Architecture Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A sports hall needs a broad, column-free interior using relatively lightweight linear members. Which system is especially suitable for spanning the roof?
A load-bearing partition
A triangulated truss
An isolated footing
A cavity wall
2. A balcony projects beyond a building with no columns or braces beneath its outer edge. Which structural form does it use?
A barrel vault
A cantilever
A tensile membrane
A flying buttress
3. What is a clerestory?
A covered walkway surrounding an internal courtyard
A small room attached to a church entrance
A stone screen dividing a nave from an altar
A high section of wall containing windows above adjacent roofs or spaces
4. In a cool Northern Hemisphere climate, which orientation generally gives a main living space the best opportunity to collect winter sunlight?
Toward true north
Toward true south
Toward true east only
Toward true west only
5. A mason is constructing a semicircular stone arch. Once the temporary support is removed, how are most loads carried through the arch?
By compression through the wedge-shaped units toward the supports
By tension along the underside of the arch
By bending concentrated at the keystone alone
By vertical suspension from the wall above
6. Which trio corresponds to the architectural principles traditionally associated with Vitruvius?
Firmness, utility, and delight
Mass, surface, and space
Form, function, and economy
Rhythm, symmetry, and hierarchy
7. Which architect designed Villa Savoye near Paris?
Le Corbusier
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Alvar Aalto
Frank Lloyd Wright
8. A small public building is planned on a site that experiences periodic shallow flooding. Which early design response most directly reduces water entering occupied rooms?
Use darker exterior cladding near the ground
Add larger windows at ground level
Place mechanical equipment in a basement
Raise the occupied floor above the expected flood level
9. What is the main structural purpose of a flying buttress in a Gothic cathedral?
To support the floor directly beneath the nave
To suspend the roof from exterior cables
To transfer lateral vault thrust outward to an external pier
To distribute column loads across a timber raft
10. The name Brutalism is closely linked to the French phrase “béton brut.” What does that phrase mean?
Monumental structure
Heavy geometry
Raw concrete
Fortified building
11. In a warm climate, which arrangement most directly supports natural cross-ventilation in a room?
Operable openings on different sides of the room, aligned with airflow
A skylight with every wall opening closed
One small opening beside a sealed internal wall
Fixed glazing across a single facade
12. An architect needs to show floor-to-floor heights, stair relationships, and spaces as if the building were cut vertically. Which drawing should be prepared?
A site plan
A reflected ceiling plan
A section
An exterior perspective
13. A tall office building has a lightweight glass exterior attached to its structural frame. What is this exterior system commonly called?
A load-bearing masonry wall
A party wall
A curtain wall
A retaining wall
14. An abandoned railway station is converted into a library while much of its original structure is retained. What is this approach called?
Facadism
Modular prefabrication
Greenfield development
Adaptive reuse
15. In which country was the Bauhaus school founded?
France
Germany
The Netherlands
Austria
16. Which feature most clearly distinguishes a classical Doric column from Ionic and Corinthian columns?
A shaft formed from clustered slender columns
A capital decorated with paired spiral volutes
A capital covered with carved acanthus leaves
A plain, cushion-like capital and traditionally no separate base in the Greek order