balloon

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balloon.
1. Large ball, balloon, globe, or sphere placed above a column or pier as a termination.

2. Globe under a cross on a church spire or dome.

3. System of timber-framed construction common in Scandinavia and the USA in which the corner posts and studs are continuous in one piece from cill or sole-plate to roof-plate, the intermediate floor-joists being secured to them without mortises and tenons.

Bibliography

Condit (1968);
Giordano (1964);
F. Peterson (1992)

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