Parson Capen House-Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1683
Chapter V
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
A discussion of the history of architectural styles in the U.S. is a discussion of the search for an "American" style. Americans have long wanted to define themselves as a culture separate and apart from their homelands, but with no strong sense of direction of our own the older heritage of a mother country was used as a starting point. Tracing through the evolution of American architectural styles, then, is to follow a centuries-long process that begins with styles familiar to the new colonists based on examples from their homelands (primarily England), experiments in the 19th century with both classic and romantic trends, and finally culminates, in the 20th century, with a truly original American style.
The following chapter presents a series of architectural styles
prominent in the history of the U.S. Although many experts will
argue that there are many more styles than the ones included,
the intent is to give a representative sampling of the major styles.
Let us begin the story, then, in the early colonial period
and see how each succeeding style represented a shift in America's
self-image. Buildings selected as representative of each of these
periods can serve as examples of our American heritage.
Buildings constructed during the Colonial period (generally considered to be up to 1776) were basic in plan, usually being one room deep. Common characteristics of the early colonial houses in the north included steep roofs, which were needed to shed snow, and chimneys placed centrally within the structure to keep the heat radiating within the building. Typical houses were two-story, for more centralized heating, with the upper floor projecting a foot or two over the lower wall at the front and giving some weather protection to the entry.
Structures were built with locally found natural materials. Since
hardwoods were plentiful in the north pegged post and beam construction
was common. Early structures featured thatch roofs, eventually
replaced by wood shingles. Rooms were added when necessary by
extending the roof at the rear to form the familiar salt-box
shape. Waddle and daub or brick infilled the walls, which were
usually covered with clapboard siding to provide protection from
the elements. Small casement windows in early Colonial houses
were commonly found until the end of the 17th century when sliding
sash double hung windows became popular.
Southern houses during this period were more typically constructed
of brick and often one-story, with chimneys located on the ends
of the house.
Colonial builders were not necessarily concerned with questions
of style, but dealt more with matters relating to basic existence.
Later in the colonial period, however, settlers began to feel
the need to present an identity and to express a more civilized
nature through their architecture. Initially, British colonists
established this identity by adapting the style with which they
were most familiar-Georgian. It was the prominent style of the
18th century, and was named after King George III of England.
The style expressed a newly felt sense of civility through its
formal arrangement of rooms and facade elements and its classical
detailing. Houses in the Georgian style were both formal and
symmetrical. The style was largely influenced by the architecture
of Palladio, a 16th-century Italian architect
who derived and interpreted much of his detailing from classical
elements, including the use of pediments, pilasters,
and the familiar rounded top Palladian window.
Casement windows gave way to upward-sliding
single hung or double hung windows, with
each sash having from six to as many as twenty individual panes.
As is indicated by the name, the Federal style was popular during the period just after the Revolution, and dates from about 1780 to 1820. Although the front elevations of Federal style buildings shared similar classical detailing and symmetry with those in the Georgian style, the detailing differed noticeably in some ways. The Federal style's roof had a roof pitch angle that was less steep. Detailing was lighter and simpler, and in some instances even delicate.
While the Palladian window found on the
Georgian was typically a half-round arch over the center window
in a composition of three openings, the Federal style adaptation
typically placed an elliptical fanlight over an
entrance that incorporated the sidelites under its arch.
Although Georgian and Federal style buildings featured some classical elements, the full replication of classical Greek and Roman buildings began only in the late 18th century, largely through the influence of Thomas Jefferson. While serving as Minister to France he became enamored with the Maison Carrée at Nimes in southern France. He copied the prototype for his design for the Virginia State Capitol building at Richmond, completed in 1792. As the first public building in Neo-Classical temple form, it had a significant influence on the design of other public structures. Soon the Classical style, with its association with the Greek city-states and republicanism, was accepted as the style most fitting to represent the new American republic. Jefferson's design for the University of Virginia in 1817, one of this country's best pieces of architecture, was a tour-de-force in this Classical Revival style.
The Classical Revival style, more commonly referred to as Greek
Revival, is most distinguishable by two features-a pediment
and free-standing Doric or Tuscan columns. Although
the main structure can be white stucco, board siding or red brick,
the front elevation is typically enhanced with a white portico
(porch) with full-width pediment and columns.
The building form is rectilinear, and the spatial arrangement
of the interior is defined by height and width proportions and
window arrangements that satisfy the design needs of the temple
form.
The style owed its decline to the inherent restrictiveness and inflexibility of its plan. This was a special concern in an increasingly urban society, with buildings closely placed along busy streets being viewed as more appropriate and feasible than buildings situated temple-like on selected hilltops. This change in thinking was described by John Maass in his book, The Gingerbread Age:
The Victorians, of course, moralized on every possible occasion
and they attacked the Greek style upon moral grounds. Actually,
the Greek Revival had run its course in the forties because it
was no longer adequate. This beautiful, serene style is essentially
an architecture of facades. Fenestration was always a problem
in a porticoed building; even such a lover of the
antique as Goethe had recognized that 'columns and
windows are a contradiction'. The Greek temples had of course
been windowless and the dwellings of the ancient Greeks and Romans
were without columns. The ground plan of a Greek Revival building
had to conform to the symmetrical elevation. This could be made
to work in formal designs like royal palaces, state capitols and
even town halls but it was a straitjacket for builders who were
called upon to solve the everyday problems of an increasingly
complex industrial civilization.
The Italianate was another formal, symmetrical style that first came to prominence in the 1850s and stayed popular through later revivals well into the 20th century. Stylistic elements are derived from Italian Renaissance architecture, and are distinguished by an almost severe blockish form similar to an Italian palazzo (hence the alternate name, Renaissance Revival).
An important feature of the style is a wide, projecting cornice
supported with elaborate bracketing. Windows with
rounded or segmented arch tops typically have an eyebrow hood.
Low slope or flat roofs make the roof form recede and give primary
importance to the wall elevations.
The lack of projecting elements, such as the Greek Revival portico,
allow this formal style to fit better on city streets, and Italianate
became popular for downtown commercial buildings. The Italianate
form was the style of choice for common commercial buildings from
the 1850s until the turn of the century, and since the timing
of the style's ascendancy matched the period when most cities
beyond the east coast attained their most rapid growth, in many
parts of the country downtowns large and small have a preponderance
of storefronts in the Italianate style.
At the same time many of the more formal styles, with their controlled elegance and symmetry, were evolving a newer movement incorporated more romantic notions of architectural styles and designs. Influenced greatly by English landscape design, with its free-flowing interpretation of nature and natural forms, and by contemporary landscape painting, the Romantic period of architecture in the United States was ushered in by A.J. Downing in the mid 19th century. The son of a nurseryman, Downing was the author of a most influential 1841 book, Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening. In his later books Cottage Residences and The Architecture of Country Houses, he laid out design principles that provided a vivid counterpoint to the more prevalent formal styles.
The Romantic style of choice was Gothic, considered the only rational style that was flexible enough to fit all functions. As writer John Ruskin expressed it, imperfection is a part of life, and in architecture, imperfection reveals our humanness. This is best expressed in Gothic and its medieval roots.
The most distinctive feature of the 19th century Gothic Revival style is the pointed arch form, which is so integral to the style that a building with pointed arches can inalterably be recognized as Gothic Revival. Other elements common to the style are freely laid out, asymmetrical floor plans; tall, narrow windows; and steeply pitched roof forms. Additional features may include window tracery and pinnacles.
Wood frame buildings could also be in the Gothic mode, and they
were considered to be in the derivative Carpenter Gothic style.
Typically, they featured vertical board siding, elaborately cut
decorative vergeboard trim under the eaves, and a verandah.
The Italian Villa style became popular in the 1840's when A.J. Downing included examples of the style in his books and recommended it as being both picturesque and practical. As the distinguishing element of the Gothic Revival style is the pointed arch, so the tower is the distinguishing focal point of the Italian Villa style. The square tower is typically offset in a two-story "L" or "T" shaped floor plan, which has the advantage of additions being incorporated freely without losing the essence of the style.
Balconies with balustrades are common, as is a verandah.
Roofs with low slopes usually have wide projecting eaves supported
by Italian style bracketing. Many of the windows
are rounded at the top with groupings of two or three. Walls
are either stone or stucco; only in more common residences are
they wood clapboard.
A style similar to Gothic in form and detail, Romanesque buildings are differentiated by their use of rounded instead of pointed arch forms. Rounded arches are appropriated for windows and entrances, but may also be used to enrich corbeling in belt or string courses.
The Romanesque basis for the style was popularized in the 1880s
by the architect, Henry Hobson Richardson and became known in
this revival period as Richardsonian Romanesque.
In a short span of twenty years the Richardsonian Romanesque
style became an almost universal prototype for public buildings.
Often found in churches, libraries, train stations, and other
large institutional structures, the proportions in Romanesque
architecture are heavier than Gothic and do not stress verticality
nearly as much. The large arched opening forming a deeply recessed
entrance is a signature of the style. Monochromatic masonry
gives emphasis to prominent exterior forms of openings and recesses
more than to details. Most buildings have exteriors of heavy
masonry, punctuated with groupings of windows with transoms.
Chimneys are kept low, in keeping with the horizontal massing,
and eyebrow windows often provide openings through roofs.
As with many other styles, Second Empire style buildings have one prominent distinguishing feature, in this case the upper story mansard roof. However, beneath the mansard roof the lower stories of a Second Empire building were often based on Italianate precedents.
Named after French architecture from the period of the reign of Napolean III, and using the Louvre Museum in Paris as a prominent prototype, the style was elaborate and exotic enough to satisfy the need for pretension felt by the many entrepreneurs who had become rich during the Civil War. Second Empire was considered a modern style, one of the first not based on a historical style, but coming out of contemporary Paris. Prominent American examples of the style are the State, War and Navy Building in Washington, D.C. (now the Executive Office Building), built in 1871-1875, and the Philadelphia City Hall (1874-1881)
Second Empire was commonly used for large residences, where its
three-story structure with a mansard roof for the upper story
could be kept more in scale with other two-story structures.
It was a widespread, if not pervasive, 19th century style.
The Queen Anne style, most popular at the
turn of the century as a residential style, was the culmination
of the picturesque, romantic styles of the 19th century, for it
essentially proclaimed that anything goes. As the style most
closely associated with the Victorian period
(Victorian is often discussed as a style, but correctly it is
a term used only to represent a period of time), Queen Anne designs
thrived on decorative excess. Variety and freedom of expression
among designers and builders was encouraged. Historical references
intermingle inthis style in a casual manner, and the overall effect
is one of studied busyness. Porches couple with turrets
and roof gables. Wall surfaces may have masonry, wood shingles-either
plane or fishscale-or clapboard. Surfaces freely project and
recess, and windows come in various sizes and shapes, often with
small sections of leaded or colored glass. Chimneys are prominent,
designed of brick and sculptural in form.
Commercial structures also were designed in the Queen Anne style.
Though more subdued in these buildings than in residences, the
style is recognized by freely expressed wall surfaces and roof
combinations. A gable form on such a building usually indicates
a Queen Anne derivative.
As America entered the 20th century a division of loyalties remained between the advocates of the romantic styles and those of the classical styles. Each felt their architecture represented the true spirit of the nation. In a way, American architects were frustrated because many styles had been embraced, and were still in evidence. This dilemma was pondered by traditionalist architect Bertram Goodhue in 1916, who was reconsidering architectural design for the new century. In an article he wrote for The Craftsman, he observed:
I think you may expect me to say "Throw away traditions," but that I cannot do. I feel that we must hold tradition closely, it is our great background; as a matter of fact, good technique is born of tradition. We cannot start each generation at the beginning in our mastery of workmanship. The big universal progress in art moves on the wings of tradition. The nervousness about tradition in America springs from the fact that we have used it too much in place of imagination, in place of solid practical thought. Tradition has made us a little lazy about our own needs and our own inspirations. I feel that we should use tradition, and not be used by it. . . .
Yet there was still no one style that Americans could called their
own. Every other great civilization had a style to represent
it-why not this country?.
In 1893 Chicago was the site for the Columbian World Exposition. The planners of this exposition wanted to make it one of the most significant events of the age. Chicago was still recovering from its Great Fire, and its ambition was to rise phoenix-like from its ashes. After the Civil War many Americans had toured Europe, and they returned to this country aware that the United States had no city that could vie with the beauty of Paris or the cities of Italy. Using Venice as a model for its waterfront, the Chicago fair was designed to show, in its distillation of European culture and architecture, the best America could offer, even if only as a temporary facade. The purpose of the enterprise was to demonstrate that America was the culture of destiny, and its architecture would showcase that culture, even if only as a temporary facade which would last one summer.
Many of the country's most respected architects were commissioned
to design structures for the fair. Led by Daniel Burnham,
a Committee of Architects was formed and given a free hand in
the layout of the site plan and the buildings. The Committee
decided all major buildings along the fair's "Great White
Way" should be in the Beaux Arts style,
a freely interpreted eclectic style vigorously incorporating many
classical elements. The Beaux Arts motif, named after the famous
school of architecture in Paris, the Ecole des Beaux Arts,
allowed buildings to be designed in a grand scale, and provided
an important uniformity to the Exposition's overall scheme.
The Fair was a huge success, and thousands of midwesterners who had never visited a big city before came and saw what they considered the best of all possible worlds. So great was the impact architecturally that Beaux Arts eclecticism remained a force in architecture for another forty years.
Architects nevertheless became more and more frustrated, for the styles reinforced by the Exposition had served the 19th century, did not serve the needs of the new technologies of the 20th century. High-rise, steel-framed structures had no historical precedent, and it was unclear what form, or "style," they should take. Architects of the period were uncomfortable with steel-frame construction, which minimized the need for exterior wall. They searched for a new style that would be appropriate for this design challenge.
Attempts to adapt earlier styles to the skyscraper led to incongruous
solutions, culminating in the most publicized solution of all,
the Chicago Tribune Tower competition
of the early 1920s. With entries submitted by many of the world's
most prominent architects, the competition brought to the fore
all the current thinking on high-rise design. Some submissions
were whimsical; others were precursors of the modern style yet
to come. But the winner was solidly in the historical revival
style, a Gothic Revival scheme that clearly represented the corporate
tastes of the day.
But change was in the wind. The new high-rise called for a new approach to architectural design. As early as 1893 the Reliance Building in Chicago pointed to an early solution to functional high-rise design. In the early 1900s the need for an architecture to satisfy the new functional needs of 20th century building types was more and more apparent. Traditional styles were still found acceptable for churches and residences. But the new breed of businessmen, with their new skyscrapers, factories and offices sought a new style to represent the entrepreneurial spirit of the times.
The Chicago architect Louis Sullivan had been considering the question of functionalist design throughout his career. His phrase "form follows function" became his credo, and led to a new school of thinking. Architects of this school no longer perceived the function of a building and the style applied to it as separate decisions, but acted on the assumption that the form of a building should be a direct expression of its function.
Sullivan gave first expression to the new skyscraper formby providing
the best formula for the high-rise building type, defining it
in three parts-base, middle and cap. The base and cap of a building
were well defined in scope, but the middle was seen as flexible;
by designeing the middle in a vertical pattern any number of floors
could be added without destroying the overall form. This design
approach was taken in Sullivan's Wainwright Building.
But Sullivan did not entirely eschew a traditional flourish for decorative treatment. He simply redefined it into his own distinctive design vocabulary, and created unique decorative forms to accent functional aspects. As a result, most historicans consider him the first modern architect.
Sullivan was the leading architect in the group that became known as the Prairie School, and his greatest pupil was Frank Lloyd Wright. The genius of Wright was his ability to adopt the new principles of architectural design and make them distinctly his own. Wright designed many horizontal, open-plan houses representing a new architectural form, uniquely American in derivation and midwestern in its influence. His style was not derived from any historical precedent, but was formulated according to his own criteria, which represented perfectly the new freedom found in the American lifestyle.
The Robie House of 1906 in Chicago was one of
the best examples of his early work. Wide overhanging eaves and
a strongly horizontal emphasis accentuated by low sloped hip roofs
were meant to represent the protective, yet expansive forms of
the prairie. The rooms were not constructed as traditional box
forms; instead, walls were broken into planes, allowing rooms
to become continuous spaces, flowing one into another naturally,
with indoor spaces flowing as well into the outdoors.
Features of the Prairie style, as developed
by Wright and others, typically include long bands of horizontal
windows, recessed protected entrances, integral planters, and
long, low chimneys found at the intersection of roof planes and
usually defining the location of the family "hearth."
Stucco or red brick were used for exteriors; often Norman brick
was chosen because its natural tones and longer, more horizontal
form better represented the essence of the style.
The name "Bungalow" derives from the term "bangla" from India, where the style was chosen by the British for its broad overhangs and open porches, desirable in the warm climate. The style was adapted to the U.S. and was used throughout this country from the turn of the century to the 1930s. Many older urban neighborhoods can easily be dated by the preponderance of this residential style during this period of rapid urban growth and early suburbanization.
The Bungalow style is meant to give the appearance of a small,
one-level cottage, even when used for larger houses. The definitive
feature is a broad front porch, usually supported by substantial
square or tapered columns resting on the porch rail. Typically,
a front-sloping roof continues from the main house and sweeps
over the porch in one continuous line. The Bungalow style house
often has dormer windows in the center of this roof, facing front,
with the effect that a two-story house often looks like a low,
one-story structure.
Although not a style in and of itself, catalog or pre-cut houses were an important and popular product from about 1900 to 1940. Houses in their entirety were shipped from factories or mills where they were produced directly to a lot for assembling. All lumber pieces were sized, numbered and cut accurately to length at the factory, and doors, windows, hardware, decorative treatment, paint and other building components were delivered as a package on one train-car or truck.
Catalog houses included hundreds of designs in various popular architectural styles. They were indistinguishable from custom built houses, except for the "Sears" or "Aladdin" trademarks stamped on rafters or joists. The advantages of pre-cut homes were that they were much quicker to construct and also less expensive to purchase. Detailed instructions came with the kit, making it possible for owners to do much of the assembly themselves.
Until World War II, catalog houses were an important and large
segment of our housing heritage. "Enormous numbers of pre-cut
houses still stand. The county of Arlington, Virginia, for instance,
thinks it may have identified as many as 800 within its borders...
Aside from an ever-increasing nostalgic interest and a growing
respect for their historic value in the development of early-20th-century
communities (a few Sears houses have even been listed in the National
Register of Historic Places),
they offer a level of quality in construction methods and materials
that would be hard to duplicate...they sometimes command prices
that would stun the early owners. (A recently remodeled Sears
house that cost a few thousand dollars when it was built - in
what is now a pricey suburb of Washington, D.C.-hit the market
at $800,000 last year.)"
Art Deco is sometimes seen as the style of the thirties, and was
popular in such varied contexts as Hollywood fantasy sets and
exposition buildings. The chief characteristic of Art Deco was
its stylized decoration. Decorative treatment was based on geometric
and naturalistic forms rather than reliance on historical precedent.
Art Moderne (oftened included as a derivative of Art Deco) was
an architectural expression of the "streamlined" design
aesthetic that became popular in the 1930s and '40s, and remained
popular well into the '50s. Based on the principles of airflow
design used by aeronautic technology (tail fins were added to
automobiles to give this streamlined effect), the Art Moderne
style used streamlining to look "up-to-date." It used
little decorative treatment, high-technology materials, and most
of all, horizontal bands to represent the age of motion.
In the 1920s a revolution was born in architecture. As first expressed by Louis Sullivan, the Modern (International) Style expressed the principle that function should be the basis for design. It also posited that superfluous decoration should be completely eliminated.
Whereas architects for two previous decades had been experimenting with many new and eclectic approaches-including Art Nouveau, Expressionism, and the Prairie style-the Modern Movement established severe restraints that grew into an almost dogmatic approach to design. The style was based on three fundamental concepts:
1. Function, the prime motivation of design, was the only valid element to express.
2. New construction technologies should be utilized.
3. Completely free of historical references, modern architecture should express no period other than its own.
To Modernists, the new style was both a product of its times and an immutable expression of truth. More a crusade than a preference, the Modern style so completely dominated American architecture for the next thirty years that it seemed the centuries-long search for a truly American style was over.
Typical elements of the Modern style are flat roofs with little or no overhang and flat, smooth cornices. Smooth wall surfaces appear engineered with one material and little relief, and windows are typically flush to make them appear to be a continuation of the exterior walls, rather than an opening in the wall. Large expanses of walls are broken only by other projecting and penetrating planes, such as balconies or entrances. The absence of decoration is inherent in the style.
One project that perhaps had more influence than any other in
establishing the language of the Modern style was the Barcelona
Pavilion, designed by German architect Mies Van der Rohe
in 1927. With vertical marble slabs defining wall planes, light
steel columns, and glass walls, it completely broke the mold of
building as box. Using Wright's more organic schemes as a starting
point, Mies' design used severe, crisp forms and new materials
in a completely original way.
The other master of the style was LeCorbusier,
a Swiss architect who saw architecture as sculpture. In his design
for Villa Savoye, a clean white box supported on thin steel columns,
or "piloti's," each opening in the pure geometry of
the box is carefully studied as an element in the composition.
As these examples show, in the Modern style materials were used
in their purest form. Architects chose glass not only for windows,
but also for entire facades, and the glass curtain-wall became
a common high-rise form. Steel was not covered over and ignored,
but expressed freely and openly as a major design element. The
goal was not only to express a universal style, but to invent
a universal building type that could be adapted for virtually
all uses. This architectural tradition arose out of industrial
design and structural engineering. Some in the profession feared
this trend, feeling there would soon be no need for architects
as purveyors of design and styles.
With faint beginnings in the 1960s-expressed more often in architectural treatises than in actual buildings-continuing and peaking in the 1970s and early 1980s, the next architectural movement returned to the use of historical references. An increased interest in preservation and historic styles led many architects to look again at historic elements for inspiration. This Post-Modern period, as it has been termed, was a necessary catharsis to purge designers from the severe restrictions of Modern dogma. Many architects were relieved that the freedom to explore alternatives had been restored, but at the same time some were troubled by the loss of purity.
Robert Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture expressed the Post-Modern manifesto:
Architects can no longer afford to be intimidated by the puritanical moral language of orthodox Modern architecture. I like elements which are hybrid rather than "pure," compromising rather than "clean," distorted rather than "straightforward,"...
I am for richness of meaning rather than clarity of meaning; for the implicit function as well as the explicit function.
Post-Modern architects do not advocate wholesale duplication of
earlier historical styles, but they select various elements from
earlier periods and reinterpret them in a decorative, sometimes
whimsical, fashion. Elements such as column capitals or broken
pediments have been enlarged to such a degree as to provide a
completely different relationship of scale. Philip Johnson's
famous-or notorious-AT&T Building
in New York, for example, places a Chippendale broken pediment
as the enormous cap on a high-rise building.
Another branch of Post-Modern work addresses the issue of "Contextualism," which is defined as having new designs fit within the vocabulary of their surrounding context. Contextual design is especially important as a design principle for additions to historic buildings, taking features of the existing building or buildings and using them in a simpler, more contemporary way. Often contextual additions match general proportions, heights, masonry belt coursing, and window sizes. Exterior materials usually have smoother finishes than the historic original, however, and much less decorative treatment.
The rise of Post-Modern design has been a concern to many old-line
Modernists because of its irreverence and unpredictability. Its
"anything goes" approach was a necessary antidote to
the puritanical approach of previous decades, however, and the
style promises to settle into a period of less stridency and more
accommodation as it develops.
The history of American architecture is represented by a search for an architectural style that truly represented the new American culture. Beginning with the most basic colonial structures, and through the Georgian and Federal periods, even prominent buildings borrowed the English styles with which early Americans were comfortable. Then the search for a style took architects to other countries and other time periods for their inspiration: Greek, Gothic, Romanesque, Italianate, and French, and even back to England with the popular Queen Anne.
It was only in the 20th century that architects developed forms that were truly unique to our own culture. Sullivan and Wright originated a new aesthetic of the prairie. Contemporary art forms inspired the Art Deco and Moderne styles in the '20s and'30s. But the search ended, at least temporarily, with the evolution of a truly new style derived from the machine age-the Modern (International) style. Although early examples sometimes came from European architects, Modern was the dominant style for the U.S. for most of this century. The only major exception was residential architecture, which clung steadfastly to its traditional roots. Only recently has it been joined by another style, still being defined, that combines elements of Modern with inspiration from previous historic styles-the Post-Modern style.
It has been possible in this chapter to present only a cursory
overview of some of the many styles found in the United States
that have been documented and categorized by architectural historians.
Many of the early Revival styles described here had later revival
periods, when the styles metamorphosed into newer forms. Likewise,
the Modern period is represented as a single style, which is inclusive
to a fault, and does not represent the many variations found during
this period. The serious student may refer to more complete texts,
such as those listed in the Bibliography, to better appreciate
how the search for a style followed many paths besides those represented
here.
To understand architectural styles, one must understand the vocabulary. The terms listed below are commonly used to describe architectural components and elements.
Architrave: The main beam that sets on column capitals and forms the lowest part of an entablature.
BalustradeBalustrade: A railing composed of a series of upright members, often in a vase-shape, with a top rail and often a bottom rail.
BargeboardBargeboard: A decorative board running along the edge of a gable (often called vergeboard).
Battlement: A parapet wall at the edge of a roof with alternating slots and raised portions.
BayBay: A unit of a building facade, defined by a regular spacing of windows, columns or piers.
Bay window: An exterior wall projection filled with windows; if curved, called a Bow Window; if on an upper floor, called an Oriel Window.
Bond: The pattern of overlapping brick joints that binds them together to form a wall (e.g., common bond, Flemish bond, English bond).
BracketBracket: A decorative element supporting a wall projection, cornice or other exterior feature.
Buttress: A mass of masonry or brickwork projecting from or built against a wall to give additional strength.
Cantilever: A projecting structural member, the end of which is supported on a fulcrum and held by a downward force behind the fulcrum.
CapitalCapital: The top portion of a column or pilaster.
Carrara glassCarrara glass: Pigmented structural glass (commonly black) with a reflective finish used commonly in the 1930s and '40s.
Casement windowCasement window: Window with hinges at one side.
CinquefoilCinquefoil: Decorative element representing a five-leafed form.
Clapboard sidingClapboard siding: Tapered wood boards lapped one over another to form horizontal siding.
Clerestory: Windows located at the highest point of an exterior wall, usually for sunlighting of the interior.
Column elements:
Capital: The top, crowning feature of a column.
PlinthPlinth: The lower square form at the base of a column.
Fluting: Concave grooves running vertically up a column.
CorbelCorbel: An incremented wall projection used to support additional weight, most commonly constructed of brick.
CorniceCornice: The decorative projecting element at the top of an exterior wall.
CrestingCresting: An ornamental ridging at the top of a wall or peak of a roof.
CupolaCupola: A small dome rising above a roof, usually with a band of small windows or openings.
DentilDentils: Rectangular tooth-like elements forming a decorative horizontal band in a cornice.
Dormer window: A window, and window structure, that projects out from the slope of a roof.
Double hung windowDouble hung window: Window with two sash, one above the other, each of which can slide vertically.
EaveEave: Lower edge of a roof extending beyond the exterior wall.
Engaged columnEngaged column: A column integral with a wall surface, usually half-round in form.
EntablatureEntablature: The larger horizontal form setting on and spanning column capitals; it includes the architrave, the frieze and the cornice.
EntasisEntasis: The subtle bulge in the vertical form of a classical column.
FacadeFacade: Usually the front exterior elevation, or face, of a building.
FanlightFanlight: Fan-shaped window usually located over an entrance door.
Fascia Board: A flat, horizontal board between mouldings, typically used with classical styles.
FinialFinial: A decorative ornament placed at the peak of a roof.
FriezeFrieze: A decorative, horizontal band located just below a cornice or gable.
GableGable: The triangular section of exterior wall just under the eaves of a double sloped roof.
Gambrel roofGambrel roof: A double sloped barn-like roof, often associated with Dutch Colonial architecture.
Hip roofHip roof: A roof with slopes in the direction of each elevation, commonly with roof slopes in four directions.
KeystoneKeystone: Center stone in a masonry arch.
LabelLabel: A molding over a door or window.
Lantern: A small turret with openings or windows all around, crowning a roof peak or dome.
Lintel: The horizontal support over a door or window.
MansardMansard roof: A steeply sloped roof covering the exterior wall of the top floor of a building, named after the French architect Mansart and commonly associated with the Second Empire style.
ModillionModillions: A series of simple brackets usually found in a cornice.
MullionMullion: The vertical member separating windows, doors or other panels set in a series.
MuntinMuntin: Wood pieces separating panes of glass in a window sash.
Newel Posts: Wooden posts located at the top and/or bottom of a stairway balustrade.
Oculus: A round window.
Oriel windowOriel window: A projection from the upper floors of an exterior wall surface that contains one or more windows.
Palladian windowPalladian window: Large window unit with arched-top window in center and smaller windows on each side.
ParapetParapet: An extension of an exterior wall projecting above the roof plane, commonly used to hide the plane of a low-slope roof.
PedimentPediment: The gable form at the top of the facade of a classical style structure; also used over windows and doors.
PilasterPilaster: A flat, rectangular partial column attached to a wall surface.
Pitch of Roof: The angle of the roof slope, expressed in ratio of vertical to horizontal (e.g., 6:12).
Porte-cocherePorte-cochere: A covered entrance for "coaches" or vehicles, usually attached to the side elevation of a building.
PorticoPortico: A covered "porch" attached to the main facade of a building, supported by classical order columns.
QuatrefoilQuatrefoil: A decorative element representing a four-leaf form.
QuoinsQuoins: Decorative stones at the corner of a building.
RakeRake: The extension at the end of a gable or sloped roof.
RusticationRustication: Large stone blocks or stone forms with deep reveal masonry joints.
Segmental archSegmental arch: A partial arch form, usually made of brick and located over window or door openings.
Shakes: Split wood shingles.
Shed roofShed roof: A single-pitched roof, often over a room attached to the main structure.
SidelightSidelight: Narrow windows located immediately adjacent to an entrance door.
Single hung windowSingle hung window: Window with two sash, one above the other, the lower of which can slide vertically.
Soffit: The underside of an architectural element.
Terra cottaTerra cotta: Clay blocks or tiles, usually glazed, used for roof tiles or decorative surfaces.
Tracery: Traditional intersecting ornamental work found in windows.
TransomTransom: A small window located immediately above a door.
TrefoilTrefoil: Decorative element representing a three-leaf form.
TurretTurret: A small tower located at the corner of a building, often containing a staircase.
VergeboardVergeboard: See bargeboard.