23 Architectural Styles That Have Inspired the Most Famous Buildings in the World

Classical architecture refers to the movements that originated in ancient Greek and ancient Rome. While this may be millenia ago, the principles and aesthetics of classical architecture are still incredibly influential today. The Greeks and Romans were avid builders and invented many architectural features such as columns, friezes, colonnades, domes, arches, and vaults.

Religion dominated every aspect of society during the 1000s and 1100s, and monasticism largely expanded during this time. As a consequence, large churches were needed to accommodate priests and monks. Most of them were built with semicircular arches, large towers, pillars, and massive walls devout of rich ornamentation.

Native to England, this architectural style emerged during the Tudor monarchs at the end of the 15th century. The most notable features of Tudor houses are the half-timber work, steeply pitched gable roofs, and a large number of rectangular windows.

This is one of the most prominent architectural styles and its popularity spans more than three centuries—from the mid-12th to the 16th when it was replaced by the Renaissance. The most famous Gothic building is, of course, Notre Dame de Paris, which was celebrated in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Design-wise Gothic structures were massive, with pointed arches, high spires, stained glass windows, flying buttresses, and elaborate decoration.

Italy, as the birthplace of the Renaissance movement, is also home to some of the most outstanding examples of buildings from that period, such as St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Symmetry and proportion and classic Roman elements, including domes, columns, and round arches re-emerged as the architectural trends du jour during the Renaissance.

This 18th-century French architectural style is known for its rich ornamentation and a general sense of theatricality and playfulness. Asymmetry, curves, and light pastel hues as well as gold made it incredibly popular in other countries such as Russia, Germany, and Austria. Rococo aesthetics were also particularly dominant in the decorative arts.

The end of the 16th century in Italy saw the birth of the Baroque movement marked by theatrical grandeur. Interestingly enough, the style developed as a celebration of the Catholic Church’s wealth, which initiated a sort of a public campaign using art and architecture. Bright colors, gilded detailing, incredibly rich decoration, and complex architectural layouts were the most notable features of Baroque buildings.

The reign of Queen Victoria in 19th century England brought in a new architectural movement defined by its devotion to ornamental woodwork and ornate interior designs. Stained glass windows and towers were no longer features of churches and castles and became extremely popular in residential design, too. And while Victorian architecture originated in the U.K., it also defined the cityscapes of many cultural hubs on this side of the Atlantic and around the world.

The Bauhaus school, founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany, in the early 20th century, gave birth to the Bauhaus movement in architecture. It was one of the first styles that put function over form and had little interest in the highly embellished buildings of the past. Minimal, geometric-inspired silhouettes, limited color schemes, abstract shapes used sparsely as decoration, and industrial materials such as concrete, glass, and steel were Bauhaus staples.

British architect John Nash is the father of the Italianate architectural style. His foray into that aesthetical movement started at the beginning of the 19th century with the beautiful white-washed Cronkhill villa in Shropshire, England. Italianate buildings are incredibly romantic, drawing inspiration from 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture.

While Islamic architecture is an umbrella term for several styles across different countries, they all share a few common characteristics. In religious buildings, minarets, domes, honeycomb-like vaulting called “muqarnas,” and pointed and horseshoe arches are often omnipresent elements. In addition, in non secular structures, such as private homes and palaces, one of the most striking features is the lavish ornamentation in the form of dazzling patterned brickwork, mosaics, and calligraphic motifs.

The Prairie School was dedicated to developing an architectural style that was uniquely North American. The great Frank Lloyd Wright was a leading figure and source of inspiration in the movement. His Prairie houses were usually one of two stories high, had a low-pitched roof, were dominated by strong horizontal lines, and inside, had an open floor plan.

The architecture’s timeline seems to be full of extremes. Case in point? The emergence of the simple and elegant neoclassical architecture in response to the extravagance and lavishness of rococo. While buildings were still characterized by their grandeur, ornamentation was sparse, walls were often left blank, and floor plans were dominated by symmetry.

The Roaring ‘20s ushered in a new aesthetical order that originated in France. Chevron patterns, zigzags, sunburst motifs, and triangular shapes were prevalent during the art deco period. And while a more streamlined look became the norm, interior features crafted from gold, silver, crystal, lacquer, and ivory as well as velvet upholstery, packed a rich, visual punch.

RELATED: These 22 Majestic Structures Are the Reason New York City Is the Architecture Capital of the World

Medieval Gothic architecture has always been popular so it comes as no surprise that in the early 19th century, the Gothic Revival style rose to popularity on both sides of the Atlantic. Roof gables, pointed arches and arched windows, and steeply pitched roofs started popping up in residential buildings as well as churches.

Similar to neoclassicism, the Greek Revival style drew inspiration from classic Greek architecture. Stucco and wood painted in white were often preferred for their resemblance to marble. Columns, pilasters, and elaborate entrance designs were essential features of the Greek Revival style.

Characterized by the use of local materials, vernacular architecture emerged as builders, without the supervision of an architect, constructed homes not necessarily influenced by one particular style. Because of that, it is difficult to pinpoint common features of vernacular structures and in general, experts consider modest homes built with affordable materials examples of vernacular architecture because a professional architect did not lead their development.

The most controversial architectural movements of all seems to divide people in two camps but, love it or hate it, it has had an incredible impact on cityscapes around the world. Brutalism, which comes from the French phrase “béton brut,” is easily recognized thanks to the overwhelming use of concrete, simple geometric shapes, and facades devoid of any ornamentation. It became the go-to style of government and institutional buildings.

RELATED: These 19 Striking Buildings Exemplify the Best of Brutalist Design Around the Globe

This Bauhaus-inspired movement became especially popular in the U.S—in fact, so popular that some of the largest airports in the country were designed in midcentury modern style. Simplicity, functionality, sleek lines, and minimal decoration are the style’s most notable features.

Very often, present-day architectural styles—however different they are from one another— fall under the contemporary style category. Architects such as Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, and Tadao Ando (who created some of the most memorable buildings in Japan) are its most renowned representatives.

Modernist architects such as Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Oscar Niemeyer favored geometric shapes, open floor plans, and a general form-follows-function approach to architecture. Some of the most prominent examples of this movement include Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Tomorrow and the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.