Summary:
Architectural styles have varied throughout history, according to the materials and techniques available and the fashions of the day. This article, aimed at new students, gives a brief overview of styles through history from the stone structures of the Neolithic period to the influences of today.

Details or Sample:
Architecture has varied greatly throughout history, with each new era giving rise to buildings that typify both the time of contruction and their location. Those who study and describe architecture tend to classify buildings and features as being typical of a style and although some divisions are controversial, particularly in the modern era, an understanding of the terms used is vital for the student architect.

The styles employed by architects through history have depended primarily upon three factors:

The materials - from the stone of the Neolithic period to the reinforced concrete of the Brutalist style, the materials available to the architect will naturally frame or constrain his or her ideas.

The techniques - closely related to materials, the technologies available to manufacture, shape and interconnect materials will inform the architect´s designs. For example, stone carving abilities were central to Ancient Egyptian architecture whereas the ability to cast structural steel affected many architectural styles from the 1850s onwards.

The fashion - aesthetics and what society demands from its buildings is central to the notion of architectural style. From the classical architecture of Greece and Rome through Europe´s Gothic styles to the Deconstructivism of today, fashions come and go. Architects may leap upon new ideas or materials or be influenced by buildings from previous eras to design structures with a distinct set of features that define a new style.

In the ancient world styles changed relatively slowly and are usually divided according to the region in which they first emerged.

Neolithic (~10000BC - 3000BC)
Architecture probably began in ancient Iraq and was characterized by the use of primitive materials such as stone, mud bricks, wattle and daub etc. Structures that have survived range from Skara Brae on the Orkney Islands through Stonehenge in England to parts of ancient Jericho in the West Bank.

Sumerian ( ~5000BC - 2000BC)
Sumerian architecture was characterized by the use of unmortared plano-convex mud bricks, as wood and stone were not available to the architects of the Tigris-Euphrates plain. This style is perhaps most famous for its platformed towers, known as ziggurats.

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Written by: Brad Hart
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