by Michael R. Allen
Forget what a caryatid is? Can’t remember if a dripstone and a hoodmold are one in the same?
Well, the exhaustive Illustrated Architecture Dictionary from Buffalo, New York, will answer your questions with its exhaustive list of architectural terms. Each definition is illustrated with an example from buildings in Buffalo.
The dictionary is part of a network of websites edited by members of the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier (which runs the Buffalo Architectural Center and the Preservation Coalition of Erie County. Thanks to the dedicated folks in Buffalo, there is more information about the history of Buffalo architecture on the Internet that there is about that of almost any other American city. And visitors to the city can partake of the many exhibits, lectures and tours offered at the Architectural Center. Through their inter-related projects, Buffalo architectural historians have created an interpretive model for other mid-sized American cities.
(Thanks to Lynn Josse for sending me the link to the dictionary.)