Classical Period

Ancient Greece
Classical period usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously
derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical
antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of Vitruvius.
Region
Period The Archaic period in Greece (800 BC 480 BC) is a period of ancient
Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages.
Characteristics
Trabeated System - Horizontal beams (lintels) are borne up by columns (posts) .
The posts and beams divided the walls into regular compartments which could
be left as openings, or filled with sun dried bricks, lathes or straw and covered
with clay daub or plaster.
Orders - The Doric order is characterized by a plain, unadorned column capital
and a column that rests directly on the stylobate of the temple without a base.
The Doric entablature includes a frieze composed of trigylphs (vertical plaques
with three divisions) and metopes (square spaces for either painted or sculpted
decoration).
As its names suggests, the Ionic Order originated in Ionia, a coastal region
of central Anatolia (today Turkey) where a number of ancient Greek settlements
were located. Volutes (scroll-like ornaments) characterize the Ionic capital and a
base supports the column, unlike the Doric order.
The Corinthian Order is both the latest and the most elaborate of the
Classical orders of architecture. The defining element of the Corinthian order is
its elaborate, carved capital, which incorporates even more vegetal elements
than the Ionic order does. The stylized, carved leaves of an acanthus plant grow
around the capital, generally terminating just below the abacus. The Romans
favored the Corinthian order, perhaps due to its slender properties.
Peristalsis - The standard Greek temple design emerged via embellishment of the
megaron plan. Most crucially, the eaves were extended and supported with a line
of columns all the way around the building. A line of columns that surrounds a
building is called a peristyle; a building with a peristyle is described
as peripteral.

Ancient Rome
The Romans embraced Greek culture so eagerly that it became
the foundation of Roman culture. Consequently, Roman forms of art and
architecture emerged largely from the adoption and reshaping of Greek
models. In terms of architecture, this entailed the adoption of the
three orders (basic styles) of Greek temples.
Region Mediterranean
Period - Regal Period

Characteristics
Archs Arches were an architectural invention used throughout the Roman
Empire. Furthermore, arches were used both for architectural design and support
in many of Ancient Rome's buildings and monuments. Arches were also used in
Roman buildings because of their strength and support capabilities. They work
because they are curved, which allows structures to pass weight from above,
down to the ground through piers that support the arch. Additional forms of
arches are vaults and a barrel vaults
Walls
Orders
Vaults and Dome - A vault is a long arch that makes massive structures possible.
This allowed Romans to build massive buildings compared to traditional masonry
techniques that were limited and were not able to withstand massive amounts of
weight.
Monumentality Roman Architecture was at a great scale.
Early Christian
The Early Christian and Byzantine architecture started in two prominent locations
centered at Rome and Byzantium or Constantinople

Early Christian architecture occurred in Rome and in areas around

Rome
Byzantine architecture was centered at Byzantium
From the two focal points Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture
spread to other areas in the European and Asian region
With Christianity widely accepted as a state religion in Rome it was
necessary for architecture to respond to the demands of the religion for
worship space
Mode of worship was the most important determinant of the form of
the church
Requirement for church design was centered on worship and burial
The focus of both Early Christian and Byzantine architecture is on The
Christian church
Early Christian builders adapted structures that had been used in the
Roman world

Region
Period
Characteristics
Pendentive Dome - Domes of various type were now placed over square
compartments by means of pendentives.

Mosiacs - Mosaics replaced carved decorations.

The interiors were beautified by pavements in
opus sectile or opus Alexandrinum and in
domes and apses by colored mosaics, which
were of glass rendered opaque by oxide of tin, an
invention which had also been employed in the
Early Christian Architecture.
Basilican - St Peter was the most important of
the basilica churches built by Constantine. It was
built over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter
who was a disciple of Jesus

Centralized - Another category is a central plan church. This

type featured a uniform arrangement around a center. Such
were circular and polygonal churches, which were mostly
used as burial monuments and baptisteries. The centralized
churches were of two broad types. There were the completely
circular churches
Brick and Plaster

Romanesque
Romanesque art developed
Thanks to a series of causes:
The end of barbarian invasions
The decomposition of cordobas
Caliphate
The establishment of peace in
The christian world, with the development
Of the cities, commerce and industry.

Region
Period
Characteristics

Monastery Designed as a microcosm, as

the city of God.
Churches Symbolizes Gods Kingdom. Its
Holiest partb was the apse. It had a cross
shaped plan, the circular parts reflect
perfection as they were linked to God
while squared parts are related to the
humans.
Interior elevation:
it consists of three levels:
First floor with columns or crossshaped pillars.
Second floor with the tribune
(corridor overlooking the nave,
over the aisles)
Clerestory: area of windows
opening to the outside.
Castles - Castles were defensive
constructions. They were fortified for
providing shelter. The wall was one of the essential elements They tend to be
built in stepped areas, easier to defend.
Romanesque in France

It was the original region of Romanesque art. It is characterized by various

vaulted styles
Provence: pointed domes and faades decorated with arches
Auvergne with long choir, side aisles around the semi circular sanctuary
forming the ambulatory in which radiating chapels open.
Burgundy: barrel-vaulted, three-aisled basilica
Normandy: Lombard influences with groined vaults supported by flying
buttresses and faades with two flanking towers.

Romanesque in Italy

Italian provinces developed a great diversity of architectural styles

o Lombardy with groined vaults of heavy proportions
o Central Italy classical decorative elements: Corinthian capitals,
coloured marble, open arches, colonnades and galleries and faades
with sculptures
o South with Byzantine and Arabic influences, using mosaics,
interlaced pointed-arches.
o Three separate buildings: church, baptistery and bell tower.

Romanesque in Germany

Churches were planned on a large scale

They used to be very high

They had an apse or sanctuary at each end.
Numerous round or octagonal towers that conferred them a picturesque
silhouette.

Romanesque in England

Long, narrow buildings were constructed with heavy walls and piers,
rectangular apses, double transepts and deeply recessed portals
Naves were covered with flat roofs, later replaces by vaults, and side
aisles were covered with groined vaults.

Romanesque in Spain

Catalan churches present, in the outside, ordered volumes

Wall are decorated with Lombard bands, and blind arches and galleries
The plan has three naves, with a small narthex
The head has triple apse

Characteristics of pilgrimage churches:

o Plan with three to five aisles and a transept
o In the transept there are radial chapels
o Inside there is a tribune
o The head has ambulatory and radial chapels
o Buildings are simple and small
o It created a contrast in relation to the refined Hispano Muslin
architecture.
o They frequently have a covered area in the outside for the meetings of
the councils.

Gothic
Early Gothic
The first Gothic cathedrals were characterized by their Romanesque interiors, as
most building that went on during this era was actually rebuilding. This meant
that the cathedral's three levels were distinctly divided from each other. The
arcade was the first level, getting its name from the many arches there. Above
that were the triforium, locus of the vaults, and the clerestory whose purpose
was to light the cathedral.
Wells Cathedral, below, became Britain's first all-pointed and all-Gothic cathedral
when it was rebuilt in 1175. It is considered one of the most beautiful of Britain's
cathedrals, and one of the most influential as well. Its style became the template
of the new trend in British cathedrals and was to be copied many times.
Region
Period - 112050 to about 1200
Characteristics
Plate Tracery - The earliest form of window tracery, typical of
Gothic architecture prior to the early 13th century, is known as

plate tracery because the individual lights (the glazed openings in the window)
have the appearance of being cut out of a flat plate of masonry.
Pointed Arch - The pointed arch is considered one of the defining
characteristics of medieval churches constructed in the Gothic style,
even though similar arches were in used in Middle Eastern architecture
hundreds of years before they employed in Western Europe. Pointed
arches were used to direct weight onto load-bearing columns at a sharp
angle, thus allowing for much taller vaulted ceilings.
Rib Vault - The intersection of two or three barrel
vaults produces a rib vault or ribbed vault when they are
edged with an armature of piped masonry often carved in
decorative patterns; compare groin vault, an older form of
vault construction.
Flying Buttress - is a specific form of buttressing most strongly associated
with Gothic church architecture. The purpose of any buttress is to resist the
lateral forces pushing a wall outwards (which may arise from
stone vaulted ceilings or from wind-loading on roofs) by redirecting them to
the ground.
Sexpartite Vault - in architecture, is a rib vault divided into six bays by two
diagonal ribs and three transverse ribs.

High Gothic
The next phase of Gothic building design is known as Rayonnant Gothic
architecture, whose English equivalent is referred to as "Decorated Gothic".
Rayonnant Gothic architecture was characterized by new arrays of geometrical
decoration which grew increasingly elaborate over time, but hardly any structural
improvements.
Region Period - 1200-1300
Characteristics
Three Storey Bay The wall elevation was modified from four to
only three tiers:
arcade, triforium, and clerestory.
Height - A characteristic of Gothic church architecture is its
heightboth absolute and in proportion to its width, the verticality
suggesting an aspiration to Heaven. Externally, towers and spires
are characteristic of Gothic churches both great and

small, the number and positioning being one of the greatest variables in Gothic
architecture.
Quadripartite Rib Vault - Quadripartite Rib Vault is a vault with two
pairs of diagonal ribs dividing each bay into four triangular
compartments or cells.
Bar Tracery - The Reims windows still used the same 'two lancets
plus oculus' pattern but now the glass panels were held between
narrow stone mullions made up of carefully shaped lengths of
masonry (fitted together with mortar and metal pins) quite distinct
from the wall surrounding them.
Rose Windows - A rose window or Catherine window is often used as a generic
term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in
churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by
stone mullions and tracery. Rose windows are also called Catherine windows
after Saint Catherine of Alexandria who was sentenced to be executed on a
spiked wheel.

Late Gothic
[Flamboyant Gothic Architecture]
Region England, France:Rouen, Germany: Strasbourg
Period - 1280-1500
Characteristics
Intense Ornamentation - The Gothic cathedral represented the universe in
microcosm and each architectural concept, including the loftiness and huge
dimensions of the structure, were intended to convey a theological message: the
great glory of God.
o Stained Glass
o Murals
o Statues
Complex Vaults - Ribbed Vaulting; Flying Buttresses
Lanterns
Ogee Arch - An ogee is a curve (often used in moulding), shaped somewhat like
an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends
are parallel. It is a kind of sigmoid curve.
Spatial Unity - Slim and Unarticulated Columns
Perpendicular Gothic - The perpendicular Gothic period (or simply Perpendicular)
is the third historical division of English Gothic architecture, and is so-called
because it is characterized by an emphasis on vertical lines. An alternative
name, the Rectilinear, was suggested by Edmund Sharpe, and is preferred by
some as more accurate, but has never gained widespread use.

Venetian Gothic
Region Venice
Period
Characteristics
Polychromy - the art of painting in several colors, especially as applied to ancient
pottery, sculpture, and architecture.
Arcades and Balconies - An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns, piers, or a covered walkway enclosed
by a line of such arches on one or both sides.
Ogee Arch - an arch composed of two ogees, mirrored left-to-right and meeting
at an apex.
Brick and Stucco - Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder,
and water.

Secular Gothic
Region France
Period 12th 16th Century
Characteristics
Wood Frame Ceilings
Arcades
Tower and Turrets - is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a
building such as a medieval castle.
Irregular Plan
Oriel Window - An oriel window is a form of bay window which projects from
the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground.
Pseudo Battlement - A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city
walls or castles, comprises a parapet

Castles
A castle (from Latin: castellum) is a type of fortified structure built
in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by nobility.
Region Europe
Period 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire
Characteristics
Battlements - The Battlements are the most distinguishing feature of a castle clearly indicating that the castle was built to withstand a battle. A Battlement

was a rampart built around the top of a castle with regular gaps for firing arrows.
The Battlements was situated on the top of castle towers and walls.
o Crenels Open Space
o Merlons Solid Space
Gate House - A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or
accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar
buildings of importance.
Towers - is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles,
along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and
fulfill different functions.
Bastion - a solid masonry defensive projecting part of a castle, usually a small
tower, which was situated at the corners, the middle or at the end of the curtain
wall. The Bastion was always built in well-fortified position.
Keep/Donjon - the tower which was built as the most protected part of the castle.
The square shaped stone castle keep is the dominant feature of many of the
castles in England which were built by the Normans, and one of the most
commonly recognized parts of a Castle.
Cocentric Curtain Wall - A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two towers
(bastions) of a castle, fortress, or town. The definition of a concentric castle is a
"stone castle with at least two rings of outer walls, one inside the other".

Baroque and Rococo

German and Eastern Europe Baroque
The interaction of architecture, painting and sculpture is an essential
feature of Baroque architecture.
REGION: Began in Italy, Germany
PERIOD: Early 17th Century
Characteristics
Gothic Influence
Italian Influence
Palace Architecture
Synthesis of classical and Sacred Architecture Spatial Complexity
Onion Dome - Is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often
larger in diameter than the drum upon which they sit, and their height usually
exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point.
Spanish and Italian American Baroque
Characteristics
Moorish Influence - is an architecture of western part of North-Africa and the
Iberian peninsula that began during the Islamisation of those regions.
Characteristic elements include muqarnas, horseshoe arches, voussoirs, domes,

crenellated arches, lancet arches, ogee arches, courtyards, and decorative tile
work.
Decorative Tile Work
Churrigueresque - named after the architect and sculptor, Jose Benito
Churriguera (16651725), refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate
sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco
decoration in Spain in the late 17th century and was used up to about 1750,
marked by extreme, expressive and florid decorative detailing, normally found
above the entrance on the main facade of a building.
Dramatic Use Of Light - Light was important to Baroque, first of all, because wellrendered light could make a painting look natural. Secondly, lighting could help
set a mood, which was crucial when a painting was meant to evoke a particular
emotion.
Heavy Moldings
English Baroque
The English Baroque is best identified with the restoration of the monarchy
following the English Civil War and Commonwealth at the end of the Renaissance
Period.
Region England
Period - 1660 - 1700
Characteristics
Plainness
Animated Skyline
Medieval Influence
Exaggerated Keystones
Eclecticism Domes

Rococo
The Rococo was also important in theatre. The book The Rococo states
that no other culture "has produced a wittier, more elegant, and teasing dialogue
full of elusive and camouflaging language and gestures, refined feelings and
subtle criticism" than Rococo theatre, especially that of France
The term may also be a combination of the Italian word "barocco" (an
irregularly shaped pearl, possibly the source of the word "baroque") and the
French "rocaille" (a popular form of garden or interior ornamentation using shells
and pebbles) and may describe the refined and fanciful style that became
fashionable in parts of Europe in the 18th century.

Rococo architecture, was a lighter, more graceful, yet also more elaborate
version of Baroque architecture, which was ornate and austere. Whilst the styles
were similar, there are some notable differences between both Rococo and
Baroque architecture, one of them being symmetry, since Rococo emphasized
the asymmetry of forms, whilst Baroque was the opposite.
Region
Period 18th century

Eclecticism
Gothic Revival
A movement aimed at reviving the spirit and forms of Gothic architecture.
Gothic remained the accepted style for churches well into the 20th century
Region France, Germany, England
Period 18th 19th century
Characteristics
Restitutive Gothic - The spirit and religious order of the Middle Ages could be
recaptured through a revival of Gothic architecture.
Structural Gothic - Viollet-le-Duc argued that a buildings form should ultimately
reflect its structure, while the materials used to construct it should be employed
in such a way that remained true to their intrisic qualities
Steamboat Gothic - A florid architectural style used for homes built in the middle
of the 19th century in the Ohio and Mississippi river vallleys, suggesting the
gingerbread-decorated construction of riverboats of the Victorian period.
Carpenter Gothic - A style of victorian Gothic architecture in the 19th century
adapted by artisan-builders to the resources of contemporary wood working tools
and machinery. The style was mainly seen in homes and small churches. These
were mostly wood buildings with the traditional pointed arches and steep gables
of Gothic architecture.
Natural Gothic - The skeletal systems of animals and plants were often examined
for inspiration for natural Gothic structures, notably by Viollet- le-Duc,
Eclectic Gothic - The design constitutes a kind of synthesis of both the styles and
the forms of English Gothic, reflective of the spirit of the age that saw the
establishment of natural English law.
Ruskinian Gothic A very elaborate, highly detailed interpretation of the GothicRevival in its last ph
ase, from about 1860 to 1890; may have bands of polychromed masonry and mu
lticoloredbrickwork or roofing tiles; is heavy in appearance, as exemplified by its
massive gables and porches; sometimes called Late Gothic Revival or Ruskinian
Gothic.

Modern Gothic - An Aesthetic Movement furniture and decorative-arts style of the

1860s and 1870s, that was popular in Great Britain and the United States. A
rebellion against the excessive ornament of Second Empire and Rococo
Revival furniture, it advocated simplicity and honesty of construction, and
ornament derived from nature. Unlike the Gothic Revival, it sought not to copy
Gothic designs, but to adapt them, abstract them, and apply them to new forms
Art Nouveau
In general it was most successfully practiced in the decorative arts: furniture,
jewelry, and book design and illustration. The style was richly ornamental and
asymmetrical, characterized by a whiplash linearity reminiscent of twining plant
tendrils. Its exponents chose themes fraught with symbolism, frequently of an
erotic nature. They imbued their designs with dreamlike and exotic forms.
The distinguishing ornamental characteristic of Art Nouveau is its
undulating, asymmetrical line, often taking the form of flower stalks and buds,
vine tendrils, insect wings, and other delicate and sinuous natural objects; the
line may be elegant and graceful or infused with a powerfully rhythmic and
whiplike force.
Region Western Europe, particularly in London (England), Brussels (Belgium),
Paris (France), and Vienna (Austria), and also popular across the United States.
Period - began in the 1880, peaked in 1890 and 1905
Characteristics
Organic Forms - Art Nouveau design is most readily identified by its
preponderance of flowing organic forms, such as flowers, vines and leaves, most
often represented in ironwork in many ways a conscious reaction to Beaux-Arts
academicism.
Articulating Modernity - The modernity of Art Nouveau is in many ways a strange
modernity and this is articulated precisely by Guimards work. There is
something edgy and disconcerting about its combination of the organic and the
technological.
Symbolism - The historical context of Art Nouveau is that of a mood of decline
and decadence, which developed into a neo-mystical and irrational direction
opposed to positivism and naturalism. The aim of Art Nouveau artists was not to
depict or describe nature but to evoke or convey sensual impressions.
Anti Historicism - The artists and architects of the Vienna Secesion reacted
specifically against the conservative historicism of the viena Knstlerhaus and
more broadly against the staid mid-19th century buildings along the prominent
Ringstrasse, Joseph Maria Olbrichs stark Secession Building, with interior
decorations by the painter Gustavo Klimt, was the architectural manifestation of
the new spirit promoted by the Secession and summarized in the title of its
publication, Ver sacrum (Sacred Spring, 1898-1903).
Anti-Ornament - Art Nouveau was one of the most important anti-historicist
movement in fine arts. Characteristics are a break with traditional styles, motives

taken from youth, nature and foreign cultures, and a tendency to light
ornaments.
Technical Sublime - In architecture and the other plastic arts, the whole of the
three-dimensional form becomes engulfed in the organic, linear rhythm, creating
a fusion between structure and ornament.
Ethereal Sublime - Art Nouveau was more fanciful and universalist: a
manifestation of the belief in cosmic harmony and integration, of the need for
man to feel the primal forces active in the world and thereby raise his
consciousness to higher, more-enlightened levels.

Orientalism
The interaction between East and West brought on by colonialist
expansion have had a long and wide ranging impact on architecture. Until the
emergence of Modernism, and in some cases after, the relationship between East
and West, architectural or otherwise, was governed by one overriding framework.
Region EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES
Period - MID- EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY
Characteristics
Indian - Confluence of different architectural styles had been attempted before
during the mainly Turkic, Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods. Turkic and Mughal
conquest in the Indian subcontinent, introduced new concepts in the already rich
architecture of India.
Egyptian - Egyptian revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and
imagery of ancient Egypt.
Moorish - Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural
styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of
the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental.
Mayan - Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican architecture was of great interest to
numerous American architects during the 1920s and 1930s, Mayan culture
provided a decidedly indigenous reference for architects who sought to move
beyond the European tradition.
Chinese - Pleasure pavilions in "Chinese taste" appeared in the formal parterres
of late Baroque and Rococo German palaces, and in tile panels at Aranjuez near
Madrid.
Beaux Arts

Historical and eclectic design on a monumental scale, as taught at

the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the 19th cent.
Beaux-Arts was mostly used for grand public and institutional buildings,
and for the private homes of Americas industrial barons.
Region FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES
Period - Mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century
Characteristics
Imericated Facade - Beaux-Arts faade were usually imbricated, or layered with
overlapping classical elements or sculpture, to provide coherence to the whole
ensemble.

Iron Structure - Dramatic use of frameworks to create soaring interior spaces.

Civic Building - Beaux-Arts architects were often commissioned to create great

grand civic buildings symbolic of the self-confidence of the town or city.

High Facade - Beaux-Arts facades typically consisted of a high rusticated

basement level, which acted as the buildings lower storey; a tall piano nobile,
usually articulated with an applied order with received arched openings; and a
thick cornice and white attic level, often adorned with reliefs.

Axial Planning - The Beaux Arts approach to design had a strong urban planning
component. It relies on grand, tree-lined avenues; axial cross streets; and
long vistas terminating at carefully placed classical faades. A central
feature is the so-called crows foot -- three or more avenues starting at a
single central point (on a grand public square) and fanning out in different
directions to give dynamic vistas through a city.
Modern Building Types - The advent of modernity overturned the convention

that a buildings importance could be inferred through its scale. Factories

warehouses and railway stations all required vast structures, the construction of
which often created significant disruption. Beaux-Arts architecture was often
deployed in these situations to put a civil face on these new buildings.

Arts and Crafts

o Arts and Crafts movement led by William Morris.
o Was an aesthetic and idealistic reaction to the forces and conditions
of modernity.
o Characterized by a romantic historicism anchored on the rural
lifestyle before the advent of modernity and squalor industrial cities.
Region England, United States
Period - Mid 90th-20th Century
Characteristics
Vernacular - Vernacular architecture is a category of architecture based on local
needs, construction materials and reflecting local traditions. Tends to evolve over
time to reflect the environmental, cultural, technological, economic,
and historical context in which it exists
Picturesque - Picturesque, artistic concept and style of the late 18th and early
19th centuries characterized by a preoccupation with the pictorial values of
architecture and landscape in combination with each other. The term picturesque
originally denoted a landscape scene that looked as if it came out of a painting in
the style of the 17th-century French artists Claude Lorrain or Gaspard Poussin.
Domestic - Domestic architecture is produced for the social unit: the individual,
family, or clan and their dependents, human and animal. It provides shelter and
security for the basic physical functions of life and at times also for commercial,

industrial, or agricultural activities that involve the family unit rather than the
community. The basic requirements of domestic architecture are simple: a place.
Achieving harmonious balance design and usage of materials and furnitures.
Indigenous Materials and Crafts - The usage of local masonry products, stones, to
create aesthetic.
Decentralization - Eely usage of zoning systems to separate industrial,
residential, and green areas in such a way that enhanced the quality of life of
residents while recognizing the necessity of local centres of employment.
Garden Suburbs - The concept of garden cities is to produce relatively
economically independent cities with short commute times and the preservation
of the countryside. Garden suburbs arguably do the opposite. Garden suburbs
are built on the outskirts of large cities with no sections of industry. They are
therefore dependent on reliable transport allowing workers to commute into the
city.

Art Deco
It is an eclectic style that combines traditional craft motifs with Machine
Age imagery and materials. The style is often characterized by rich colours, bold
geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation.
Region United States and Europe
Period 1925 1940
Characteristics
Speed and Movement - Art Deco embodied the speed of the modern age. The
architectural equivalent was undoubtedly the skyscraper, and in particular
William Van Allens majestic Chrysler Building. Constructed in a short space of
time, it became, for a few months, the worlds tallest building.
Glamour - During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance
and faith in social and technological progress.Art Deco is often associated with
Hollywood and entertainment industry because of its glamour. Art Deco was at
its peak of popularity in the 20s and 30s between the two World Wars.
Rectilinear - While Art Nouveau was characterized by curving, sinewy, organic
forms, ART Deco architecture was on the whole rectilinear.
Exotism - EXOTICISM is the quality or state of being exotic.
~Miriam-Webster Dictionary followed Art Deco fashion in its allusions to
Egyptian architecture through applied pilasters and decoration. Such references
and those to Mayan and Asian architecture in Art Deco, a sign of the allure and
increasing accessibility of international travel.
Residual Classicism - While Art Deco evoked modernity, it was often under laid by
a classical sense of order, detectable in its planning. The work of the English
architect Charles Holden (a876 1960), which was only loosely Art Deco,
elegantly combined a classical sensibility with modern forms and planning

Geometric Forms - Like its recti linearity, Art Decos geometric forms were in
stark contrast to the flowing curves of Art Nouveau, Zigzags, chevrons,
concentric arches and other forms appear frequently, often inlaid with modern
materials such as Bakelite (a type of plastic) or aluminum.