An illustrated dictionary of architecture.
One word, drawn and explained.

Each entry is a short film: a part of a building, drawn from a 3D model in pencil and marker and taken apart until it explains itself. Around each entry sit its cousins, the same idea under other names in other places.

The films

Nº 001 · Film out

cumba

A room that borrows space from the street.

Nº 002 · Coming

engawa

An edge that joins a house to its garden.

Nº 003 · Coming

badgir

A tower that catches the wind.

Nº 004 · Coming

hórreo

A granary that stands on tiptoe.

Nº 005 · Coming

pilotis

Columns that give the ground back.

Nº 006 · Coming

flying buttress

An arm that holds a wall from outside.

Nº 007 · Coming

impluvium

A pool that drinks the rain.

B

Nº 008 · Coming

brise-soleil

Sunglasses for a building.

M

Nº 009 · Coming

mashrabiya

A window that breathes.

D

Nº 010 · Coming

dogtrot

A house split by the breeze.

Index

B

  • badgir Nº 003 A tower that catches the wind.
  • barjeel the Gulf The windtower of the Arabian Gulf coast.
  • brise-soleil Nº 008 Sunglasses for a building.
  • buttresses Hagia Sophia, Istanbul The massive solid buttresses around Hagia Sophia.

C

  • cumba Nº 001 A room that borrows space from the street.

D

  • dogtrot Nº 010 A house split by the breeze.

E

  • engawa Nº 002 An edge that joins a house to its garden.
  • espigueiro Portugal The raised granary of northern Portugal.

F

H

  • hayat Anatolia The open, roofed living space of the traditional Anatolian house.
  • hórreo Nº 004 A granary that stands on tiptoe.
  • howz Iran The pool at the centre of a Persian courtyard.

I

  • impluvium Nº 007 A pool that drinks the rain.
  • impluvium house Igbo, Nigeria A West African house built around an open central rain basin.

J

  • jali India A pierced stone or timber screen.
  • jharokha Rajasthan A projecting, enclosed stone balcony of Rajasthani buildings.

L

  • loggia Italy A covered gallery open to the air on one or more sides.
  • louvred shutters Mediterranean Hinged shutters with angled slats.

M

  • malqaf Cairo The Egyptian windcatcher: a roof scoop facing the prevailing wind.
  • mashrabiya Nº 009 A window that breathes.
  • mungh Sindh The roof wind scoop of Hyderabad, Sindh.

O

  • oriel Europe A bay window that projects from an upper floor.

P

  • patio fountain Córdoba The fountain at the heart of a Córdoba courtyard house.
  • pilotis Nº 005 Columns that give the ground back.

Q

  • Queenslander Australia The timber house of Queensland, raised on stumps.

R

  • rawshan Jeddah The projecting timber window of the Hejaz.

S

  • shanasheel Baghdad The latticed timber oriel window of Iraq.
  • stabbur Norway The Norwegian farm storehouse, lifted on posts.
  • staddle barn England A granary raised on mushroom-shaped staddle stones.
  • stepped rings Pantheon, Rome The rings of masonry stepped around the base of the Pantheon's dome.
  • stilt house Southeast Asia A house raised on posts above ground or water.

V

  • veranda India A roofed, open platform along the outside of a house.