• Students
• How It Works
• Ask The Kids
• More to Explore
• Volunteer Match
• Interest Survey
• Career Exploration
•   >  Accountant
•   >  Architect
•   >  Artist
•   >  Carpenter
•   >  Chef
•   >  Doctor
•   >  Engineer
•   >  Hospitality Manager
•   >  Lawyer
•   >  Musician
•   >  Nurse
•   >  Pilot
•   >  Police
•   >  Programmer
•   >  Scientist
•   >  Social Worker
•   >  Sports Agent
•   >  Teacher
•   >  Veterinarian
•   >  Writer

What Are You Looking At?
Buildings come in many shapes, sizes and materials. Believe it or not, there’s a name for almost every part of every building. Here are ten examples of things found in architecture. (You’ve probably seen some of these before, but did you know they had their own names?)

ATRIUM:
An atrium is a courtyard found on the inside of a home or other building that is open to the sky or covered by a skylight. Because atriums are full of natural light, they are often good places to grow plants indoors.

BALUSTRADE:
A balustrade is a row of repeating posts that support the upper rail of a railing. A single post in a balustrade is called a baluster. You’ve probably seen balustrades under staircase handrails.

CUPOLA:
A cupola is a dome-shaped structure that sits on top of a larger dome or roof. In very old buildings, cupolas were used as lookouts and could be reached by way of a staircase. In younger buildings, cupolas are mostly decorative; they’re often made of stained glass and are usually inaccessible.

EAVE:
An eave is the edge of a roof that hangs over the outer wall of a building. People often stand under eaves to stay out of the rain. Eaves are also called "overhangs."

EMBRASURE:
An embrasure is a very narrow hole in which the opening is wider on the inside than on the outside. An embrasure is not exactly a window; it’s actually designed to be just wide enough for a gun barrel to fit through. A person inside an embrasured building can aim at an enemy on the outside and still be protected behind a wall.

FANLIGHT:
A fanlight is a window shaped like a half-circle that sits over a doorway or another window. A fanlight is often decorated with bars that radiate from a central point on the straight side, so it looks like an open fan.

GABLE:
A gable is a triangular shape formed by the slope of a roofline. Buildings are called front-gabled when the triangle is located on the front, side-gabled when it’s on the side and cross-gabled when there’s one on each side.

GARGOYLE:
A gargoyle is a sculpture or rainspout, usually mounted on a rooftop and carved to look like a monster. Gargoyles were used a lot in the design of Gothic-period cathedrals.

QUATREFOIL:
A quatrefoil is a window shaped like a four leaf clover. It got its name a long time ago in France and is made of two French words: quatre, which means four, and foil, which means leaf in Old French.

SKYLIGHT:
A skylight is a window built into a roof or ceiling to let in extra light from the outside.

• Make sandcastles, build forts and mess with blocks and other construction toys. It’s not just child’s play! These activities can really teach you to think like an architect.
• Carry a sketchpad and draw what’s around you. Study the buildings, bridges and spaces you see. Look for patterns. How are the structures similar and different?
• Work hard in art, math, history and physics classes. Talk with your teachers about projects that can help prepare you for a career in architecture.
• Get your teachers or parents to help you find a local architect who’s willing to talk with you about his or her job. Think of at least five good questions before your meeting.
• Use your library! You’ll find tons of books about buildings, architects and design.
• Search the Internet with keywords: ARCHITECTURE FOR KIDS, CONSTRUCTION FOR KIDS, FAMOUS BUILDINGS and CONTESTS FOR KIDS. You’ll find information, projects, courses and drawing contests that can keep you practicing and preparing your way to a dream career as an architect.

In-and-Out Sides
Take some paper, pencil and a good eraser and find a spot outside where you can sit and look at the exterior of your house or apartment building.

Draw each side of the outside of your house or building. (If you can’t sit outside, try doing your drawing by memory.) Start by drawing the biggest shapes and add the smaller details after. Don’t forget to draw the windows and doors.

Next, go inside and draw your house or apartment as if it had no roof and you were looking down at it from the sky. Figure out which rooms share walls, and which outside wall goes with which inside wall. Mark the doorways and windows with a thick line. When you’re done, write your name and address on the bottom right corner of each of your drawings.

Congratulations! You have made your first "blueprint."

Architects draw blueprints when they are planning the construction of a new space or building. A blueprint acts like a map that architects use to figure out where to put the doorways, walls, windows and anything else a structure may need. 

Q. How did you know you wanted to be an architect?

Oliver L. is an architect who has been designing homes and buildings in New York City since 1998. He says: 

I first realized that I enjoyed architecture when I was 12 years old. I liked to understand the personalities of spaces – be they small or large, light or dark, cold or hot, tall or short. I was also interested in how spaces connected to other spaces. When traveling or visiting friends and family, I was always very curious to see how other people lived. Sometimes I would get home and try to draw the layout, or plan, of a place or building I had just visited, visualizing the spaces while I was drawing them. After a while, I would draw imaginary buildings that seemed like fun places to be.

In my geography classes I was very curious to learn about cities and how they are structured, how buildings are grouped alongside each other or on top of each other to create complex urban structures. I learned that it’s important to understand and study the spaces within buildings, but it’s also necessary to examine the spaces around buildings and how buildings relate to each other and to their surroundings.

In my history classes I was always attracted to studying how various cultures used architecture for social and political structuring. This could be reflected in the attitudes they had toward the artistic style of their houses and public buildings, and the layouts they chose. The styles and layouts were usually drawn from their cultural traditions. Buildings have the power to provide shelter, but also to intimidate or threaten people. Buildings have even influenced important historic events such as wars and the signing of peace treaties!