Wood beams protruding from mud structures.

What’s the goal of the protruding wooden beams on mud buildings? Evidently each center jap designs and western adobe designs each characteristic them. Are they extra about perform or aesthetics?

Lastly, I included a fantasy picture from a online game, it appears they’ve those self same wood beams protruding from what seems to be like stone. Is that simply unrealistic aesthetics for a online game or would folks truly run beams like that via stone?

I’d like to know the names and goal of those architectural options.