OTHER PERIODS

1) 1650 to 1790 - Rococo:

During the last phase of the Baroque period, builders constructed graceful white buildings with sweeping curves. Rococo art and architecture is characterized by elegant decorative designs with scrolls, vines, shell-shapes, and delicate geometric patterns.
Rococo architects applied Baroque ideas with a lighter, more graceful touch. In fact, some historians suggest that Rococo is simply a later phase of the Baroque period.
Architects of this period include the great Bavarian stucco masters like Dominikus Zimmermann, whose 1750 Pilgrimage Church of Wies is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

2) 1730 to 1925 - Neoclassicism:

By the 1700s, European architects were turning away from elaborate Baroque and Rococo styles in favor of restrained Neoclassical approaches. Orderly, symmetrical Neoclassical architecture reflected the intellectual awakening among the middle and upper classes in Europe during the period historians often call the Enlightenment. Ornate Baroque and Rococo styles fell out of favor as architects for a growing middle class reacted to and rejected the opulence of the ruling class. French and American revolutions returned design to Classical ideals - including equality and democracy - emblematic of the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome.

3) 1890 to 1914 - Art Nouveau:

Known as the New Style in France, Art Nouveau was first expressed in fabrics and graphic design. The style spread to architecture and furniture in the 1890s as a revolt against industrialization turned people's attention to the natural forms and personal craftsmanship of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Art Nouveau buildings often have asymmetrical shapes, arches, and decorative Japanese-like surfaces with curved, plant-like designs and mosaics. The period is often confused with Art Deco, which has an entirely different visual look and philosophical origin.

4) 1895 to 1925 - Beaux Arts:

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.

Combining classical Greek and Roman architecture with Renaissance ideas, Beaux Arts architecture was a favored style for grand public buildings and opulent mansions.

5) 1905 to 1930 - Neo-Gothic:

In the early 20th century, medieval Gothic ideas were applied to modern buildings, both private homes and the new type of architecture called skyscrapers.

Gothic Revival was a Victorian style inspired by Gothic cathedrals and other medieval architecture. Gothic Revival home design began in the United Kingdom in the 1700s when Sir Horace Walpole decided to remodel his home, Strawberry Hill. In the early 20th century, Gothic Revival ideas were applied to modern skyscrapers, which are often called Neo-Gothic. Neo-Gothic skyscrapers often have strong vertical lines and a sense of great height; arched and pointed windows with decorative tracery; gargoyles and other medieval carvings; and pinnacles.

6) 1925 to 1937 - Art Deco:

With their sleek forms and ziggurat designs, Art Deco architecture embraced both the machine age and ancient times. 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.

The Art Deco style evolved from many sources. The austere shapes of the modernist Bauhaus School and streamlined styling of modern technology combined with patterns and icons taken from the Far East, classical Greece and Rome, Africa, ancient Egypt and the Middle East, India, and Mayan and Aztec cultures.