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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vacant lots
A subdivided residential, governmental, institutional, or commercial lot which contains no structures of a permanent or temporary nature.

vacation houses
Houses that are not the primary residence of the occupants, but are occupied primarily seasonally during vacations or otherwise for recreation.

variety stores
Stores in which small, inexpensive goods of various kinds are sold.

vaults (strong rooms)
Rooms for the safekeeping of valuables, commonly built of steel.

vaults (tomb spaces)
Spaces or containers for a casket in a burial site.

vegetable gardens
Gardens in which primarily vegetables are grown; normally of modest size, although may be extensive.

vegetation
Plants collectively, usually referring to plants or vegetal growths in a defined area. For the kingdom of plants, use "Plantae (kingdom)."

vernacular architecture
Architecture built of local materials to suit particular local needs, usually of unknown authorship and making little reference to the chief styles or theories of architecture.

vest-pocket parks
Very small city parks, directly adjacent to and usually between buildings in a densely built area.

vestibules
Spaces between the outer and inner doors to buildings, or for sheltered spaces, recessed in the mass of the building, just outside the outer doors. For spaces just inside the outer door but not separated from the building interior by any barrier such as a door, use "entrance halls."

veterans hospitals
Hospitals specializing in the treatment of men and women who have served in military service.

veterinary hospitals
Hospitals intended for the care and tretment of animals.

veterinary laboratories
Laboratories where tests and studies are done in the area of veterinary medicine or on specimens from animal patients at veterinary facilities.

viaducts
Bridges, usually resting on a series of arches, carrying roadways or railways over low-lying areas.

vicarages
Residences provided for clergymen, usually vicars.

video arcades
Amusement arcades that contain predominantly video games.

villages
Distinctions among villages, towns, and cities are relative and vary according to their individual regional contexts. Villages generally designate units of compact settlement, varying in size but usually larger than hamlets and smaller than towns and distinguished from the surrounding rural territory.

villas
Used since the Roman period to designate country houses, generally of some pretension, and often including their outbuildings and gardens.

vimānas
The sanctuaries of Indian temples. The term may be used for earlier Indian temples as a whole, including sanctuary and attached porches. In Dravidian, Karṇāṭan as well as early Indian architecture, the main temple-structure or shrine or prāsāda in a temple complex.

vineyards
Tracts of land on which grapevines are cultivated; plantations of vines.

visitors' centers
Structures providing specific information about specific localities, buildings, or exhibitions through the display of printed or other material, or the sale or free distribution of literature.

vocational schools (buildings)
Buildings that house schools offering instruction in one or more skilled or semiskilled trades or occupations. For educational facilities traditionally training technicians in business, industry, and commerce, usually for an immediate local area, use "polytechnics."

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