cornice

(noun)

The topmost architectural element of a building, projecting forward from the main walls, originally used as a means of directing rainwater away from the building's walls.

Related Terms

Examples of cornice in the following topics:

  • Buddhist Rock-Cut Architecture

    • A great deal of decorative sculpture—intricately carved columns and reliefs, including cornices and pilaster—are found here.
    • A great deal of decorative sculpture—intricately carved columns and reliefs, including cornices and pilaster—are found in the Ajanta Caves.

  • Academic Architecture

    • Slightly overscaled details, bold sculptural supporting consoles, rich deep cornices, swags and lavish sculptural enrichments, all flourished in the Beaux-Arts style, as demonstrated in the Opera Garnier in Paris .

  • Chicago School of Architecture

    • The first floor functions as the base, the middle stories, usually with little ornamental detail, act as the shaft of the column, and the last floor or so represent the capital, with more ornamental detail and capped with a cornice.

  • Michelangelo

    • Above them the huge cornice ripples in a continuous band, giving the appearance of keeping the whole building in a state of compression .

  • Spanish Architecture in the Baroque Period

    • If one removed the intricate maze of broken pediments, undulating cornices, stucco shells, inverted tapers and garlands from the rather plain wall it is set against, the building's form would not be affected in the slightest.

  • Romanesque Architecture: The Church of Saint-Lazare

    • The nave elevation is composed of three levels: grand arcade, triforium, and clerestory, each marked by a cornice.

  • Renaissance Architecture in Rome

    • Key Renaissance architectural features of the main facade include the alternating triangular and segmental pediments that cap the windows of the piano nobile, the central rusticated portal, and Michelangelo's projecting cornice which throws a deep shadow on the top of the facade.