An architectural structure

Structure

Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society...

is a free-standing, immobile outdoor constructed

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 element. The structure may be temporary or permanent.

Structures include building

Building

In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

s (occupied—habitable) and nonbuilding structure

Nonbuilding structure

Nonbuilding structures, also referred to simply as structures, are those not designed for continuous human occupancy. The term is used by architects and structural engineers to distinctly identify structures that are not buildings....

s (non-occupied—habitable). Examples of building structures include house

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

s, town halls, libraries

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

, and skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

s. Examples of nonbuilding structures include bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s, monument

Monument

A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...

s and memorials‎, dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s, windmill

Windmill

A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...

s, and lookout towers.

Structure or building

Often the words architectural structure and buildings are confused, because in many languages one word covers both. However, a building is a type of architectural structure used for supporting and sheltering continuous occupancy or habitation. Buildings are therefore normally enclosed structures, while nonbuilding structures may be open to the environment.

Temporary structures

Some structures are temporary, built for ephemeral events such as trade shows, conferences, or theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, and often dismantled after use. Temporary structures have fewer constraints relating to future use and durability, and often comprise lightweight forms such as tent

Tent

A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs...

s, which are quicker to erect, take down, and re-use.

See also

Index: Buildings and structures by type

• List of human habitation forms
• Structural engineering
  Structural engineering
  Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
  
  
• Structural system
  Structural system
  The term structural system or structural frame in structural engineering refers to load-resisting sub-system of a structure. The structural system transfers loads through interconnected structural components or members.-High-rise buildings:...