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List of architectural styles

An architectural style is characterised by the features that make a building or other structure notable and historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as , method of construction, building materials, and regional character. Most architecture can be classified as a chronology of styles which change over time, reflecting changing fashions, beliefs and religions, or the emergence of new ideas, technology, or materials.

Styles therefore emerge from the history of a society and are documented in the subject of architectural history. At any time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as architects learn and adapt to new ideas. Styles often spread to other places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own twist. A style may also spread through colonialism, either by foreign colonies learning from their home country, or by settlers moving to a new land. After a style has gone out of fashion, there are often revivals and re-interpretations. For instance, classicism has been revived many times and found new life as neoclassicism. Each time it is revived, it is different.

Vernacular architecture, unlike traditional architecture, is not designed by architects. It represents a native method of construction used by local people, usually using labor-intensive methods and local materials, and usually for small structures such as rural cottages. It varies from region to region even within one country, and takes little account of national styles or technology. As construction technology developed, vernacular styles have often become outmoded by new technology and national building standards.

Chronology of styles

Prehistoric

Early civilizations developed, often independently, in scattered locations around the globe. The architecture was often a mixture of styles in timber cut from local forests and stone hewn from local rocks. Most of the timber has gone, although the earthworks remain. Impressively, massive stone structures have survived for years.

Ancient Americas

Ancient African

Mediterranean and Middle-East civilizations

Ancient Near East and Mesopotamia

Ancient Arabian

Iranian/Persian

Ancient Asian

Classical Era in South Asia

East Asian

Ancient South Asian Architecture

Classical Antiquity

The architecture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, derived from the ancient Mediterranean civilizations such as at Knossos on Crete. They developed highly refined systems for proportions and style, using mathematics and geometry.

Middle Ages

The European Early Middle Ages are generally taken to run from the end of the Roman Empire, around 400 AD, to around 1000 AD. During this period, Christianity made a significant impact on European culture.

Early Medieval Europe

Medieval Europe

The dominance of the Church over everyday life was expressed in grand spiritual designs which emphasized piety and sobriety. The Romanesque style was simple and austere. The Gothic style heightened the effect with heavenly spires, pointed arches and religious carvings.

Byzantine
Romanesque
Timber styles
  • Stave churches, oldest 845(d) in England, in Norway one 11th century, several 12th century, some with Romanesque elements
  • Timber frame styles, mostly Gothic or later (UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands)
Gothic

1135/40–1520

Asian Architecture During the Late Classical and Medieval Ages

Japanese
Chinese
Korean

South Asia

Late Dravidian temple styles
( Dravidian influenced) South Asian Architecture styles

Islamic architecture 620–1918

Pre-Columbian Indigenous American Styles

African architecture

Early Modern Period and European Colonialism

From 1425 to 1660, the Renaissance began in Italy and spread through Europe, rebelling against the all-powerful Church by placing Man at the center of his world instead of God. The Gothic spires and pointed arches were replaced by classical domes and rounded arches, with comfortable spaces and entertaining details, in a celebration of humanity. The Baroque style was developed in response, largely by the Catholic Church to restate its religious values.

Renaissance

c. 1425–1600 (Europe, American colonies)

France

United Kingdom

Spain and Portugal

Colonial

Baroque

1600–1800, up to 1900

Contemporary Asian Architecture with Renaissance and Post-Renaissance Europe

Japanese
Indian

Late Modern Period and the Industrial Revolution

Neoclassicism

The time from 1720 through 1837 and onward was often depicted as a rural idyll by the great painters, but in fact was a hive of early industrial activity, with small kilns and workshops springing up wherever materials could be mined or manufactured. After the Renaissance, neoclassical forms were developed and refined into new styles for public buildings and the gentry.

New Cooperism

Neoclassical

Revivalism and Orientalism

Late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Victorian Era was a time of giant leaps forward in technology and society, such as iron bridges, aqueducts, sewer systems, roads, canals, trains, and factories. As a result, engineers, inventors, and businessmen reshaped much of the architecture of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, including India, Australia, South Africa, and Canada, and influenced countries across Europe and the United States. Architecturally, they were revivalists who modified old styles to suit new purposes.

Revivals started before the Victorian Era
Victorian revivals
Orientalism
Revivals in North America

Other late 19th century styles

Rural styles

Reactions to the Industrial Revolution

Industrial
Arts and Crafts in Europe
Arts and Crafts in the US

Modernism and other styles contemporary with modernism

From 1880 onwards, the Industrial Revolution brought steel, plate glass, and mass-produced components. These enabled structural frames with clean lines and plain or shiny surfaces. In the early stages, a popular motto was "decoration is a crime". For example, in the Eastern Bloc of the USSR, the Communists rejected the Western Bloc's "decadent" ways, and modernism developed in a markedly more bureaucratic, somber, and monumental fashion.

Modernism under communism

Fascist/Nazi

Post-Second World War

Other 20th century styles

Postmodernism and Early 21st Century Styles

Fortified styles

Vernacular styles

Generic methods

European

African

Asian

Australasian

  • Australia, New Zealand – slab hut
  • Australia – Aboriginal humpy

Alphabetical listing

Examples of styles

See also

References

  • Lewis, Philippa; Gillian Darley (1986). Dictionary of Ornament, NY: Pantheon
  • Baker, John Milnes, AIA (1994) American House Styles, NY: Norton

Further reading

  • Hamlin Alfred Dwight Foster, History of Architectural Styles, BiblioBazaar, 2009
  • Carson Dunlop, Architectural Styles, Dearborn Real Estate, 2003
  • Herbert Pothorn, A guide to architectural styles, Phaidon, 1983

External links