Architectural Styles

A Visual Guide

Margaret Fletcher, Robbie Polley

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780691208077
• eBook ISBN: 9780691213781
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

A hand-drawn guide to architectural styles throughout history

Architectural Styles is an incomparable guide to architectural styles across the centuries and around the world. Modeled after an architect's plein air sketchbook, the volume features hundreds of detailed drawings by esteemed architectural illustrator Robbie Polley alongside incisive and informative descriptions. This unique guidebook takes readers from Europe and the Americas to Egypt, China, and India. It covers a host of historical and contemporary architectural styles, from ancient and classical to Pre-Columbian, Romanesque, Renaissance, Palladian, art nouveau, Brutalist, and biomorphic. It describes the histories and characteristics of the building traditions of each era and region of the world, and looks at key architectural elements such as buttresses, spandrels, curtain walls, and oculi. The book also includes a section on building parts—from domes and columns to towers, arches, roofs, and vaulting—along with a detailed glossary and bibliography.

Comprehensive and authoritative, Architectural Styles is an essential resource for architects and designers and a must-have illustrated guide for anyone interested in architecture or drawing.

1

ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL

ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

CIRCA 5300 BCE TO 650 CE

The primary building material of the Ancient Middle East was the mud brick. Typically consisting of mud, sand, loam, water, and a binder such as straw, these bricks were either air-dried or fired in a kiln to increase their durability. Glazing techniques for bricks and tiles further increased durability and also allowed for additional ornamental advancements. The everyday homes of this era are no longer in existence, but what remain are the impressive ruins of palaces and temples associated with power and religion. Sculptors were highly skilled in depicting animal battles and grand beasts, surely intended to demonstrate the power of the kings. As such, relief-carved surfaces of brick became an important element of architectural decoration.

Ancient Middle East key features:

• mud brick
• tile
• relief sculpture
• animal and human form in sculpture
• load-bearing construction
• ziggurat

Taq Kasra, Arch of Ctesiphon, Ctesiphon, Iraq, third to sixth centuries CE.

Built as part of an imperial complex, this is the largest brick catenary arch in the world. Constructed without a centering device or scaffolding, it was built by slanting the walls, brick layer by brick layer, until they met at the top.

Ishtar Gate, Babylon, Iraq, 575 BCE.

Built as the main gate to the city of Babylon, the Ishtar Gate was dedicated to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. It was part of a processional way over half a mile long with tall walls—50 feet—on each side. The gate itself is made with bricks, most of which are glazed in blue.

Ziggurat of Ur, Muqayyar, Iraq, twenty-first century BCE.

Oriented to true north, this stepped ziggurat has three levels of terraces, with three monumental staircases leading up to a gate on the first level. Constructed with large mud bricks, each level is supported by the one directly beneath. The temple at the top of the ziggurat did not survive, but the lower parts still exist and give evidence of construction and engineering methods.

Mudhif House, Iraq, circa 3300 BCE.

This typical Madan structure used for community gatherings is located in the swamps of southern Iraq and made from local reeds. The reeds were bundled into structural arches and arrayed across the space, with horizontal bundles acting as ties to the overall weaving of the exterior reed covering.

Naqsh-e Rostam Necropolis, Fars Province, Iran, sixth to fourth centuries BCE.

The ancient necropolis is of the Achaemenid Dynasty and houses four tombs carved into caves high up on the stone cliffs. Only one of the tombs, for Darius the Great, is identifiable through an inscription.

Tomb of Darius the Great, Naqsh-e Rostam, Iran, 485 BCE.

One of the four tombs of kings of the Achaemenid Empire, the monumental Tomb of Darius the Great is carved into a cliff. The tomb is in the shape of a cross, with an opening at the center that leads to a small chamber where the king was buried.

Persian Column, Persepolis, Iran, 550–330 BCE.

This example of a Persian column is from the ancient city of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The city had at least five palaces, and many of the structures were located upon a great plinth. This typical column capital was likely part of the Apadana, a large hypostyle hall.

ANCIENT EGYPT

CIRCA 3000 TO 30 BCE

The buildings of Ancient Egypt were primarily associated with life, death, and the celebration of the gods. The ruins of temples and tombs reveal that the architecture of Ancient Egypt did not follow a specific style, but rather used building practices of different types with associated features. The two most prominent building systems used were load-bearing and post-and-lintel structures. The load-bearing structures, built from uniform bricks and cut stone block, were massive in size and wall thickness, with sloping walls spreading wider at the base to support their weight and height. Post-and-lintel construction consisted of horizontal elements, in this case stone, bridging the gap between vertical members, columns. Columns were made of stacked stone, carv...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Ancient and Classical
• 2 Medieval and Renaissance
• 3 Baroque to Art Nouveau
• 4 Modern and Contemporary
• 5 Elements
• Glossary
• Index
• About the Author
• Copyright