10 Architectural Styles That Changed Human Civilization

Buildings tell stories. Deep inside, every column and dome whispers stories of the men who produced them, and of the civilizations to which they so strongly contributed. These weren’t simply beautiful structures, in the course of history they utterly transformed how we have lived, worked and even thought about our world. These designs affected religion, politics, technology, art and more.

This timeline of architectural styles explores how 10 essential movements changed human civilization. From the ancient temples that scraped the sky to modernist skyscrapers that puncture the clouds, each style resolved particular problems and embodied its own set of values. These were not just buildings but revolutions in stone, wood, steel and glass that built the world we now inhabit.

Ancient Egyptian Architecture: Building for Eternity

The ancient Egyptians didn’t just make buildings — they made monuments to stand for eternity. It dates from around 3,000 BC and lasted for over 2,000 years. The development was characteristic of a range of long surviving societies in the early stage of human civilization.

What Egyptian architecture accomplished on an incomparable scale was the feat of building such enormous buildings that could survive for millennia, including in a desert climate. They built with limestone, sandstone and granite — materials that held up against extreme heat and dryness. The Giza pyramids are the ultimate case in point. The Great Pyramid was the tallest human-created structure for almost 4,000 years.

Key Features:

• Huge stone columns with hieroglyphic scrawls
• Walls (and thick flat roof)
• Symmetrical motifs that symbolize everything ordered and balanced
• Temples with mudbrick temple enclosures with pylon entrances
• Post-and-lintel architecture (vertical beams supporting horizontal ones)

Indeed the Egyptians devised numerous building methods which are still being employed today. They invented the first scale use of columns, created systems of precision measurement and learned how to move stones that weighed more than 80 tons. Their temples at Karnak and Luxor are monuments to engineering genius that inspired Greek and Roman architects centuries afterward.

This way of doing things altered civilization by making it so that architecture became a form in which religious ideologies and political power could be articulated. It proved that buildings could be not only shelters but statements that would endure for eternity.

Classical Greek Architecture: The Construction of the Modern Civic Order

When Greek architects began building temples in about 700 B.C., they were not just a place to worship. Instead, they created an architectural language that represented democratic values, geometric order and people-oriented design. Greek architecture provided a model for Western building that persists into the modern era.

The Greeks developed and perfected three principal column designs, or orders: Doric (very basic and strong), Ionic (graceful with volutes), and Corinthian (fussy frills of leaves). Each order was carefully calculated on the exact mathematical proportion with respect to the column diameter. That focus on numerical concordance aligned with Greek ideas of order in the universe, researchers say.

Greek Architectural Innovations:

The Parthenon at Athens is the culmination of Greek architectural genius. Constructed between 447 and 432 BCE, it employs the optical illusion of slightly bowed sides and exacting dimensions to give an impression of perfectly straight edges. Each column of course leans slightly inward, and the base curves up, a pair of compensations for how human eyes read straight lines.

Greek architecture stood all that on its head; it changed the world by offering approachable and human-scaled buildings. Whereas Egyptian temples were designed to intimidate, Greek buildings included citizens. This architectural transparency mirrored democratic ideology – that the citizen played a part in governance. That style spread around the Mediterranean and soon became the design of choice for government buildings, banks and universities worldwide, symbolizing democracy, knowledge and stability.

Roman Architecture: Engineering Meets Empire

Romans received Greek ideas, then turbocharged these ideas in an engineering whirlwind. From 509 B.C. forward, Roman architecture addressed practical issues for a massive empire. They had to construct roads, aqueducts, public baths, amphitheaters and government buildings on three continents.

The greatest invention of the Romans was concrete. They could build things that no stone structure would allow them to do. Mixing volcanic ash, lime and seawater, they developed a material that could be shaped into a variety of forms and actually became stronger when in contact with water — something current varieties cannot do.

Revolutionary Roman Innovations:

• The arch: Rows weight, making it possible to obtain wider openings
• The vault: Ceiling of an interior support-less span
• The dome: Circular roofed, covered spaces to themselves
• Concrete construction: Faster, more flexible building became possible
• Aqueducts: Carried water over long distances

The development of Roman structural design is evident in the Colosseum. Built in 80 A.D., it had a capacity of seating 50,000 spectators as well as 80 entrances for letting in and out masses of people from the stands within minutes. With its dome constructed in 126 CE, The Pantheon’s was the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome for nearly 1,800 years. Its oculus (round opening at the top) provides a perfect counterweight to the weight of the dome.

Roman architecture transformed civilization by showing that buildings could serve mass populations. Through their public baths, forums and amphitheaters they established systems of social mixing for a range of slaves, freedmen, peregrini (non-Romans), citizens and elites. They codified building practices throughout their empire, transferring architectural knowledge from Britain to Syria. We couldn’t figure out how to build a better stadium, bridge or government building for the past 2,000 years.

Byzantine Architecture: The Meeting of East and West

From when the Roman Empire was divided, its eastern half had evolved a unique architectural style that combined Roman engineering with Greek aesthetics and Middle Eastern ornament. Byzantine architecture began in 330 CE, upon the founding of Constantinople by Emperor Constantine.

The Byzantine Empire had perfected the construction of a dome, placing a massive dome over an often square structure by using pendentives, triangular sections that allow the curvature shift from supporting walls. They achieved this technical feat so that they could form immense interior spaces with seemingly floating domes, into which heaven touched down on earth.

The Hagia Sophia, which was finished in A.D. 537, stunned the ancient world. The rotunda, which is 102 feet across and 180 feet high, seemingly floats on light that washes up through windows at the bottom. It stood as the largest cathedral in the world for almost a millennium, an engineering wonder that appeared to defy the law of gravity.

Byzantine Characteristics:

• Cruciform or central-plan churches (in the form of a cross or circle)
• Massive domes on pendentives
• Influence of mosaics and gold ornamentation
• Marble columns and rich colors
• Provision of windows to enhance the lighting effect

Builders of Byzantine churches molded with light. They installed windows to create specific lighting effects by day, having mosaics shimmer and gold surfaces glow. This turned churches into mystical places where religious people felt as though they were being transported away from the physical world.

This style altered civilization by spreading architectural ideas along the trade routes that linked Europe, Asia and Africa. It had an impact on Islamic architecture, Russian Orthodox church construction and the later Renaissance in Western Europe. This practice of Byzantine architecture as an emotional and spiritual act helped create the belief that buildings should elicit feelings, not just provide shelter.

Gothic Architecture: Reaching Toward Heaven

In France in the 12th century, Gothic architecture began building up when such an endeavor had been impossible. These soaring cathedrals, with their pointed arches and colorful stained glass windows, were a complete reimagining of how buildings could be built and lived in.

Gothic architects figured out a structural problem that had long stumped builders: how to construct tall walls that would not tumble under their own weight. They developed the flying buttress — exterior supports that weakened the load on walls. That meant the walls no longer had to carry the weight of the roof, so they could be thin and filled with windows.

Gothic Innovations Comparison:

Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral — begun in 1163 — is perhaps the best-known masterpiece of Gothic engineering. Its flying buttresses resemble a set of spider legs made from stone holding the walls up. Inside, light streams through 30-foot rose windows, casting rainbows across stone floors. The cathedral soars to 115 feet, yielding a pit in which the visitor feels small against something large and eternal.

Gothic architecture revolutionized the world by democratizing religious knowledge. Long ago, when the vast majority of people could not read, stained-glass windows retold Bible stories in pictures. The exaltation produced emotional experiences that supported peoples’ religious faith. There are other technological advances that can arise from the Gothic and each cathedral reached new limits of what stone could do. This style was propagated across Europe, and became the standard form of so many 19th-century revivals in Britain and America: Gothic universities, town halls, churches still dominate institutions.

Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning

Islamic architecture had after the 7th century only truly begun to compete with classical Greco-Roman categories (and would surpass it), namely in Al-Andalus (Spain), North Africa and the Middle East followed by Anatolia, Sub-Saharan Africa and central part of India via raids from Central Asia. The style inherited variety of traditions in application of motifs, patterns, decorations such as to Byzantine, Sassanian and Indian sources but the tradition had become Islamic and was interpreted accordingly.

Islamic architects had a specific challenge: how to be beautiful without featuring any images of humans or animals, something that Islamic tradition forbade from religious settings. They did so through geometry, conjuring infinitely intricate forms based on mathematical rules. These designs represented the boundless quality of Allah and the mathematical order at the base of creation.

Defining Elements:

• The former palace wing was transformed into a formal garden with fountains (considered to represent paradise gardens)
• Intricate geometric patterns and arabesques
• Calligraphy as embellishment (the Quranic verses)
• Horseshoe and pointed arches
• Domes and minarets
• Muqarnas (honeycomb vaulting)

The Alhambra of Granada, in the south of Spain is just one perfect example of Islamic architectural splendor. Building the Abbey Walls: These walls were built over the 14th century with patterns so complex that even mathematicians are still working on them. Water fountains to cool and represent paradise. The Court of Lions has 124 slender columns topped by fine archwork, a construction that creates the impression of both weight and airiness.

Between 1632-1653, India’s Taj Mahal is an example of Islamic architecture that transitioned with ease across cultures. This white marble mausoleum mixes Persian, Indian and Islamic architectural styles to form a monument of flawless symmetry. This is an earthly paradise, as its reflection on the surrounding ponds forms a picture-perfect view.

Islamic architecture altered civilization’s understanding of mathematics through its application to architectural design. The geometric designs called for advanced sense of symmetry, tessellation, and scale. Islamic builders also refined construction methods to enhance domes and vaults. This style had a dramatic influence on European Renaissance architecture, and today it’s still inspiring modern architects who are interested in tapping into mathematical patterns and sustainable design through details such as cooling courtyards and shaded arcades.

Renaissance Architecture: Rediscovering Classical Proportions

Starting in Italy in the 15th century, Renaissance architects went backward to go forward. They scrutinized Roman ruins, measured classical buildings and brought back Greek and Roman ideals imbued with fresh insight and technology. “Renaissance” translates to rebirth — these architects were rebirthing classical ideas for a new era.

Symmetry, proportion and geometry were important in Renaissance buildings. Architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti argued that buildings should reflect mathematical harmony found in nature and music. They believed that perfect proportions would yield harmonious spaces that reflected divine order.

Brunelleschi’s dome for Florence Cathedral, which was finished in 1436, marked the arrival of the Renaissance. The dome is 142 feet across without the aid of flying buttresses — a method that had been lost since Roman times. To solve it, Brunelleschi devised a double-shell dome design and new hoisting machines to build this engineering wonder that still dominates the skyline of Florence.

Renaissance Principles:

• Symmetrical facades
• Classical columns and pilasters
• Rounded arches and domes
• Mathematical ratios (often with the golden ratio)
• Rusticated stonework on lower levels
• Emphasis on horizontal lines
• Central-plan churches

Renaissance ambition writ large; St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. It took 120 years to complete and was designed by several architects, including Bramante, Michelangelo and Maderno. Its enormous dome, which Michelangelo designed, soars to 448 feet and has been emulated on capitol buildings around the world.

The architecture of the Renaissance altered humanity, for it made architectural information available in books. Architects wrote treatises laying out principles of design, ideas that could travel more swiftly across Europe than ever. It had a complete impact on civic pride – cities vied to have grander Renaissance structures to indicate wealth and that they were cosmopolitan. The influence of mathematical proportion and the classical elements led to an architectural vocabulary that is still used across the world for those buildings representing pomp, power and leading institutions.

For more information on Renaissance architecture and its influence on modern design, visit the Architectural Digest guide to Renaissance architecture.

Baroque Architecture: Drama, Movement and Emotion

Baroque architecture erupted throughout Europe, especially from the late 16th century in Italy, overtaking its Renaissance predecessor with theatricality. If Renaissance buildings were serene, Baroque ones felt as though they might spring to life. Walls bent, facades rippled and ornaments poured forth from the walls in a style intended to overload the senses.

Baroque was finished by the Catholic Church in the Counter-Reformation, when it turned to grandiose art to communicate emotional themes. Protestant churches could be plain and simple; Catholic Baroque buildings were daubed with gold, sculptures, paintings and architectural tricks that made it difficult to tell the difference between reality and illusion.

Baroque Characteristics:

• Curved and undulating facades
• Chiaroscuro in drama and film
• Rich decorations and gilding
• Ceiling painting giving the illusion of an open sky
• Spiral columns and broken pediments
• Focus on grandiosity and pathos
• Fusion of architecture, sculpture, and painting

The Palace of Versailles in France, which Louis XIV began expanding in 1661, represents Baroque grandiosity. At 240 feet long, the Hall of Mirrors has 357 mirrors to reflect light from gaping windows. The palace’s spread, which covers 2,000 acres, bordering the banks of a large river, with geometric gardens and fountains and sculptures that make for an oppressive concentration of royal power.

Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, by Gianlorenzo Bernini and completed in 1670, expresses Baroque’s emotional charge on a more intimate scale. The momentum is further derived from the oval plan. Powerful natural light plays upon the altar. Sculpture or decoration is found all over each surface, attracting eyes upward toward a dome painted to resemble heaven opening above.

Baroque architecture transformed civilization by demonstrating that buildings as physical objects could control emotions. They could use certain designs to manipulate the audience experience. It would become a means of comprehension for modern architecture, advertising and entertainment design. Baroque principles still inform designers when they set out to create spaces meant to impress, inspire or overwhelm visitors.

Modernist Architecture: Form Follows Function

Modernism spurned millennia of architectural tradition. Beginning in the early 20th century, architects including Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius claimed an argument for the idea that buildings should be reduced to their essentials. Their motto was the now-famous “form follows function”—buildings should therefore express indubitably what they are without superfluous decoration.

New materials made Modernism possible. Buildings might be propped up by steel frames rather than thick walls. Reinforced concrete could be shaped any way. The transparent walls was all made out of large glass panes. These tools could be leveraged by modernists to make designs that would have been unthinkable a generation earlier.

Modernist Principles:

• Rejection of ornament and decoration
• Open floor plans
• Big windows and the outdoors
• Flat roofs and clean lines
• Materials: The use of steel, concrete and glass
• Function determines form
• “Less is more” aesthetic
• International style applicable anywhere

The Villa Savoye, designed by Le Corbusier and built in 1931, is a modernist masterpiece. It is raised on pilotis (slender columns), and appears to hover over the ground. Ribbon windows wrap the exterior. The rooftop oasis brings a bit of nature to the urban home. He called it a “machine for living” — a home that was as utilitarian as an automobile.

Built in 1958, the Seagram Building in New York — by Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson — brought Modernism to corporate America. Its 515-foot bronze and glass tower is bare of anything distracting but the materials themselves. Set back from the street and surrounded by a plaza, it established a new generation of urban skyscrapers that reverberated around the world.

Impact Timeline:

Modernist architecture transformed civilization by bringing architectural design within reach of more people. Simplified forms reduced construction costs. Prefabricated components allowed mass production. Modernist tenets shaped everything from low-income housing projects to corporate headquarters. It also globalized architecture — modernist buildings in Tokyo, São Paulo and Chicago all have an aesthetic that adheres to a common value set, making the style the first one of truly international scope. Critics of Modernism may believe it left many homes feeling cold and impersonal, but there’s no denying its impact is still apparent when we look at the architecture of today.

Postmodern Architecture: Designs for Smart Infill (Color and Light in Architecture)

Architects got sick of Modernism’s deadly dull austerity by the ’70s. Postmodernism: The pendulum swung in a playful reaction against this, ushering back into fashion color, decoration, historical reference and humor. Architects — including Robert Venturi — insisted that buildings could be complex, even contradictory and silly, and still represent serious architecture.

Postmodernists didn’t want the world to be ruled by a single architectural style. They focused on context, contending that new buildings should respond to local history and culture. They also took issue with the conception that ornament was crime — decoration could signify, entertain, and make buildings human.

The Michael Graves-designed Portland Building in Oregon, which was completed in 1982, made a loud declaration of Postmodernism. Frontally it is articulated with an array of colorful squares, large pilasters and a hypertrophic statue. “Government School” appears to be a child’s building blocks ordered, one by one, into a municipal office. Some people adored it; others loathed it, but no one overlooked it.

Postmodern Features:

• Whimsical turn of historical architecture
• Bright colors and patterns
• Blending together many styles in one building
• Decorative facades
• Irony and humor
• Rejection of “pure” modernist principles
• Context-specific designs

New York’s AT&T Building (now Sony Tower), by Philip Johnson, with its top in the form of a Chippendale chair was finished in 1984. This joke about a giant skyscraper stunned the entire architectural world. Johnson, whose earlier work had been hard-shell Modernist, was saying: Buildings could be fun.

It can be retrieved from some of the most distinctive, like Charles Moore’s 1978 Piazza d’Italia in New Orleans: a carousel-ride version of Italian architecture. Neon lights hang off stainless steel Roman columns. The pattern of the pavement is the drawing of a map of Italy. It is at once reverent and irreverent toward classical architecture.

Postmodern architecture transformed society by contesting the authority of architecture. It was critical of one-size-fits-all design solutions; it advocated for buildings that responded to their particular places, cultures and purposes. Though its popularity crested in the 1980s and early ’90s, Postmodernism transformed architecture beyond recognition by making playfulness, historical reference and decoration acceptable again after decades of Modernist austerity.

Buildings That Built Civilizations

Here, those 10 architectural styles that show how buildings can affect human experience. Ancient Egyptians built for eternity, constructing monuments that continue to awe the world. Greeks it was that taught us to calculate theoretical consonances, democracies. Romans found workable solutions for empire. The Byzantines made heaven on earth with light and gold. Gothic architects built up, to inspire faith as a function of height. Designers in the Islamic world thus made mathematics beautiful. Renaissance masters revived classical wisdom. Baroque architects shaped feeling with drama. Modernists peeled away ornament to expose function. Playfulness and meaning returned with the postmodernists.

Each style was a response to particular requirements — technological, religious, political or cultural. Each went further or created something different, discovering new techniques and articulating new values. Between them, they show that architecture is never only about buildings. It’s about ideas and beliefs and dreams turned to stone.

From all of these the architecture of today is descended. Modernist simplicity, Postmodern color and Classical columns might all find their way into a single contemporary building. Principles of sustainable design echo back to Gothic engineers who exploited natural light and Islamic architects who fashioned cooling courtyards. As long as humans are building, we’re going to have that conversation in stone, and steel, and glass, making new languages of style that say who we are or who we may wish to become.

Architecture is civilization’s fait accompli, because it takes civilization and makes daily life out of it. The spaces that surround us determine where we go, how we engage with one another, what matters to us and ultimately who we are. In studying architectural history, we learn not just about buildings but about humanity’s unceasing task of building better worlds, one design at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes an architectural style “classical?”

Ancient classical architecture specifically refers to the architectural styles of Roman and Greek antiquity from the intense period of ancient classicism. These styles focus on columns, symmetry and mathematical ratios. “Neoclassical” refers to more recent periods of time (such as the 18th and 19th centuries) when architects consciously looked back to classical principles for new buildings.

Why did they evolve to be so many different styles of architecture?

It had different styles due to changes in technology, type of materials, religion, political rules and culture. Climate and materials also played a part — Gothic architecture is suited to northern Europe’s stone supplies, while Islamic architecture found its way around the heat with cooling courtyards.

Is style in architecture still relevant today?

Absolutely. Though modern architecture frequently incorporates several influences, clear styles still shine through. Contemporary styles: Sustainable architecture, high-tech architecture, and parametricism are among the styles which have emerged in response to climate change, changes in design philosophy and building technology, interest in sustainability, globalization, and digital technology.

What style of architecture influenced the design most in modern buildings?

It’s modernism that probably has the greatest impact on today’s architecture. Most office buildings, apartments and institutions employ Modernist fundamentals such as open plans, large windows, minimal decoration. However, you still see other styles that have their effect on some historic building types and regional habit in general.

How long does it take for a new architectural style to mature?

Because most major style shifts require dozens or even hundreds of years to mature. Gothic was a style that developed over about 400 years. Modernism developed over roughly 50 years. In today’s faster-paced climate, the time it takes for styles to form has likely become accelerated by instantaneous communication and technology, although fundamental shifts still need to be tested, refined and accepted.

Were there no architectural styles in Asia, Africa and the Americas?

Not at all. This article will concentrate on styles that are of particular significance to Western architecture, however the Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian and Pre-Columbian American peoples all had well-developed architectural traditions. They are both of equal significance in the history of world architecture, and they influenced design worldwide in one form or another.

Why is it that banks and government buildings always have this neoclassical architecture?

Classical architecture communicates stability, tradition, democracy and permanence — values these institutions want to communicate. The Greek and Roman reference in particular tie modern governments to ancient democratic and republican ideals. It’s been an association that has been built up quite intentionally over the centuries, especially since the time of the Renaissance.

Is it possible to mix different architectural styles in one building?

Yes, and this happens frequently. Postmodern architecture deliberately mixed styles. Today a lot of interesting buildings incorporate features from various different traditions. Historical buildings often exhibit style mixing, particularly if they were built or remodeled over many years. The point is to maintain design integrity amidst various influences.