Types

ironworks (factories)

Mills or other buildings where iron or steel is smelted or otherwise processed.

irrigation systems

Artificial systems that water land to supply moisture for plant growth.

islands (landforms)

Landforms smaller than a continent, completely surrounded by water at high water. Islands appear in oceans, seas, lakes, or rivers.

jails (buildings)

Buildings that house places of confinement operated by a local government both for temporary detention of sentenced and unsentenced individuals and for persons serving sentences of less than one year; for longer periods of confinement and more secure than lockups, but less confining and for shorter confinements than prisons.

jails (institutions)

Institutions of a local government having facilities for both temporary detention of sentenced and unsentenced individuals and for persons serving sentences of less than one year; for longer periods of confinement and more secure than lockups, but less confining and for shorter confinements than prisons.

Japanese gardens

Gardens created following the Shinto, Buddhist, or Zen philosophy of the relationship between nature and people and generally characterized by simple asymmetrical designs, dominated by clipped evergreens, often incorporating bridges, rocks, stepping stones, raked gravel, and stone lanterns to create an environment for contemplation and meditation.

judicial buildings

Public buildings used for judicial function.

judicial centers

Communities of any size that are the location for the administration of justice.

junior colleges (buildings)

Buildings that house post-high school institutions which offer a two-year program of study of a terminal nature or in preparation for continued college studies.

junior high schools (buildings)

Buildings that house schools intermediate between elementary school and high school, differing by school district in grades included.

junkyards

Places that collect, store, and often resell junk.

justice centers

Complexes typically comprising a jail, police station, and courthouse, which provide services such as educational classes and treatment programs as means of reform.

juvenile justice centers

Buildings that house justice centers used for the custody and treatment of juvenile offenders.

karst areas

Distinctive landscapes, usually located on soluble rock such as irregular limestone, and characterized by caverns, sinkholes, fissures, ridges, and underground drainage. The term is derived from the Karst region of Slovenia.

keeping rooms

Rooms (often rectangular) at the back of colonial houses in the United States, especially in the Northeast, which served as a combination kitchen, living room, and workroom.

kennels (animal housing)

Establishments where dogs or cats are bred, raised, trained, or boarded.

key pattern

Frets consisting of a relatively continuous series of rectilinear hook shapes, sometimes crossing each other.

keystones

Central wedge-shaped voussoirs in arches or vaults; also, similar elements used as ornaments on the heads of doors or windows.

kilns

Furnaces, ovens, or heated enclosures for drying, charring, hardening, baking, or burning various materials.

kindergartens (buildings)

Buildings that house schools serving pupils in the year prior to their entering the first grade, typically at age five.

king-post trusses

Triangular frames with a vertical central strut (the king post) extending from apex to tie beam.

kiosks

Small, freestanding structures either open or partially enclosed, where merchandise is displayed, advertised, or sold.

kitchen gardens

Private gardens established primarily for growing vegetables and herbs for domestic consumption.

kitchenettes

Small rooms or alcoves fitted with the essential conveniences of a kitchen.

kitchens

Rooms intended for the preparation and cooking of food.

kivas

Pueblo Indian buildings used as men's clubhouses and for ceremonial and social activities.

knot gardens

Intricately designed gardens in which ground cover, low shrubs, or colored earths are arranged in interlacing patterns resembling knots.

labor camps

Refers to penal colonies where the prisoners are obliged to undertake heavy labor. Refers also to residential camps for migratory workers.

laboratories

Rooms, buildings, or groups of buildings equipped with apparatus for scientific experiments or other research, testing, and investigations.

labyrinths (built works)

Structures of any material having a plan consisting of a number of intercommunicating passages arranged in bewildering complexity, through which it is difficult or impossible to find one's way without guidance. The term was derived from structures so-named in classical Antiquity, perhaps derived from "labrys" (Greek for "double axe" or "place of the double axes"), because the structures were labeled with the sign of a double-axe. The earliest use of the term is usually associated with the mythical labyrinth at Knossos, Crete, in which Theseus killed the Minotaur.

lady chapels

Major chapels dedicated to the Virgin Mary, usually located in the axis of a church at its east end.

lagoons (bodies of water)

Bodies of shallow water separated from the sea by a barrier, such as a sandbar or coral reef.

lake channels

Navigable parts of lakes between islands, shoals, etc.

lake dwellings

Dwellings constructed in lakes on artificial islands or along lakesides often on wooden platforms over marshy ground, characteristic of prehistoric Europe, especially Switzerland, northern Italy, Ireland, and Scotland.

lakefronts

Spaces, land, or part of a city or town on the edge of a lake.

lakes (bodies of water)

Bodies of fresh or salt water surrounded by land.

lakeshores (landforms)

Refers to land that verges on a lake. In extended use the term is used to describe administrative regions or landmasses on or in the vicinity of a lake, or recreational areas that include lake access.

lampposts

Posts usually supporting outdoor lamps or lanterns.

lanais

Living spaces open in part to the outdoors.

lancet arches

Pointed arches whose curves are struck from centers farther apart than the span of the arch.

lancet windows

Slender windows with lancet arches at the top, common in Gothic architecture.

landfills

Dumps where refuse is collected, usually low-lying ground, and often as a means to reclaim the land.

landings (marine structures)

Refers to various structures built for loading or unloading goods or embarking or disembarking passengers onto and off of watercraft.

landings (stair components)

The platforms between flights of stairs, or at the termination of a flight of stairs.

landmark buildings

Buildings that serve as points of reference because their height, siting, distinctive design, use, historic significance, or other feature sets them apart from surrounding buildings. Examples may include churches and town halls.

landmarks

Conspicuous monuments, fixed objects, or markers that serve as guides in the direction of one's course, characterize a neighborhood, or establish the location of land boundaries or property.

landscape architecture (discipline)

Branch of architecture concerning the design of the scenic environment, including the development and planting of all types of planned outdoor green spaces, often with accompanying structures and roadways, outdoor public areas, landmarks, and structures with the aim of creating a natural setting for human structures and settlements. For the planning discipline concerned with the physical environment and any and all human involvement with it, with the objective of assuring proper habitat for people, animals, and plants and the resources on which they depend, use "environmental design." For the development and decorative planting of gardens and grounds in particular, use "landscape gardening."

landscape gardens

Grounds laid out so as to produce the effect of natural scenery.

landscapes (environments)

Broadly used to describe portions of the earth's surface that share common repeating characteristics that can be comprehended at a glance. Landscapes are more than scenery or political units; they are systems of natural and cultural contexts. If possible use a more specific term.

lanterns (lighting devices)

Lighting devices, fixed or portable, designed to protect and enclose the light source, usually with sides of glass, horn, pierced metal, paper, or other material, allowing light to emerge and often having a supporting frame, hanging device, or carrying handle. They may be purely utilitarian or decorative, sometimes having ceremonial significance.

lanterns (roof appendages)

Windowed superstructures crowning a roof or dome, and serving to give light or air to the space below; the term is also used to refer to such structures, whether or not they provide light. For small structures built on the ridges of roofs, common in American architecture, use "cupolas."

Latin cross plan

Plan of buildings and cities in the shape of a Latin cross, having three short arms and one long arm.

latrines

Detached structures in public contexts containing one or more seats and a pit serving as toilets; distinguished from "outhouses" which are similar structures in domestic contexts. For rooms that are within buildings and have such simple facilities, use "privies."

lattices

No description is available for this term.

launch complexes

Facilities at which rocket, missile, or spacecraft launches are conducted, usually having launch pads, equipment, and various buildings.

laundries (businesses)

Commercial establishments where laundering is done.

lavatories (rooms)

Rooms containing a sink and toilet, but neither tub nor shower.

law schools (buildings)

Buildings that house graduate schools that teach law and the legal profession, with the object of producing professional lawyers, scholars of law, or other professionals.

lawn cemeteries

Cemeteries characterized by open expanses of turf with flush markers, particularly those dating from the late 19th-century.

lawns (landscaped grass)

Areas of cultivated grass or other ground cover maintained for aesthetic quality or recreation.

leaded lights

Pieces of glass, usually rectangular or lozenge-shaped, set into lead cames to form a window.

lean-tos

Freestanding structures with a single-pitched roof leaning against two posts or trees. For similarly roofed minor structures built against the side of buildings use "appentices."

lecture halls

Large rooms with fixed seating, designed for lectures. For large rooms designed for activities such as concerts or plays and requiring a large stage, see "auditoriums."

legislative buildings

Buildings housing the legislative bodies of a government.

levees

Embankments built to prevent flooding of low-lying land. For embankments built to control or retain flood waters of rivers or seas, use "dikes."

libraries (buildings)

Buildings set apart to contain books for reading, study, or reference, typically with shelves containing books and tables and seating for users of the library.

libraries (institutions)

Institutions that curate a collection of books, periodicals, and other materials, organized to provide physical, bibliographic, and intellectual access by the public or members of a group.

libraries (rooms)

Rooms located in homes or other buildings and containing books for reading, study, or reference, typically with shelves for the books and a desk or table for users of the library.

libraries (rooms)

Rooms located in homes or other buildings and containing books for reading, study, or reference, typically with shelves for the books and a desk or table for users of the library.

library

No description is available for this term.

life-saving stations

Buildings erected in coastal areas to house men, lifeboats and equipment to aid shipwreck victims; usually maintained by volunteers or government agencies.

lift bridges

Bridges with a section or sections lifted vertically between towers by counterweights or cables.

light courts

Courts or recesses serving primarily to provide light or ventilation to windows along the walls; for very small courts used primarily for ventilation, use "air shafts."

light stations

Complexes consisting of a light house and various support buildings and structures, such as keepers quarters, boathouses, fog signals, cisterns, and workshops.

light wells

Shafts designed to admit light to the interior rooms of a building.

lighthouses

Towers or other structures equipped with a powerful light or lights (originally a signal fire) at the top, erected at important or dangerous points on or near the coast for the guidance of mariners.

lights (window components)

Describes the compartments of windows or window sashes through which daylight may pass; for the divisions of openings each consisting of a single plate of glass, use "panes (architectural elements)."

lime kilns

Furnace-type apparatus, usually long, tilted cylinders, that are slowly rotated; used to heat calcium carbonate above 900 degrees centigrade to produce lime.

limeworks

Processing facilities for making lime, historically consisting of rows of lime kilns, tracks, and associated mine structures.

limited access highways

Roads for which points of entrance and exit for traffic are controlled by limiting the number of access roads.

linear accelerators

Designates structures in which electrons, protons, or heavy ions are accelerated along a straight line by the action of alternating voltages.

listed buildings

In the United Kingdom, buildings placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. Such buildings are deemed to have unique architectural or historical importance, as identified through periodic surveys; they are protected from demolition or alteration.

livery stables

Stables that board horses and carriages for hire.

living history museums

Open-air museums in which archaeological evidence and scholarly research inform the reconstruction, restoration, or recreation of the original site.

living rooms

Rooms in contemporary residences used for entertaining guests, reading, watching television, or other activities, generally more formal than a den but serving a wider range of activities than a 19th-century parlor.

loading docks

Areas specially equipped for loading and receiving items onto and from motor vehicles or railroad cars parked adjacent.

lobbies

Large halls serving as entrance spaces in public buildings or as anterooms, especially to legislative chambers. For entrance spaces in private houses, use "entrance halls."

local historic districts

Historic districts established and maintained by local units, such as a county, city, village, or township.

locker rooms

Rooms equipped with lockers, often having showers and toilets and sometimes used as dressing rooms, as in clubhouses and gymnasiums.

lockkeepers' houses

Houses placed at canal locks to provide basic shelter for the lockkeeper.

locks (hydraulic structures)

Enclosed chambers with gates at each end connecting higher and lower sections of artificial waterways for transferring watercraft from one level to another.

lodges (caretakers' houses)

Subordinate buildings on the grounds of estates or parks used as the individual dwellings for employees, such as caretakers or gatekeepers. For structures located at the entranceway to the grounds, and which may or may not contain habitation spaces, use "gatehouses."

lodges (Native American structures)

Use generally to refer to various types of Native North American dwellings and ritual buildings, usually with regard to Plains Indians tribes; when possible use a more specific term.

lodges (public accommodations)

Main buildings of some resorts or public parks containing accommodations and other public facilities.

lodges (temporary residences)

Self-contained residences generally set in forests or other wilderness areas and designed for temporary, short-term use during special events, such as while on hunting or fishing excursions.

lodging houses

A house, other than an inn or hotel, in which rooms are rented.

loft buildings

Buildings of several floors with large areas of unobstructed space, originally rented for light industrial purposes and now frequently converted to residential occupancy.

lofts (upper level floors)

Large upper-level floor spaces directly below the roof of commercial buildings or warehouses, originally unpartitioned but often modified for secondary use; may also be used for domestic sleeping or storage platforms set close to ceilings or roofs and open to and overlooking a living space below. For enclosed spaces under sloping roofs, between the roof and the ceiling of the uppermost story, especially in houses, use "attics (interior spaces)." For substantial interior spaces at the level of an upper story, usually extending the full length or width of rooms, use "galleries (upper level spaces)."

log (wood)

The unhewn portion of a felled tree, including a length cut off for use as firewood, construction, or another purpose.

log cabins (houses)

Distinguished from "log houses" by being generally more crudely built of timbers left round and joined at the corners by overlapping saddle-shaped notches.