Glossary · H
Horseshoe arch
Also called horseshoe arches
An arch whose curve continues beyond the semicircle, so that the opening is narrower at the springing than at its widest; characteristic of Visigothic and Moorish Spain and the Maghreb.
See also: Alfiz
Rules that use the word
Arches on arches: height from short columns. Where the available columns are too short for the height you want, stand a pier on each column and carry the roof on a second, upper tier of arches, bracing the piers with a lower tier of horseshoe arches.
The horseshoe arch. Carry the curve of the arch beyond the semicircle, so that the opening at the springing is narrower than its greatest width.
Where it appears in the book
In the chapters The Arch, The Islamic World.
A feature of Moorish (Western Islamic) architecture.
Nearby in the glossary
Herringbone brickwork · High-Tech · Hip · Hood mould · Hortus conclusus · Hyperbolic paraboloid · Hypocaust · Hypostyle