ARCHITECTURE. [This article presents a thematic overview of religious architecture. Monuments associated with prehistoric religious practices are discussed in Megalithic Religion; Paleolithic Religion; and Prehistoric Religions.] Architecture may be...

It is estimated that 90 percent of contemporary human existence takes place within built environments. It is also well known that the onset of illness and death is more rapid and often more prevalent as a result of inadequate shelter than of inadequate...

the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The practice of architecture is employed to fulfill both practical and expressive requirements of civilized people and thus embraces both...

Architecture, which is generally defined as the art and science of designing and constructing edifices of any kind for human use, is one of the main design activities humankind has developed to modify its environment. Architecture is often cited among...

A basic human impulse is to look for patterns in our surroundings. An example is the impulse to find patterns in time. People organize their daily activities around natural rhythms, such as the rising and setting of the Sun. Similarly, people are also...

Art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The practice of architecture emphasizes spatial relationships, orientation, the support of activities to be carried out within a designed...

In architecture, the intersection of lobed or scalloped forms, particularly in arches (cusped arches) and tracery. Thus the three lobes of a trefoil (cloverleaf form) are separated by three cusps. Cusped forms appear in early Islamic work and were...

Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and other physical structures. A wider definition often includes the design of the total built environment from the macro-level of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the...