Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Abacus
(AB a kis, a BACK is)
Parthenon, Athens, Greece Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Museum
A slab forming the crowning member of a capital. It consists of a square block, or one enriched with molding.Abacus: ancient calculating tool using rows of beads
Latin: "abacus" = table, tablet
Greek Doric - square without chamfer or molding
Greek Ionic - thinner with ovolo molding only
Roman Ionic and Corinthian - the sides are hollowed on plan and have the angles cut off
Romanesque - the abacus is deeper but projects less and is molded with rounds and hollows, or merely chamfered on the lower edge
Gothic - the circular or octagonal abacus was favored in England, while the square or octagonal abacus is a French feature
Found in classical Greek and Roman architecture and derivatives, including Beaux Arts Classicism, Classical Revival, Federal, Georgian Revival, Greek Revival, Neoclassicism, Renaissance Revival, Second Empire; also, in Gothic and Gothic Revival
Examples from Buffalo architecture
- Right illustration above: Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Museum (Doric)
- Schoellkopf-Vom Berge Manor (Tuscan)
- Robert B. Adam House (Corinthian)
- Bethlehem Management Club / Brierwood Country Club (Tuscan)
- George K. Birge Mansion (Tuscan)
- Williams-Butler House / Jacobs Executive Development Center (Tuscan)
- Charles W. Goodyear House (Tuscan)
- Frank H. Goodyear Mausoleum (Tuscan)
- St. Frances de Sales RC Church (Romanesque)
- 361 Porter Avenu
- Buffalo Savings Bank / Goldome / M& T Bank Branch (Corinthian)
Other examples:
