Since time immemorial human civilization has been associated with a living space and with a creative method of building a roof. Historically, searching for a convenient living space has led to the construction of memorable iconic buildings and architectural styles throughout history. Such timeless and unparalleled architecture stayed eternal and reminded us how human civilization is in a constant progressive nature.
The quest to live under a ceiling has led humans to advance in engineering, construction, and the exploration of architectural styles. As recorded architectural styles are defined as the elements of design, techniques, and materials used to structure a distinctive and cultural architecture. One such example is from the nineteenth century when architects and historians successfully aligned architectural design with cultural, social, and historical essence.
In Rudolf Arnheim’s words, architecture is a form of artistic expression to establish truth or higher principles, representing concepts that hold greater significance for people as they illustrate the structure of the world visually. To understand theoretically, architecture has been perceived as a form of art through the years which demonstrates the tradition and progress of different cultures, societies, and countries. That being said of evolving architectural design, here is the list of eight defining architectural styles throughout history.
Classical Architectural Styles: Romans and Greece Design
The Romans and Greek civilizations have greatly contributed to the development of architectural styles and inspired contemporary structures. Many monumental structures of that time symbolize their unique architectural styles which are characterized by symmetrical proportions. Classical architecture is associated with grand columns, intricate molding, and pediments.
The classical architecture that flourished in the seventh and fourth centuries BC followed the principles of symmetry, geometry, order, and perspective. This was evident from the column placed on the facade of ancient Greek and Roman buildings. Such architectural styles have given rise to the “architectural orders” of Doric Ionic and Corinthian. By following such order classical architecture has built religious temples using stone.
One notable order is the Doric column which emerged in Greece, and it has inspired many temples and buildings such as the Parthenon in Athens. The Romans similarly used the Corinthian order and built decorative buildings which were more ornamented. The discovery of concrete led the Romans to apply the principles of arches, vaults, and domes. Nonetheless, the classical architectural styles were constructed using marble, concrete, and brick. The influence of such inspiring architectural styles can be seen even in the construction of modern architecture, the use of concrete, bridges, arches, and domes to name a few.
Romanesque Architectural Styles
The Romanesque influenced the Europan architecture around the sixth and ninth centuries, and they are much related to the historical context. They drew a great deal of inspiration from ancient Roman architecture as such architectural style featured the use of round-arched, stone construction, and the basilica-style plan.
Such Romanesque architectural styles are characterized by heavy and resistant walls and minimal openings in semicircular arches. They adhered to regular and symmetrical plans in creating massive structures with thick walls, round arches, decorative arcades, sturdy piers, and large towers. Churches built around this time were prime examples of such a style, some of them are the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain and The Abbaye de Lessay of the Holy Trinity in France.
Gothic Architectural Styles
This architectural style is traced back to the late Middle Ages in France during the 12th century and was commonly referred to as Opus Francigenum, or “French work”. They drew inspiration from the pointed arches in Spanish Morrish architecture, a key feature of their architectural styles. As evolving from the Romanesque style they are considered as an important transitional phase from Romanesque to the Renaissance styles.
Some of the Gothic architectural styles are witnessed in ecclesiastical buildings of churches and cathedrals which featured ogival arches and rib vaults. As presented most of the Gothic architecture is listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the Notre Dame Cathedral and Reims Cathedral. Another example of the defining architectural design of the Gothic style is the Milan Cathedral which is the largest church in Italy.
Baroque Architectural Styles
The Baroque architectural styles existed around the start of the 16th century and were followed by many religious buildings. This architectural design makes better use of ornamentation and the contrast of light and dark design. Baroque architecture is characterized by its features in dramatic churches that use irregular shapes and intricate ornamentation.
It has been said that Russian aristocrats were deeply inspired by the Baroque style of Versailles and hence was used in the construction of St. Petersburg. Church of Gesù in Rome was the first to display the Baroque facade and the Palace of Versailles in France is another example of such architecture.
Neo-Classical Architectural Styles
Next on the list is one inspiring architectural design that was witnessed from the 18th century onwards, their works aim to revive classical architecture. The Neo-classical architectural style is characterized by clean, elegant lines, uncluttered appearance, free-standing columns, and large buildings.
As a revival, the architectural design is shaped by symmetry, grandeur, and the integration of classical elements of columns such as the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. To note down some of the examples of such architecture is the Bank of England Building in Liverpool, the White House in the United States, the General Post Office in Dublin, the Pantheon in Paris, and Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.
Modern Architectural Styles
One of the interesting and striking features of the modern architectural style is its minimalist design, which was adopted by many architects after 1945, and remained prominent in the 20th century. It has been pointed out that it originated in Germany with Bauhaus, in France with Le Corbusier, and in the U.S. with Frank Lloyd Wright. Other notable contributions were made by Staatliches Bauhaus, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Walter Gropius.
The key characteristics of modern architectural design are in the adoption of innovative technologies in construction, and the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete. Some of the works of such architecture are The Farnsworth House, Villa Savoye, and The Glass House which are considered as the pioneering works of modern architecture.
Post-Modern Architectural Styles
The post-modern architectural styles emerged during the 1970s and spread criticism of Modern architecture. It has been said that the book “Learning from Las Vegas” is one of the seminal works of Postmodern thought. They worked to integrate artistic ornamentation and decorative elements into the building’s facade against the clean lines upheld by modernist styles.
Some examples of postmodern architecture are the Vanna Venturi House in Pennsylvania, USA designed by Robert Venturi, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain the Dancing House in Prague, and the SIS Building in London.
The architectural styles throughout history have been in constant evolution from the discovery of concrete to the integration of technology in construction. Architecture and its design are still developing and the potential to explore futuristic design is in great possibilities.