulbateman858]

Thanks for this Stewart!

[@stewarthicks]

My pleasure!

[@jennifersmith842]

Hello Paul How are you doing

[@ranjanjoshi3454]

Thanks insightful and informative

[@deezeedrone]

I absolutely love this video

[@joshuadavidwallen]

Hi mate, please do a video of books and texts. I loved the book references in this video.

[@philipfisch]

It is such a great video! Thank you very much! Just as a maybe helpful bit of critisizm - the difference between the volume of the music and the volume of the voice was slightly too much for me, listening with the headphones, so that I found myself turning the volume up everytime I wanted to hear the explanation clearly, but then felt blasted with a harmful level of sound when the music came in 😵

[@stewarthicks]

Yeah, its definitely a problem with this one. I've fixed it in my later videos. Thanks for sticking through. Its a learning process for sure.

[@tonejac]

@stewart, A question about "how to design architecture": In graphic design we often will collect all our raw design elements and content onto the screen and begin assembling them into various design explorations based on background requirements, past designs, and raw creativity. Is there an equivalent to this in the architecture design process, specifically when the architect sits down to design the interior spaces and exterior surfaces? Perhaps the answer to this could be a good candidate for a video title: "How to do architecture" :P

[@jennifersmith842]

@tony How are you doing hun

[@dansheppard2965]

That sounds like a primarily tectonic process where individual functional elements are assembled hierarchically, simultaneously from the bottom up and the top down, with the goal of ensuring legibility of the total space within the specific cultural context of the creation. No, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I just watched a video, :-D .

[@DominikNal]

Good video and it's been a while since i've heard that silent partner song in a video :)

[@brentdobson6909]

Nice journey through architecture.

[@GhostedStories]

Tectonic is beautiful!

[@invencibletheory]

The stereotomy part is very interesting!

[@pyrodoll2422]

Great content as always. Where was 11.39?

[@ninariedl174]

Your videos are great.

[@fathmariyadghan728]

Interesting ✨

[@jerrymiller2367]

I understand "tectonic" a little differently: as a direct analogy to the geological meaning of tectonic plates in the earth's surface. Buildings, then, have a monolithic shape that is similar to a rock formation or tectonic plates, especially if they seem to grow out of the earth. An example would be the Frank Lloyd Wright midwestern houses with their horizontal forms that seem like outgrowths of the exposed limestone layers in eroded land. I took an architecture class once, and a (then) somewhat amusing term was "architectonics" that referred to, for example, the general shapes of large buildings that, because of their size or number, cause the individual to relate to them as he would terrain or mountains. It is shape, connected to or part of the earth.

[@the_resourceful]

Good stuff! Thanks✨

[@jaspermolenaar1218]

I regard ‘tectonics’ more as having to do with mass than with frames, analogous to ‘tectonic plates’

[@TrackStarTripleA]

Great Video. Good Job bruh

[@Riyoshi000]

As a public policy manager I was expecting gentrification at G, guess you guys field focuses a bit more on math sciences than social sciences :)

[@tlrflava]

Another brilliant vid thank you

[@artistomkar2660]

6:27 Kitsch

[@Life_Architects_00]

This was awesome! :D

[@Geefriable]

I think you should do an entire video series on YURTS.

[@Josh-yr7gd]

Would you like to have a falafel, an enchilada or an empanada? I'd rather have an enfilade, thank you!

[@anikadadulakova]

Love this!

[@joeson7700]

What will be the Post- APOCALYTIC style & trends in the near future ?.

[@uthmanluqman725]

i love this video but i want to know how to work confidently as a starter in the real working of architecture, outside school