sketch #2

architectural styles and their origins

INTRO I once had a client who asked "What style is this?" I replied, "It's not really any style; we're making it for you! It's YOUR style!! Why do you ask?" "Well, I don't want it to look dated someday," she said.

I replied with more than a hint of self-deprecating humor: "It can never go out of style, because it was never in style!"

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ABOUT STYLES

Where do architectural styles come from, anyway? And why are some people so preoccupied with them?

When people talk about building design they often bring up styles.

Victorian. Colonial. Modern. Contemporary. Whatever.

I think this topic tends to come up with clients and realtors more than it does architects. While there are some architects who are known for designing in a particular style, or those who specialize in Historic Preservation and must incorporate stylistic considerations as part of their work, in most cases architects think more about the characteristics of a building and how these are expressed.

Function.

Massing.

Scale.

Solid and void.

Light and views. Materials and detailing.

These are a few of the general criteria that architects consider while designing a project. What style something may be is usually not the primary concern.

So where do styles come from and why are they still relevant today?

The more closely you look into the derivation of architectural styles, the more you notice that many of the characteristics associated with them originally had little to do with aesthetic choices. They developed as practical responses to place-- as responses to climate, available materials, and the realities of building in a particular environment.

Before mechanical heating and cooling systems existed, buildings had to rely on form, materials, and orientation to create shelter. Deep porches in the American South weren’t invented as a stylistic flourish. They were a response to heat and humidity. Thick adobe walls in the Southwest weren’t about appearance; they used a readily available material to moderate extreme temperature swings. Large roof overhangs in hot climates created shade, and steep roofs in northern regions shed snow. As a result, building massing and roof shapes evolved as a response to the forces of nature: sun, wind, rain, or snow.

In other words, architectural styles began as environmental solutions long before they became aesthetic traditions. Over time these building types became so widespread and recognizable as part of their regional cultures that they became codified into what were recognized as distinct architectural styles, but their origins were far more pragmatic.

Seen this way, traditional buildings aren't expressions of fashion at all; they're expressions of place. However, when these regionally-responsive buildings with identifiable architectural elements are removed from their original context and are transported to other areas where their forms and characteristics are no longer appropriate, they become arbitrary, awkward, and even comically out of place. History without context becomes Disneyland pretty quickly...

In the next sketch, we’ll look more closely at how buildings can respond to place intentionally— not as a byproduct of tradition, but as a deliberate design approach.