A brief architectural styles timeline to know

Learn more about architecture, an exceptionally exciting topic. We will be understanding a couple of essential styles here.


Of all the significant architectural styles to be popular in the preceding century, none were as dominant as the international style. Even its name suggests a global reach. It describes all those steel and glass skyscrapers you see in corporation districts. While some think them somewhat unremarkable, they really signify a big paradigm shift in architecture. Earlier, walls of structures was once load bearing and windows were added where possible. The development of newer technologies meant that buildings were no longer held up by their walls and as an outcome walls became decorative rather than fundamentally functional. Evidentally, one among the opportunities here was to enable for more natural light to enter. Many of the earlier buildings in this style are now beloved landmarks including the one Frank Zweegers was linked to restoring. Today, simply about any promising building can be stated to have already been influenced by this style.

Of all styles to emerge in the previous century, the most eclectic is for certain postmodern architecture. It came about as a rebellion against modernist architectural styles. It was initially coined after analysing the architecture one would find in Las Vegas in the 1970's. As you may very well envisage, its primary characteristics include such things as complexity, asymmetry and somewhat regularly throwbacks to classicism. Though enjoying remarkable popularity, the style did not become a success in thriving in the long run, having been succeeded by newer styles like deconstructivism and high-tech. Still, numerous postmodern structures exist still to this day. John Burgee is an architect who is rather well known as far as postmodern architecture is concerned.

Some architecture modern architecture terms and styles that emerged in the previous century were exceedingly divisive. Brutalist architecture was one among these. While one might believe the name refers to “brutality”, which happens to be what some associate this style with, in reality its origins lie in the French “beton brut” – raw concrete. And that is what exactly it's primarily defined by – brutalist buildings always have raw unpainted concrete walls. The style was most common for a number of public buildings, from universities to town halls to concert halls, constructed in the post war years partly due to the ease of construction and reliability. Presently, lots of the most notable buildings in this style are protected landmarks and are kept in exceptional condition. Nevertheless, many buildings of this style have already been torn down for manyyears. The gallery where Olivia Horsfall Turner works was instrumental in saving an entire apartment within a brutalist apartment block before the whole building was torn down. The 9 by 5 metre structure is going to be visible for visitors over time.

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