Arche-tecture
The archetypes of architecture
The starbursts and pastels of Googie. The angularity and colorful bursts of Art Deco. The topics below are mainly Western styles for now and are arranged generally by timeline of adoption, starting with Greco-Roman classical architecture all the way through to the Postmodern world that we are living in.
Postmodernism
A rebellion against the “modern” glass box that reintroduced some ornament and camp
Brutalism
A fittingly harsh name for this spiritual sister of the International Style
International Style
The style that redefined corporate architecture and gave the world the “glass box”
Googie
Mid-century visions of the future in building form, heavy on the Space Race aesthetic
Mid-Century Modern
The style that redefined suburban America during the middle of the twentieth century
Streamline Moderne
An Art Deco “offshoot”, polished and more minimalist than its predecessor
Art Deco
Very much modern, but with a decorative flair and a subtle eye on the past
Art Nouveau
The first style to kick off the modern movement, which drew inspiration from nature
American Queen Anne
A confusing and misleading name for a very quirky and colorful style
Victorian Second Empire
A Victorian style perhaps best known for giving us the stereotypical Halloween house
American Neoclassical
Classicism enjoyed another revival in America, shaping public buildings for decades
English Neoclassical
Not fully Classical, not fully Renaissance, but some blend of the two – with a British flair
Cycladic
White-washed stone, thick walls, and blue domes characterize this famous vernacular style
French Baroque
The Chateau style was fit for a king, but the Baroque style was made for an emperor
French Chateau Style
A style fit for kings and queens (literally), which combined Gothic and Renaissance designs
Italian Baroque
The Catholic Church’s highly decorative and theatrical style that really made a statement
Italian Renaissance
The first major return to Classical roots, making it the first of the neoclassical styles
Gothic
The first real departure from Greco-Roman designs, with all signs pointing to the heavens
Classical (Greco-Roman)
From the banks of the Mediterranean came the “one style to rule them all” in the West