Documenting the faces and figures of architecture wherever we find them.
We are an ongoing archive dedicated to documenting the intricate and expressive world of architectural grotesques. Based in New York City, our project began with noticing these hidden figures on our walks around the city and has now expanded in to a dedicated project to document and preserve these unique architectural elements.
Our project aims to be more than just a collection. It’s a living archive, constantly growing with the help of fellow enthusiasts and urban explorers. Whether you're in New York or walking the streets of another city, we invite you to join us in uncovering and documenting these fascinating figures.
Founded, Photographed and Designed by Helen Sywalski and Michael Prisco
A Heavy Letters project, see more at sywalski.com & michaelprisco.com
Reading List
Some of the articles, books, blogs, and everything else that has helped us learn more about these ornaments.
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Articles
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Introducing the Green Man
Library of Congress
Green Man Connections: The Foliate Head
Library of Congress
Of Gargoyles, Chimeras and Grotesques
Medium
History of Grotesques and Gargoyles Find out what makes them so significant, and spooky
This Old House
Materiality, Crafting, and Scale in Renaissance Architecture
Oxford Art Journal
Twentieth-century studies of Renaissance architecture have mostly overlooked how architects worked with other arts, like sculpture and decoration, leaving important details like the role of grotesques and other artistic collaborations underexplored, especially for figures like Francesco di Giorgio.
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Books
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Faces in Stone: Architectural Sculpture in New York City
Robert Arthur King is an architect, designer, writer, and a teacher at the New York School of Interior Design. He also appears in Stonefaced, a documentary about his photography of overlooked NYC architecture. His book Faces in Stone documents architectural ornamentation in New York City.
Building Facades: Faces, Figures, and Ornamental Details
Ernest Burden is an architect, an author, and principal of Burden Associates, a media and marketing consulting firm. Featuring 2,000 b/w halftones illustrations, it chronicles in photo-essay style the diversity of facades from around the world. In this book images are shown within their historical and social context, and are easily accessed through cross-references to chronology, geography, location, building type, type of detail, and materials.
Glossary
Some of the terms we have learned to identify architectural figures. Many of the figures we have discovered don’t fit neatly into one category, if this is the case they will have multiple tags in the archive.
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Mascaron
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A carved face, usually human and sometimes frightening or chimeric, originally meant to scare away evil spirits but later used purely as decoration. Common in Beaux Arts and Art Nouveau architecture, mascarons also appear in other decorative arts.
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Grotesque
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A decorative stone face or figure, often fantastical or exaggerated, used in architecture to add visual interest, depicting creatures, animals, or humans in imaginative, sometimes monstrous forms.
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Animal
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Various animals such as lions, eagles, dogs, and other creatures.
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Atlas
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Sculptured male figure incorporated into a building or other structure as a column or support
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Beast Men
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Combinations of human and animal features, such as centaurs or satyrs
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Bloodsucker Head
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A variation of the green man that sprouts vegetation from all facial orifices, including the tear ducts, nostrils, mouth, and ears.
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Bucranium
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A bucranium is a decorative motif representing the skull of an ox or bull, often adorned with garlands, ribbons, or other elements.
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Caryatid
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The female precursor of the ‘Atlas’ architectural form, a woman standing in the place of each column or support.
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Chimera
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A mythical creature made from parts of different animals, such as a lion's body with a goat's head and serpent tail. Examples include the griffin (lion's body, eagle's head and wings), sphinx (lion's body, human head), and hippogriff (half horse, half eagle).
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Corbels
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A structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket.
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Cornice
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A cornice is a decorative molding or projection along the top of a building, usually just below the roofline, that enhances aesthetics while also directing water away from the facade to prevent erosion and damage.
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Disgorging Head
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A variation of the green man that spews vegetation from its mouth.
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Dragon
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Often found in medieval architecture, these grotesques can range from fearsome and monstrous to more stylized and decorative.
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Foliate Head
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A variation of the green man that is completely covered or made from leaves.
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Gargoyle
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A stone figure, often with a monstrous or animal-like appearance, featuring sharp fangs, wings, or claws, and typically jutting out from a building’s roof or wall to funnel rainwater through its open mouth.
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Green Man
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A sculpture or representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Often associated with nature and rebirth.
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Hybrid
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A fantastical figure that combines features from multiple creatures or beings, often blending human, animal, or mythological elements. These hybrids are typically exaggerated and imaginative, such as a figure with a human torso, wings, and an animal's head, serving as both decorative and symbolic architectural elements.
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Keystone
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is the central, wedge-shaped stone located at the apex of an arch or vault. It plays a critical role in locking the surrounding stones into place. As the last piece installed during construction, the keystone enables the arch to support itself and bear any weight above it. Beyond its structural importance, it frequently serves as a decorative highlight in architectural design.
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Mask
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Stylized faces or masks, often featuring exaggerated or fantastical expressions.
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Monstrous Hybrid
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Creatures combining elements of various animals or humans, often in bizarre or fantastical ways
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Mythological Figures
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Figures from myth and legend, including gods, heroes, and mythical creatures.
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Oriel
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In architecture, an oriel is a type of bay window that extends from the main wall of a building without reaching the ground. Typically found on upper floors, it is supported by corbels, brackets, or similar structures.
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Pediment
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A classical architectural element forming a triangular gable above the cornice or entablature, often supported by columns.
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Stone Spies
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Carved stone figures or faces that appear to be watching or observing passersby. These figures are often incorporated into the architecture in a way that makes them seem secretive or hidden, giving the impression that they are “spying" on the surroundings.
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Tags Pending
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There are so many faces, we're working on tagging them all!