TYPES OF BUTRESSESS

 The Flying Buttresses  is an arch, resting at one end on a detached pier and it carries the thrust of the nave vault over the aisles or cloister.
The Pier or Tower Buttresses is a simple masonry piles attached to a wall at regular intervals.
Hanging buttresses aee freestanding piers connected to a wall by corbels.
Corner buttresses are of various types such as diagonal, angle, clasping, and setback which that support intersecting walls.

Picture taken from : http://moonbeams8.blogspot.in/2009/10/art-is-trim.html

Acknowledgement: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03092a.htm
                              http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/86773/buttress

BUTRESSES

Buttresses in architecture, is the exterior support, usually of masonry, projecting from the face of a wall and serving either to strengthen it or to resist the side thrust created by the load on an arch or a roof. In addition to their practical functions, buttresses can be decorative, both in their own right and from the designs carved or constructed into them. There are various types of buttresses such as the flying buttresses,  pier or tower buttresses, hanging buttresses and corner buttresses.

Picture taken from : http://www.americansinfrance.net/Attractions/Chartres-Cathedral-Flying-Buttress.cfm

Acknowledgement: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/86773/buttress