History of Architecture

• "It is a record of man's effort to build beautifully. It traces the origin, growth and decline of
architectural styles which have prevailed lands and ages."

Historic Styles of Architecture

• "The particular method, the characteristics, manner of design which prevails at a certain place
and time”.

Architecture, striding down the ages, was evolved, molded, and adapted to meet the changing needs of
nations in their religious, political, and domestic development. A glance along the perspective of past
ages reveals architecture as a lithic history of social conditions, progress, and religion, and of events
which are landmarks in the history of mankind ; for as architecture is in all periods intimately connected
with national life, the genius of a nation is unmistakably stamped on its architectural monuments,
whether they are Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mediaeval, or Renaissance. Throughout the history of the
human race, architecture, the mother of all arts, has supplied shrines for religion, homes for the living,
and monuments for the dead.

Six Influences of Architecture

• Geographical
• Geological
• Climatic
• Religious
• Social
• Historical
 ARCHITECTURAL STYLES TIMELINE
1750—present

 Architectural styles from the last 250 years

 1000 years - 1750

6000 BC – 1000 AD

How did the world's great buildings evolve? Let's trace the history of architecture in
the Western world, beginning with the first known structures made by humans up to
the soaring skyscrapers of the modern era.

This quick review illustrates how each new movement builds on the one before.
Although our timeline lists dates, historic periods do not start and stop at precise
points on a calendar. Periods and styles flow together, sometimes merging
contradictory ideas, sometimes inventing new approaches, and often re-awakening
and re-inventing older movements. Dates are always approximate: Architecture is a
fluid art.

Architecture in Prehistoric Times

Before recorded history, humans constructed earthen mounds, stone circles,
megaliths, and structures that often puzzle modern-day archaeologists. Prehistoric
architecture includes monumental structures such as Stonehenge, cliff dwellings in
the Americas, and thatch and mud structures lost to time.
Ancient Egypt
3,050 BC to 900 BC In ancient Egypt, powerful rulers constructed monumental
pyramids, temples, and shrines. Far from primitive, enormous structures such as
the Pyramids of Giza were feats of engineering capable of reaching great heights.
Classical
850 BC to 476 AD From the rise of ancient Greece until the fall of the Roman empire,
great buildings were constructed according to precise rules. The Classical Orders,
which defined column styles and entablature designs, continue to influence building
design in modern times.
Byzantine
527 to 565 AD. After Constantine moved the capital of the Roman empire to
Byzantium (now called Istanbul) in 330 AD, Roman architecture evolved into a
graceful, classically-inspired style that used brick instead of stone, domed roofs,
elaborate mosaics, and classical forms. Emperor Justinian (527 AD to 565 AD) led
the way.
Romanesque
800 to 1200 AD As Rome spread across Europe, heavier, stocky Romanesque
architecture with rounded arches emerged. Churches and castles of the early
Medieval period were constructed with thick walls and heavy piers.
Gothic Architecture
1100 to 1450 AD Pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, flying buttresses, and other
innovations led to taller, more graceful architecture. Gothic ideas gave rise to
magnificient cathedrals like Chartres and Notre Dame.
Renaissance Architecture
1400 to 1600 AD A return to classical ideas ushered an "age of awakening" in Italy,
France, and England. Andrea Palladio and other builders looked the classical orders
of ancient Greece and Rome. Long after the Renaissance era ended, architects in
the Western world found inspiration in the beautifully proportioned architecture of
the period.
Baroque Architecture
1600 to 1830 AD In Italy, the Baroque style is reflected in opulent and dramatic
churches with irregular shapes and extravagant ornamentation. In France, the
highly ornamented Baroque style combines with Classical restraint. Russian
aristocrats were impressed by Versailles in France, and incorporated Baroque ideas
in the building of St. Petersburg. Elements of the elaborate Baroque style are found
throughout Europe.
Rococo Architecture
1650 to 1790 AD During the last phase of the Baroque period, builders constructed
graceful white buildings with sweeping curves. These Rococo buildings are elegantly
decorated with scrolls, vines, shell-shapes, and delicate geometric patterns.
American Colonial Architecture 
1600 to 1780 AD European settlers in the New World borrowed ideas from their
homelands to create their own breed of architecture.
Georgian Architecture 
1720 to 1800 AD Georgian was a stately, symmetrical style that dominated in
Great Britain and Ireland and influenced building styles in the American colonies. 
Neoclassical / Federalist / Idealist 
1730 to 1925 AD A renewed interest in ideas of Renaissance architect Andrea
Palladio inspired a return of classical shapes in Europe, Great Britain and the United
States.
Greek Revival Architecture 
1790 to 1850 AD These classical buildings and homes often feature columns,
pediments and other details inspired by Greek forms. Antebellum homes in the
American south were often built in the Greek Revival style.
Victorian Architecture 
1840 to 1900 AD Industrialization brought many innovations in architecture.
Victorian styles include Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick, Eastlake, Queen Anne,
Romanesque and Second Empire.
Arts and Crafts Movement in Architecture 
1860 to 1900 AD Arts and Crafts was a late 19th-century backlash against the
forces of industrialization. The Arts and Crafts movement revived an interest in
handicrafts and sought a spiritual connection with the surrounding environment,
both natural and manmade. The Craftsman Bungalow evolved from the Arts and
Crafts movement.

Neoclassicism in Architecture
1730 to 1925 AD A keen interest in ideas of Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio
inspired a return of classical shapes in Europe, Great Britain and the United States.
These buildings were proportioned according to the classical orders with details
borrowed from ancient Greece and Rome.
Art Nouveau Architecture
1890 to 1914 AD Known as the New Style, Art Nouveau was first expressed in fabrics
and graphic design. The style spread to architecture and furniture in the 1890s. Art
Nouveau buildings often have asymmetrical shapes, arches and decorative surfaces
with curved, plant-like designs.
Beaux Arts Architecture
1895 to 1925 AD Also known as Beaux Arts Classicism, Academic Classicism, or
Classical Revival, Beaux Arts architecture is characterized by order, symmetry,
formal design, grandiosity, and elaborate ornamentation.
Neo-Gothic Architecture
1905 to 1930 AD In the early twentieth century, Gothic ideas were applied to modern
buildings. Gargoyles, arched windows, and other medieval details ornamented
soaring skyscrapers.
Art Deco Architecture
1925 to 1937 AD Zigzag patterns and vertical lines create dramatic effect on jazz-age,
Art Deco buildings. Interestingly, many Art Deco motifs were inspired by the
architecture of ancient Egypt.
Modernist Styles in Architecture
1900 to Present. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen dramatic changes and
astonishing diversity. Modern-day trends include Art Moderne and the Bauhaus
school coined by Walter Gropius, Deconstructivism, Formalism, Modernism, and
Structuralism.
Postmodernism in Architecture
1972 to Present. A reaction against the Modernist approaches gave rise to new
buildings that re-invented historical details and familiar motifs. Look closely at
these architectural movements and you are likely to find ideas that date back to
classical and ancient times.
Mast

Master Works of Ancient Architecture

Egypt 
2599 BC: Huni becomes pharaoh and builds the step pyramid of Maidun (completed by his successor
Sneferu) 
2575 BC: Sneferu founds the 4th dynasty ("old kingdom") and builds in Dahshur the first pyramid with
straight sides ("red pyramid") 
2550 BC: architect Hemon builds the "great pyramid" at Giza (146m tall) for pharoah Khufu/Cheops 
2515 BC: the Sphinx is built for pharaoh Khephren 
2040 BC: Mentuhotep II wins the civil war, reunites Egypt, makes Thebes the capital of all Egypt,
establishes the 11th dynasty ("middle kingdom") and builds the mortuary complex of Deir el Bahri 
1391 BC: Amenhotep III becomes pharaoh and builds the palace complex at Malkata (near Thebes) and
the temple of Amon at Luxor 
1290 BC: Seti I dies, having built the largest tomb in the "Valley of the Kings" and the largest monument
at Abydos, and his son Ramesses II succeeds him, married to Nefertari 
1250 BC: Ramesses II transfers the capital to Pi-Ramesse in the delta, builds two temples at Abu Simbel,
the Colossus at Memphis, the Hypostyle Hall of the Karnak temple at Luxor, and a huge tomb at Thebes

Ancient Near East

2125 BC: Gudea becomes king of Lagash and builds the monumental sanctuary of Eninnu 
2112 BC: Ur-Nammu of Uruk recreats the Sumerian empire and rebuilds Ur, including the temple of
Nanna and the three-terraced ziggurat 
1932 BC: Gungunum becomes king of the Amorites with capital at Larsa, builds the E-Babbar temple and
conquers Ur and Elam 
1250 BC: the Elamites build the ziggurat at Choga Zambil, the largest of all times 
1237 BC: Hittite king Hattusili III dies and is succeeded by his son Tudhaliya IV, who builds a palace on
the acropolis of the capital, Hattusa 
950 BC: the first temple is built in Jerusalem 
950 BC: the Phoenicians build the fortified city of Tyre 
879 BC: king Ashurnazirpal II of Assyria moves the capital from Nineveh to Nimrud (Kalhu), for which a
citadel and a seven-km wall are built 
705 BC: Sargon II of Assyria dies and is succeeded by his son Sennacherib, who moves the capital back to
Nineveh and builds a royal palace 
580 BC: Nebuchadnezzar II builds eight monumental gates, the Esagila complex, the seven-storey
ziggurat, and the Hanging Gardens in Babylonia 
560: the Sassanid king Khusro I builds the Palace of the Great Arch in Ctsiphon

Ancient Greece
1900 BC: palace of Knossos in Crete 
1600 BC: royal tombs of Mycenae 
1250 BC: walls and palaces of Mycenae 
650 BC: Terrace of the lions at Dilos 
560 BC: the temple of Artemis at Ephesus is built 
510 BC: The temple of Ceres at Paestum (in Italy) is built 
505 BC: a temple to Apollo is built at Delphi 
450 BC: Temple of Zeus at Olympia 
438 BC: the Parthenon is inaugurated in Athens 
430 BC: the temple of Concord is built at Agrigento (in Sicily) 
410 BC: the temple of the Erechtheion is built at the Athens acropolis 
356 BC: the temple of Artemis at Ephesus is rebuilt 
354 BC: a tomb for King Mausolus is built at Halicarnassus 
350 BC: the theatre at Epidavros 
350 BC: the theatre is built at Delphi 
329 BC: a new temple to Apollo is built at Delphi 
290 BC: the Colossus of Rhodos is built

Etruscans and Roman

600 BC: Etruscans build the colossal tombs of Cerveteri 
600 BC: the Forum is built 
326 BC: the Circus Maximus is built 
179 BC: the Porticus Aemilia is completed 
2nd c. BC: the sanctuary at Fortuna is remodeled in Praeneste (Palestrina) 
80 BC: Temple of Fortuna Primigenia 
55 AD: Pompej erects the first permanent theater in Rome 
64 AD: Nero's Domus Aurelia 
79 AD: the Colosseum is completed 
81 AD: the Arch of Titus 
107: architect Apollodorus of Damascus begins work at the Forum of Trajano 
110: the Basilica of Trajano is completed 
118: the Villa of Adriano is begun, comprising 30 buildins 
121AD: Agrippa builds the Pantheon, a circular temple made of brick and concrete 
Marcus Aurelius' column (176 AD) 
Castel S. Angelo/ Mausoleum of Hadrian (193 AD)
217: the Baths of Caracalla are inaugurated 
313: a cathedral is built in Edessa 
313: the Basilica of Maxentius is completed 
323: Constantine builds a church to the apostle Peter on the Roman cemetery where the martyr is
buried

Middle Ages
459: St Simeon's church in Aleppo 
537: Justinian builds the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople 
1075: the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is built, the third most popoular pilgrimage site after
Jerusalem and Rome 
1137: Benedictine monk Suger builds the cathedral of Saint-Denis in a new style, the gothic style 
1506: Pope Julius II decides to rebuild the Basilica of St Peter 
1564: Michelangelo builds the dome of St. Peter's Church in Rome

Constantine's churches (326-337):

• S. Pietro, Roma
• S. Giovanni in Laterano, Roma
• S. Maria Maggiore, Roma
• St Sophia, Constantinople
• Nativity, Bethlehem (330-)
• Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem (330-)

Paleochristian architecture in Italy

• S. Paolo fuori le mura, Roma (480)
• S. Costanza, Roma (IV)
• S. Lorenzo, Milano (370)
• S. Sabina, Roma (425)
• S. Stefano Rotondo, Roma (V)
• S. Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna (430, destroyed)
• Galla Placida's Mausoleum, Ravenna (V)

Paleochristian architecture in the Eastern Roman Empire

 Qalat Siman, Syria (470)

 St John of Studion, Constantinople (463)
 St Demetrius, Salonika (490)
 Justinian architecture (527-565)
o Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (532)
o SS. Sergius and Bacchus, Constantinople (530)
o S. Vitale, Ravenna (547)
o Giuliano Argentario: S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (549)
o S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna (VI)
o Battistero Neoniano, Ravenna (VI)
o St John, Ephesus (565)
o Holy Apostles, Constantinople
o S. Agnese, Roma (638, destroyed)

Late Byzantine architecture

 Zwartnots, Armenia (VII)
 Cathedral of Ani, Armenia (X)
 Mt Athos monastery, Greece
 Hagia Sophia, Kiev (1037)
 Cathedral of the Transfiguration, Chernigov
 Vladimir cathedral, Novgorod (XI)
 Nezeri, Yugoslavia (XII)
 Gracanica, Serbia (XIV)
 Hodeghetria, Mistra (XIV)
 Cathedral of the Dormition, Moskow (XV)
 St Basil, Moskow (1553)