Architecture Glossary

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D

Dado – In classical architecture, the portion of a plinth or pedestal between the base and cornice; also called a die.

Dentil – A small square block used in series in Ionic, Corinthian, Composite, and more rarely Doric Cornices.

Depressed arch - A flattened arch, slightly pointed on top. It appears in Late Gothic of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Diagonal rib - The moldings which mark the diagonals in a rib vault.

Diaper - A pattern formed by small, repeated geometrical motifs set adjacent to one another, used to decorate stone surfaces in architecture and as a background to illuminations in manuscripts, wall painting or panel painting.

Diaphragm arch – A transverse arch across the nave of a church, carrying a masonry gable. Diaphragm arches divide wooden roofs into sections and were probably used to prevent fire spreading.

Dipteral – A term applied to a building with a double row of columns on each side.

Distyle in antis – In classical architecture, a Portico with two columns between pilasters or antae.

Dome – Vault of even curvature on a circular base. The section can be segmental, semicircular, pointed, or bulbous. If a dome is to be erected on a square base, members must be interpolated at the corners to mediate between the square and the circle.

Drop tracery – A border of pendant tracery on the Soffit of a Gothic arch

Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitoria, Batalha, Leira, Portugal

Drops – English term for Guttae.

Architecture Glossay

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