Major architectural styles throughout history
20 cards · arts-culture
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| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Egyptian | Massive stone; battered walls; pylons; hypostyle halls; axial plans Pyramids at Giza; Karnak Temple; Abu Simbel. Axial processional layouts. |
| Greek | Post-and-lintel temples; Doric, Ionic, Corinthian; pediments Parthenon; Temple of Hephaestus. Emphasis on proportion and orders. |
| Roman | Arches, vaults, domes; concrete; grand basilicas and amphitheaters Pantheon; Colosseum; aqueducts. Engineering and urban infrastructure. |
| Byzantine | Domes on pendentives; centralized plans; gold-ground mosaics Hagia Sophia; San Vitale. Brick exteriors, opulent interiors. |
| Romanesque | Round arches; thick walls; barrel vaults; small windows Santiago de Compostela; Speyer Cathedral. Fortress-like massing. |
| Gothic | Pointed arches; ribbed vaults; flying buttresses; stained glass Notre-Dame; Chartres; Westminster Abbey. Verticality and light. |
| Renaissance | Classical orders; symmetry; domes; pilasters; proportional clarity Florence Cathedral dome; Palazzo Rucellai. Humanist revival. |
| Baroque | Theatrical curves; oval plans; bold massing; rich ornament St. Peter's Baldachin; Sant'Ivo. Dramatic light and movement. |
| Rococo | Playful asymmetry; shells and scrolls; pastel, gilded interiors Hôtel de Soubise salons; Wieskirche. Intimate, decorative exuberance. |
| Neoclassical | Sober classical revival; strict symmetry; columns, pediments Panthéon (Paris); U.S. Capitol. Moralizing clarity and order. |
| Beaux-Arts | Grand classical formalism; symmetry; lavish sculpture, ornament Paris Opéra; Grand Palais; NYC Public Library. Axial planning. |
| Arts and Crafts | Handcrafted honesty; natural materials; simple, well-made forms Red House; Gamble House. Truth to materials, visible joinery. |
| Art Nouveau | Sinuous lines; floral motifs; iron and glass; total-work design Horta’s Hôtel Tassel; Gaudí’s Casa Batlló. Whiplash curves. |
| Art Deco | Geometric glamour; zigzags, sunbursts; stepped, streamlined forms Chrysler Building; Palais de la Porte Dorée. Lux materials. |
| Prairie School | Strong horizontals; low roofs; deep eaves; open, flowing plans Robie House; Unity Temple. Buildings hug the Midwestern prairie. |
| International Style | Rectilinear volumes; glass and steel; open plans; no ornament Villa Savoye; Seagram Building. Volume over mass, skin-and-bones. |
| Bauhaus | Form follows function; flat roofs; asymmetry; industrial materials Bauhaus Dessau; Fagus Factory. Unite art, craft, and industry. |
| Brutalism | Raw concrete; massive blocks; repetitive modular elements Barbican; Boston City Hall. Béton brut, fortress-like sincerity. |
| Postmodernism | Ironic historicism; bright color; ornament returns; mixed vocabularies Portland Building; Piazza d’Italia. Play, parody, and pluralism. |
| Deconstructivism | Fragmented, skewed forms; disrupted geometry; dynamic instability Guggenheim Bilbao; Wexner Center. Collage-like, non-orthogonal. |