#Entablature September 10

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September 2026 several of us are going to take on the 30-Day Architectural Coach4aday Challenge each day, we will define an architectural term and provide examples of where it is located. This challenge will let observation, travel, history, and photography all intersect. For Day 10 it is ENTABLATURE.

Eventually, as I worked through the challenge, I realized that I would encounter a word I had never heard or knew nothing about. That was the case with entablature. To discover this part of a building you will need to look up over the columns. One great example is the US Supreme Court in Washington DC.

30-Day Architectural Challenge Guidelines

If you have ever watched Seinfeld, you know that George Constanza always wanted to pretend to be an architect

Well, this month’s challenge let’s all of us that are not architects learn a little more about their language. To do that we have a simple challenge.

Every day we’ll learn one architectural term. Your challenge is to find an example—preferably one you’ve actually seen—and share a photograph, location and brief explanation.

Day 10-Entablature

If you find a building that is deemed classical and it has columns you are most likely to see entablature. It is the horizontal bands above the columns and is divided into three parts.

The entablature itself traditionally has three parts:

1. Architrave — the lowest horizontal section, directly above the capitals.
2. Frieze — the middle section, often decorated with carvings or patterns.
3. Cornice — the projecting upper section that forms the top edge and helps shed rainwater.