Chapter 16, Architecture, examines the "look" of our "built environment," which depends on two different factors—topography, or the physical characteristics of the site; and technology. Both factors historically affected the manner in which we build almost everything—from hamburger stands to skyscrapers.

After reading this chapter you should:

1. know the definitions of key terms associated with architecture including:

   • arch (pointed and round)
   • barrel vault
   • basilica
   • cantilever
   • colonnade
   • column
   • entablature
   • entasis
   • fluting
   • flying buttress
   • groined vault
   • platform
   • pointed arch
   • post-and-lintel
   • revitalization
   • rounded arch
   • shell system
   • skeleton-and-skin system
   • suburb

2. know the basic characteristics of the following construction methods:

   • arch and vault
   • bearing wall
   • cast iron
   • frame
   • lattice beam
   • post-and lintel
   • steel and reinforced concrete
   • suspension

3. recognize that many early forms of architecture mimicked forms that were found in nature.

4. know the Greek orders—Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, and how each one differed in appearance. Associated terms are colonnade, column, entablature, entasis, fluting, and platform.

5. know that the Romans contributed much to architecture, including the refinement of the arch, the development of the vault and dome, the discovery of concrete, and perhaps most importantly, superb engineering.

6. understand the difference between Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

7. see that cast iron construction, which later improved through the development of structural steel, revolutionized architecture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

8. know what the Chicago School was, what caused it, who was in it, and what it meant to twentieth century architecture. You should know what the expression "Form Follows Function" really meant!

9. understand the contributions to International style by Sullivan, Wright, Gropius, le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, and how these architects pushed form and materials to new limits.

10. see how the transition from life in the city to life in the suburbs took place, and who served as a primary catalyst.

11. see how WORKS IN PROGRESS artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles’s Fresh Kills Landfill Project combines both art and reclamation.

12. have an understanding of the contemporary stylistic trend called Postmodernism with its eclectic combination of multiple styles, past and present.

13. see how the infrastructures of many American cities collapsed in the twentieth century, and how revitalization projects began to restore some of them.