Clinker brick – received by burning of lime and iron clays, lime and magnesia clays or iron clays at a temperature of approx. 1300°C, but without vitrifying the surface. Clinker is a building and road material and its properties are mostly determined by the content of calcium oxide in clay.
Mansard roof – a hipped roof made of two roof slopes separated by cornice. A mansard roof can be either a gable roof (with two slopes) or a hip roof (with four slopes). It was named after François Mansart (1598 – 1666), who was a French Baroque architect. Mansart popularised this structural solution and included the attic in the usable area of the building.
Eclecticism in architecture – a style in which one building incorporates a free mixture of elements, often not matching, selected from other architectural styles.
Historicism in architecture – one of the trends in 19th century architecture drawing inspiration from reproducing historic styles. It was a non-creative and eclectic trend characterised by the lack of effort to create a style matching the current historic and social situation and by the imitation of the grand historic styles in art and architecture.
Candelabrum – a large decorative standing candlestick holder with multiple arms; mostly popular in the 18th century; made of metal, wood, or china, often richly ornamented. Famous candelabras were made at Ph. Thomire's studio in Paris in the early 19th century.
Cartouche – ornamental framing of a coat of arms, emblem, monogram, inscription or painting; also, an ornamental motif of a decorative shield. Since the early Renaissance it has been one of the most popular ornamental motifs in architecture.
Renaissance Revival (also Neo-Renaissance) – a trend in 19th century historicist architecture, making formal reference to Renaissance architecture. It was most significant in the 1870s – 1890s. The Neo-Renaissance style was mostly applied to public utility buildings such as: banks, city halls, railway stations or schools, but also many tenement houses.
Pilaster – a slightly projecting flat column built into or applied to the face of a wall. A pilaster performs both a structural function (as a supporting column) and ornamental function (articulating the wall).
Plating – coating metal objects with thin layers of other, nobler metals, e.g. aluminium on a copper base, common steel, nickel and its alloys. The coatings are most frequently applied by hot rolling.
Arcades – lower part of building, opening to the outside, limited by posts or pillars along the wall face, not higher than two storeys. Arcades are used with regard to the spatial arrangement of buildings and for utility reasons.
Sgraffito – a technique of wall decor produced by applying layers of plaster or clay tinted in contrasting colours and scratching fragments of the top layers. Through exposing the previously applied layers a two- or multi-coloured pattern is formed.
Stucco – a decorative plaster made from a mix of gypsum, lime and fine-grained sand or marble dust; it is easily mouldable and quick-setting. Stucco is often coloured with various pigments and applied on the ground (walls and architectural elements), then smoothed and polished when dry.
Moorish style – a style in architecture developing from the 12th until the 18th century under the influence of Islamic art, drawing inspiration mainly from the architecture of the Ottoman Empire and Moorish Andalucía. In the 19th century, deriving from the Romanticist interest in the Orient, the Moorish Revival style emerged, classified as a historicist trend.
Stuccowork – sculpted ornaments typical of interior design (including stucco, ornaments, cornices inside buildings), made of gypsum or polyester resin, often cast and assembled to the ground (walls, ceilings).
Vestibule – a spacious, glamorous lobby, atrium or hall at the entrance to a palace, mansion, public utility building, etc., connecting the main entrance to the interior of the building.