Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
.......................... Illustrated FURNITURE Glossary

Buttress
BUTT ris

Pier buttress
Scroll buttress
Flying buttress
SEPARATE ENTRY


A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement to resist the pressure of a arch or vault

Old French: "bouter" = to bear against

Commonly found in Gothic and Gothic Revival architecture

Types of buttresses: Pier ... Flying ... Scroll ... Curved ... Triangular

Scroll(ed) buttresses (right illustration above) flourished in throughout the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

See also: Church Vocabulary


Examples from Buffalo architecture:

Other examples:


Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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