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 form, 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. Neolithic 10,000–3000 BC Antiquity
Ancient Americas Mesoamerican Mezcala Talud-tablero Western Native Americans Ancient African Ancient Egyptian 3000 BC–373 BC Ethiopian Nubian Somali
Mediterranean and West Asian civilizations Phoenician 3000–500 BC Minoan 3000?+ BC (Crete) Knossos (Crete) Mycenaean 1600–1100 BC (Greece)
Ancient Arabian Nabatean 4th cent. BC - 2nd cent. AD Ancient Yemeni
Ancient Near East and Mesopotamian Sumerian 3500–2000 BC Elamite 2700–539 BC Akkadian 2334–2154 BC Babylonian 1894–539 BC Assyrian 1365–609 BC
Iranian/Persian Ancient Persian Achaemenid Parthian style Sassanid
Classical Era in South Asia Karnataka Kerala Tamil Nadu Dravidian architecture (South Indian temple style) Buddhist Temple
Sinosphere (Ancient East Asian cultural zone) Ancient Chinese Japanese Korean Vietnamese
Ancient South Asian Architecture Harappan (7000–1900 BCE) Dravidian architecture Tamil Nadu (Early Tamil Sangam Era)
Classical Greco-Roman 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. Ancient Greek 776–265 BC Roman 753 BC–663 AD Etruscan 700–200 BC Classical 600 BC–323 AD Herodian 37–4 BC (Judea) Early Christian 100–500 Byzantine 527–1520
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 Latin Armenian 4th–16th centuries Anglo-Saxon 450s–1066 (England) Bulgarian from 681 First Bulgarian Empire 681–1018 Pre-Romanesque c. 700–1000 (Merovingian and Carolingian empires) Iberian pre-Romanesque Merovingian 5th–8th centuries (France, Germany, Italy and neighbouring locations) Visigothic 5th–8th centuries (Spain and Portugal) Asturian 711–910 (North Spain, North Portugal) Carolingian 780s–9th century (mostly France, Germany) Ottonian 950s–1050s (mostly Germany, also considered Early Romanesque)Hans Erich Kubach. Architektur der Romanik, 1973/1974, 3-7630-1705-7, p. 63–144 Die erste Romanische Kunst – Frühromanische Architektur Repoblación 880s–11th century (Spain)
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.Robert Stuart (1854), Cyclopedia of architecture: historical, descriptive, typographical, decorative, theoretical and mechanical, alphabetically arranged, familiarly explained, and adapted to the comprehension of workmen, A. S. Barnes & Co, p. 75
Medieval
Byzantine Late Byzantine architecture before 1520 (see above) Kievan Rus' architecture 988–1237 Tarnovo Artistic School 12th–14th century (Bulgaria) Rashka School 12th–15th centuries (Serbian principalities) Morava School (Serbian principalities/Bulgaria)
Romanesque Pre-Romanesque (see above) First Romanesque 1000–? (France, Italy, Spain) (including "Lombard Romanesque" in Italy) Romanesque 1000–1300 Norman 1074–1250 (Normandy, UK, Ireland, South Italy and Sicily) Norman–Arab–Byzantine 1071–1200 (Sicily, Malta, South Italy) Cistercian Romanesque style c. 1120–c. 1240 (Europe)Gebaut, Burgundische Romanik – Pontigny – Zisterziensergotik
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 Gothic Cistercian Gothic 1138–15th century (various European countries) Angevin Gothic or Plantagenet style since 1148 (western France) Early English period c. 1190–c. 1250 Gotico Angioino since 1266 (southern Italy) Decorated period c. 1290–c. 1350 Perpendicular period c. 1350–c. 1550 Rayonnant Gothic 1240–c. 1350 (France, Germany, Central Europe) Venetian Gothic 14th–15th centuries (Venice in Italy) Spanish Gothic Mudéjar style c. 1200–1700 (Spain, Portugal, Latin America)Really, Mudéjar style had phases according to the general European styles, there was Romanesque Mudéjar, Gothic Mudéjar and even Renaissance Mudéjar. Aragonese Mudéjar c. 1200–1700 (Aragon in Spain) Isabelline Gothic 1474–1505 (reign) (Spain) Plateresque 1490–1560 (Spain & colonies, bridging Gothic and Renaissance styles) Brick Gothic mid 13th to 16th century (Germany, Netherlands, Flanders, Poland, northern Europe) Brabantine Gothic (Belgium and Netherlands) 14th century Flamboyant Gothic 1400–1500 (Spain, France, Portugal) Manueline 1495–1521 (Portugal and colonies)
Asian Architecture During the Late Classical and Medieval Ages
Japanese Shinden-zukuri (Heian period Japan)
Chinese Ming Architecture Song Architecture
Korean Hanok
South Asia and Indosphere Southeast Asia Bengalese Karnataka Kerala Tamil Nadu Pakistani Khmer Indonesian Myanmar architecture
Late Dravidian temple styles Badami Chalukya or "Deccan architecture" (450–700CE) Rashtrakuta 750–983 (Central and South India) Western Chalukya or Gadag (1050-1200CE) Hoysala (900–1300CE) Vijayanagara 1336–1565 (South India)
( Dravidian influenced) South Asian and Southeast Asian Architecture styles Mauryan (321–185 BC) Kalinga Architecture ( present day Orissa and Andhra Pradesh) Rekha Deula Pidha Deula Khakhara Deula Hemadpanthi (1200–1270 CE) (Maharashtra) Sikh architecture Bengal temple architecture: 1400 to present Nagara style Māru-Gurjara architecture 900 to present (Rajasthan and Gujarat) Vesara style (Dravidian fusion styles) Badami Chalukya architecture
Islamic architecture 620–1918 Central styles (multi-regional) Prophetic era – based in Medina (c. 620–630) Rashidun period – based in Medina (c. 630–660) Umayyad architecture – based in Damascus (c. 660–750) Abbasid architecture – based in Baghdad (c. 750–1256) Fatimid architecture (909–1171) Mamluk architecture – based in Cairo (c. 1256–1517) Ottoman architecture – based in Istanbul (c. 1517–1918) Regional styles Egypt, including empires ruled from Egypt Early Islamic architecture (Rashidun + Umayyad) (641–750) Abbasid architecture (750–954) Fatimid architecture (954–1170) Ayyubid architecture (1174–1250); category see here Mamluk architecture (1254–1517) Ottoman architecture (1517–1820) North Africa (the Maghrib) Umayyad architecture (705–750) Abbasid architecture (750–909) Fatimid architecture (909–1048) Moorish architecture (788–1550) Idrisid architecture (788–974, Far Maghreb) Aghlabid architecture (800–909, Eastern Maghreb) Zirid architecture (1048–1148, Middle Maghreb) Almoravid architecture (1040–1147, Far Maghreb) Almohad architecture (1121–1269, Far Maghreb) Hafsids 1229–1574 (Near and Middle Maghreb) Marinids (1244–1465, Middle and Far Maghreb) Zayyanids (1235–1550, Middle Maghreb) Ottoman architecture (1550–1830, Near and Middle Maghreb) Local styles under local dynasties (1549–present, Far Maghreb) Islamic Spain Umayyad architecture (756–1031) Taifa Kingdoms-1 (1031–1090) Almoravid architecture (1090–1147) Taifa Kingdoms-2 (1140–1203) Almohad architecture (1147–1238), Taifa Kingdoms-3 (1232–1492) Granada architecture (1287–1492) Persia and Central Asia Khurasani architecture (Late 7th–10th century) Razi style (10th–13th century) Samanid architecture (10th c.) Ghaznawid architecture (11th c.) Seljuk architecture (11th–12th c.) Mongol-period architecture (13th c.) Timurid style (14th–16th c.) Isfahani style (17th–19th c.) Islamic-influenced architecture in South Asia Indo-Islamic architecture (1204–1857) Mughal architecture (1526–1707) Turkey Anatolian Seljuk architecture (1071–1299) Ottoman architecture (1299–1922) First national architectural movement (1908–1940)
Pre-Columbian Indigenous American styles
Aztec (ca. 14th century – 1521) Maya Pueblo Puuc
African architecture Hausa Yoruba
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.Gerald Leinwand, The pageant of world history, Prentice-Hall, 1990, page 330 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.Jackson J. Spielvogel (2010), Western Civilization: A Brief History. Cengage Learning. page 333
Renaissance c. 1425–1600 (Europe, American colonies) Renaissance Central European Renaissance Polish Renaissance French Renaissance Eastern European Renaissance Palladian 1516–1580 (Venezia, Italy; revived in UK) Mannerism 1520–1600 Polish Mannerism 1550–1650 Brâncovenesc style late 17th and early 18th centuries Eastern Orthodox Church 1400?+ (Southeast and Eastern Europe)
France Henry II 1530–1590 Louis XIII 1601–1643
United Kingdom Tudor 1485–1603 Elizabethan 1480–1620? Jacobean 1580–1660
Spain and Portugal Asturian pre-Romanesque 711 - 910 (Kingdom of Asturias) Mudéjar Art 13th and 16th centuries Spanish Renaissance 15th and 16th centuries Plateresque continued from Spanish Gothic – 1560 (Spain and colonies, Low Countries) Herrerian 1550–1650 (Spain and colonies, primarily in Castille and the surroundings of Madrid) Barroque Churrigueresque 17th – 1750 (Hispanic countries, primarily in Spain and Mexico)