The "Alphabetical Architecture: Part I Of IX" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with my long-time friend Jere about one of the professors we had while students at Millersville State Teachers College.  His name will remain unpublished, but some of his trademarks, or quirks, will be revealed here.  I remember him most for wearing the same tie every day of the semester I had him for Architectural Drawing.  Course was developed to teach those in the Industrial Arts curriculum the basics of architecture, be it home or industrial architecture.  Mr. X would walk up and down between the aisles to examine each student's work and you couldn't help but notice he was wearing the same tie every day of the semester.  But, what I noticed more than that was the tie clasp that he wore with the tie.  It was meant to be fastened to your shirt through a button hole  and have the tie go through the chain attached to the clip.  Instead, he would use the entire clasp to clip his tie to the shirt.  Jere noticed that he seemed to wear the same shirt also, and you could see the stains on the shirt appeared the same place everyday.  But, that's not really the gist of my story today.  I did learn quite a bit about architecture during the class and would like to give you some basic words of wisdom to help you identify what certain structures or parts of that structure may be called.  My local newspaper did something similar by offering architectural elements based on letters of the alphabet.  Took the newspaper over a year to complete the series of stories.  I really enjoyed the articles, but wish they had done what I have decided to do and offer three letters in each edition of "Alphabetical Architecture."  And, my photographs will all be taken in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, my home town.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

"A" - Arches - Needless to say, this may be one of the easiest letters to be able to identify and illustrate.  I have picked two locations in the city which shows examples of arches in their architecture.  An arch is a curved structure that spans an opening and supports weight above by deflecting it to the sides.  The Romans have been given credit for this architectural design, but they really didn't invent it.  Remember the famous aqueduct arcades that transported water long distances across varied terrain?  The eight basic arch designs are: semicircular, segmental, lancet, jack, trefoil, elliptical, horseshoe and Tudor.  Arches allow masonry to span great distances and are typically constructed with brick or cut stone.

The arch, made out of both brick and stone, is part of Lancaster's Police Station.

Arches abound at my home church, St. James Episcopal.

 "R" - Roundel - The roundel describes a round window or small circular panel.  The roundel can be found on walls, windows, dormers, doors, transoms and sidelights.  Roundels are at times called bull's eye, oculus, oeil-de-boeuf, oxeye and circular.  The roundel can also be an opaque disc or circular shape found on a building's facade.  Both of the following photos show the round panels on the top of them.  Both are multi-floor buildings that housed stores at one time.

"T" - Tympanum - This architectural word is pronounced "TIM-pe-nem" and is a rather unusual word for a common architectural and anatomical element.  Tympanum is the decorative wall surface or "filler" found in the triangular or semicircular space above building entrances.  They are mostly found in the pediments of Greek and Roman architecture and may include religious imagery that depicts a story or historic event.

Lancaster County Library on North Duke Street shows the Tympanum on the top of the building.

Decorative filler is found above the front door of Franklin & Marshall's Shadek-Fackenthal Library.