Architectural

Pertaining to architecture, or to the art of building; that is, according to the rules of architecture. Architecture, n . [See ARCHITECT.] The art or science of building according to certain proportions and rules determined by the character and future appropriation of the edifice to be erected. It bears different denominations, according to the purposes for which it is applied. When called Civil A. , it has for its object the construction of any public or particular buildings intended to meet the requirements of social man. This cla of A. may be subdivided into domestic , rural , and monumental, agreeably to any particular object it has in view. Mili tary A. relates to the erection of works nece ary to the defence or attack of a town or territory. See FORTIFICATION.- Naval A. has for its object the construction of marine ve els, whether intended for purposes of war or commerce. See SHIP-BUILDING. - Hydraulic Architecture signifies the art of conducting and retaining bodies of water; as also that of the formation of structures nece ary for the same purpose. See AQUEDUCT; BRIDGE; CANAL, . We have here but to treat of civil A., and more especially of momumental and religious A. , at all epochs, and of all nations; because it is in the erection of religious edifices that the architect has displayed all the resources of his art; and that with every religious system there has invariably been a corresponding architectural system, forming both its symbol and its material realization. A. constitutes a veritable art, but this is only when a people or nation shall have arrived at a certain point of civilization, wealth, and luxury. In its original design, we can consider it but as an industrial pursuit, which had for its object the providing of a shelter for mankind against the inclemency of the seasons. And, whatever may be the perfection to which the state of A. has attained in any country, there is always found certain characteristic features belonging to it that reveal the first principles of its origin. It is also found that writers generally agree in recognizing three different types of A. , of which every one relates to the three different estates of the human race. The oldest people were shepherds, agriculturists, and hunters. The first of these led an errant and migratory existence, and tended their flocks in the more fertile plains. They were consequently obliged to provide themselves with such movable dwellings as it would be practicable to carry with them during their peregrinations. They accordingly invented the tent , which forms the evident type of all Chinese A .; the inhabitants of that country, in common with all the Tartar tribes, being originally nomads, or. in other words, shepherds, and cenobites , that is to say, dwellers in tents. On the other hand, the agriculturist, finding himself under the nece ity of fixing his permanent habitation in the country of his choice, was obliged to build a homestead sufficiently strong and commodious to shelter not only himself and family, but also his herds and harvests. The hut or cottage with sloping roofs was the first result of this nece ity. As for those people who lived by the chase, or by fishing, their mode of life, in ince antly roaming over mountains and forest countries, suggests the belief that they were contented to take shelter in such natural excavations as the rocks might present to them, or to dig cavities called barrows , in which they domiciled. This manner of habitation may be judged from the ruins of Petra, ( F 181,) on the S. of the Dead sea, in Arabia Petræa. A i together, we ought not to believe that the art of A. in any country has reference to any unique principle or type; because, if the Chinese system of A. be derived from a tent, that of Greece from the primitive hut, and that of India from subterraneous excavations, others will admit that Egyptian A. proceeds from a combination of these two last principles. It is impo ible, in the actual state of science, to fix exactly for such remote periods the chronology of A .; neither does the general plan of this work permit of a condensed general article on its history. Fig . 181.- RUINS OF PETRA. ( Arabia . ) We will, therefore, give only such a sketch of the principal orders as will enable the reader to refer to the various names under which will be found all that is important to know of the A. of any country. To Greece we are indebted for the three principal orders of A. , the Doric , the Ionic , and the Corinthian ; Rome added two others, both formed out of the former, the Tuscan and the Composite. Each of these has a particular expre ion; so that a building, or any parts of one, may be rude, solid, neat, delicate, or gay, accordingly as the Tuscan, the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, or the Composite are employed. The columns of these several orders are easily distinguishable to common observers, by reason of the ornaments that are peculiar to their capitals; but the scientific difference consists in their proportions. The Tuscan order is characterized by its simplicity and strength. It is devoid of all ornament. The Doric is enlivened with ornaments in the frieze and capital. The Ionic is ornamented with the volute scroll, or spiral horn; its ornaments are in a style of composition betwixt the plainne of the Doric and the richne of the Corinthian. The Corinthian is known by its capital being adorned with two sorts of leaves; between these rise little stalks, of which the volutes that support the highest part of the capital are formed. The Composite is nearly the same as the Corinthian, with an addition of the Ionic volute. In their private buildings the Roman architects followed the Greeks; but in their public we must mention the illustrious names of Bramante, Michael-Angelo Buonarotti, Rafaelle, San-Gallo, Balthasar Peruzzi, Giacondo, San-Michel i, Vignola, Serlio, and Am manati. The style of that epoch has received the distinguishing title of Renai ance. We need not further pursue this sketch of the history of A. , as the innumerable buildings erected within the two last centuries in Europe and in America are well known to every one; and it belongs more peculiarly to a special treatise, in which to criticize the tendencios exhibited by the A. of this period. Besides, the modern A. presents no idiosyncratic character which would permit us to give to it a particular name; as, for a long time past, it has continued to imitate, with more or le skill, all the antique monuments and works of the great masters of the art who lived in the 15th and 16th centuries.See ARABIAN; BYZANTINE; CELTIC; CHINESE; COMPOSITE; CORINTHIAN; DORIC; EGYPTIAN; GOTHIC; INDIAN; IONIC; NORMAN; RENAISSANCE; ROMAN; RUSTIC; SAXON; TUSCAN: . See Fergu on's History of Architecture. Ar'chitrave, n . [Fr., from Gr. archos , chief, and Lat trabs, a beam. The lower of the three principal members of the entablature of an order; being, as its name imports, the chief beam employed in it, and resting im mediately on the columns. It is sometimes called epi stylum, from epi , upon, and stylos , column. The height of the A. varied in the different orders, as also in different examples of the same order.- A . cornice , an entablature consisting of an A. and cornice only, without the interposition of a frieze. It is never used with columns or pilasters, unle through want of height.- A . of a door or window , a collection of members and mouldings round either, used for the decoration of the aperture. The upper part, or lintel, is called the traverse; and the sides, the jambs . Ar'chives, n . pl . [Fr.; Gr. archei on , from arc he , begin ning, origin.] A collection of written documents, con taining the rights, privileges, claims, treatises, const i tutions, ., of a family, corporation, community, city, or country; also, the place where such records are kept. The A. of the U. States are easily acce ible, and proper recommendation will open them to any one who wants to use them for scientific purposes.