海角大神

Last week鈥檚 column considered 鈥�150 Weird Words That Only Architects Use,鈥� as compiled by the architecture website Archdaily.com.

Some of the buzz around the list suggests that many of these 鈥渨eird words鈥� are a lexicon of blather that architects use to snow clients and planning boards when they鈥檙e seeking approval of a design.

But the list of 鈥渨eird words鈥� also includes some quite concrete vocabulary: terms such as mullion and muntin and even stylobate.

The language of architecture and construction is full of terms that, while quite simple, are nonetheless rich in metaphorical possibilities: door, window, roof, ceiling, basement 鈥� or cellar. Where would sportswriters be if they couldn鈥檛 refer to the home team at the bottom of the standings as 鈥渃ellar dwellers鈥�?

But another type of architectural vocabulary has a different appeal to the lover of words. It鈥檚 language that isn鈥檛 a source of metaphor; it satisfies by providing just the right word.

When you call someone a 鈥減illar of the community,鈥� you draw on a mental image of an architectural element that supports the weight of a whole structure (and also has a tendency to bulge in the middle, which may also happen to people who have reached the stage in life when they achieve 鈥減illar鈥� status).

But you wouldn鈥檛 call someone a 鈥減ilaster鈥� of the community. A pilaster is 鈥渁n upright architectural member,鈥� to quote part of Merriam-Webster鈥檚 definition, but rectangular, not round; part of a wall, not free-standing; and often ornamental, not load-bearing.

So what about muntin, mullion, and stylobate? Muntins are the strips that separate panes of glass in a sash. Mullions are vertical strips that separate the windows. Stylobate sounds daunting, but, according to Merriam-Webster, is 鈥渁 continuous flat coping or pavement supporting a row of architectural columns.鈥� The word has Greek roots, and the underlying metaphor seems to be that of 鈥渢he path a row of columns walks along.鈥�

Sometimes homeowners don鈥檛 realize they even have this or that architectural doodad until the term for it appears on a contractor鈥檚 estimate: That鈥檚 how soffit got etched into my consciousness, as my neighbors and I arranged for repairs of last winter鈥檚 storm damage. Fortunately our modillions didn鈥檛 need repair, but I鈥檓 glad to know that term, too: It refers to the ornamental brackets under a cornice.

For those who don鈥檛 know their astragals from their aedicules, there are a number of visual glossaries available online, including one from the Chicago Architecture Foundation. That鈥檚 where I recently learned, among other terms, acroteria, 鈥渢he pedestal and sculpture at the top and lower sides of a triangular pediment; originally found in ancient Classical buildings,鈥� but in our own day also in such places as Chicago鈥檚 postmodern Harold Washington Library Center.聽

Words are tools, and part of the magic of language is finding exactly the right term for a specific thing 鈥� like finding just the right tiny Phillips screwdriver to turn a particular tiny screw.