Elements and Materials

Buttress

Structural Element

Citation Formats

General Reference

Architecture and Design Atlas. "Buttress." Accessed August 29, 2026. https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/elements/buttress.

APA Style

Architecture and Design Atlas. (n.d.). Buttress. Retrieved August 29, 2026, from https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/elements/buttress

BibTeX

@misc{architectureanddesignatlas-buttress,
  author = {Architecture and Design Atlas},
  title = {Buttress},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/elements/buttress},
  note = {Accessed August 29, 2026}
}

A projecting mass of masonry or timber built against a wall to resist lateral thrust, most often the outward push of a vaulted roof. In its plain, solid form the buttress stands directly against the wall it supports; the flying buttress is a later, specialized development that carries the same thrust across open space on an arch to a freestanding pier, letting the wall itself be pierced with large windows.

Facts

Element Kind

Structural Element 1

First Used Era

Ancient and medieval, widespread by the Romanesque period 1

Cross-Tradition Connections