SAH Archipedia uses terms from the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) to categorize and classify metadata for the entries in the database. For more information on the Getty AAT, click here.

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underground shopping centers
Shopping centers located underground, typically in an urban environment and often in association with underground subway stations or underground pedestrian passages between and under streets.

underground structures
Structures constructed wholly or mostly beneath the surface of the ground.

underpasses
Grade separations where clearance to traffic on the upper level is obtained by depressing partially or completely the grade of the lower level.

union halls
Building used for union gatherings.

union stations
Railroad stations or terminals at which tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers and freight to connect conveniently between them.

universities (buildings)
Buildings or groups of buildings that house degree-granting institutions which may typically include liberal arts undergraduate colleges, graduate schools, and undergraduate or graduate professional schools.

universities (institutions)
Degree-granting institutions that may include liberal arts undergraduate colleges, graduate schools, and undergraduate or graduate professional schools.

university and college buildings
Buildings housing universities or colleges.

university cities
Communities, relatively large in size, that are the location of a university, which is a type of degree-granting institution.

urban areas
Areas within city limits or closely linked to them by common use of public utilities or services.

urban blight
Refers to the condition of urban areas characterized by general deterioration in the quality of existing buildings and infrastructural systems, often caused by adverse economic, environmental, or zoning forces.

urban forests
Forests comprised of the aggregate of all trees and associated vegatation found in and around a given urban area, including both individual street and park trees, and groupings of trees, whether on public lands such as greenways, or on private property.

urban fringes
Settlement areas lying at the periphery of cities or suburbs where urban land uses meet rural land uses.

urban landscapes
Landscapes with densely built-up districts and settlement areas and with distinctive skylines.

urban parks
Small parks serving central business districts, highly urban areas (including new towns), or commercial districts.

urban planning
Long term planning for additions and improvements to the spatial organization and content of urban areas. It concerns planning for interaction between people, businesses, government, transportation infrastructure, mass transit, water and power infrastructure, pollution, waste management, and other broad and long term interests in an urban setting. For the overall management of urban areas, encompassing the setting of objectives for urban life, the establishment of policies, and the planning, development, operation, and maintenance of the urban environment and services, use "urban management." For the field concerned with designing the specific appearance and function of cities, use “urban design.”

urban renewal
Activity of clearing, rebuilding, restoring, or refurbishing urban areas.

urban subdivisions
Generic designation for divisions of an urban area.

urban transportation
Generally, transportation in urban areas, whether by transit systems or private means.

urban universities (buildings)
Buildings that house universities located in and serving urban communities, although not necessarily maintained by municipalities.

urban villages
Mixed-use communities designed to combine residential sections in close proximity to employment, retail, and entertainment facilities linked by pedestrian-oriented thoroughfares; often located in suburban contexts.

Usonian houses
Term applied to a group of Frank Lloyd Wright's small, single-family houses constructed during the late 1930s and early 1940s and generally characterized by low cost, natural materials, open planning, and a close relationship between the building and the site and climate. The term was coined by the architect.

utility rooms
Rooms designed or used to house heating, laundry, or general maintenance equipment.

utopian cities
No description is available for this term.

utopias
Places of ideal perfection, especially with regard to laws, government, and social conditions.

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