Architecture
Architecture is a sphere of art and design in which functionality and aesthetics can combine to produce visually stunning structures that manage to both catch the eye and serve a functional purpose. The expansive variety of architectural styles that have been employed throughout the ages underscores the fact that not every building need look the same, a principle that is readily apparent when comparing Gothic cathedrals with igloos or pagodas with cliff dwellings. Although architecture is commonly associated first and foremost with the design and construction of buildings, landscape architects may work with gardens, parks, and other planned outdoor areas, aiding in the development and decorative planning of such spaces.
Architecture Encyclopedia Articles
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Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa Japanese architects who, as founding partners of the firm SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates), designed structures that were admired for their refined simplicity,...
Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown
Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown American architects who proposed alternatives to the functionalist mainstream of 20th-century American architectural design. Their design partnership was at the vanguard...
Egyptian art and architecture
Egyptian art and architecture, the ancient architectural monuments, sculptures, paintings, and applied crafts produced mainly during the dynastic periods of the first three millennia bce in the Nile valley...
Fallingwater
Fallingwater, weekend residence near Mill Run, southwestern Pennsylvania, that was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family in 1935 and completed in 1937. The house’s daring...
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris, cathedral church in Paris. It is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages and is distinguished for its size, antiquity, and architectural interest. Notre-Dame lies...
Michelangelo
Michelangelo Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Michelangelo was considered the greatest living artist in...
theatre
Theatre, in architecture, a building or space in which a performance may be given before an audience. The word is from the Greek theatron, “a place of seeing.” A theatre usually has a stage area where...
Chinese architecture
Chinese architecture, the built structures of China, specifically those found in the 18 historical provinces of China that are bounded by the Tibetan Highlands on the west, the Gobi to the north, and Myanmar...
Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta
Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta Spanish architects who, as founders (1988) of the firm RCR Arquitectes, were known for their collaborative approach in designing a range of public and private...
Alison Smithson and Peter Smithson
Alison Smithson and Peter Smithson British architects notable for their design for the Hunstanton Secondary Modern School, Norfolk (1954), which is generally recognized as the first example of New Brutalism,...
Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan American architect, regarded as the spiritual father of modern American architecture and identified with the aesthetics of early skyscraper design. His more than 100 works in collaboration...
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara Irish architects who, as founders (1978) of the firm Grafton Architects, were known for structures that are at once understated and complex, historical and modern, generous...
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio Italian architect, regarded as the greatest architect of 16th-century northern Italy. His designs for palaces (palazzi) and villas, notably the Villa Rotonda (1550–51) near Vicenza, and...
Latin American architecture
Latin American architecture, history of architecture in Mesoamerica, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean beginning after contact with the Spanish and Portuguese in 1492 and 1500, respectively,...
Japanese architecture
Japanese architecture, the built structures of Japan and their context. A pervasive characteristic of Japanese architecture—and, indeed, of all the visual arts of Japan—is an understanding of the natural...
architecture
Architecture, the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The practice of architecture is employed to fulfill both practical and expressive...
Western architecture
Western architecture, history of Western architecture from prehistoric Mediterranean cultures to the 21st century. The history of Western architecture is marked by a series of new solutions to structural...
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron Swiss architects who, as founders (1978) of the firm Herzog & de Meuron, were known for their reappropriation of traditional architectural elements and their inventive...
Baroque art and architecture
Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and building design and construction produced during the era in the history of Western art that roughly coincides with the 17th century. The earliest manifestations,...
Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren designer, astronomer, geometrician, and the greatest English architect of his time. Wren designed 53 London churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, as well as many secular buildings...
Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier was an internationally influential Swiss architect and city planner, whose designs combine the functionalism of the modern movement with a bold sculptural expressionism. He belonged to the...
African architecture
African architecture, the architecture of Africa, particularly of sub-Saharan Africa. In North Africa, where Islam and Christianity had a significant influence, architecture predominates among the visual...
Vesnin brothers
Vesnin brothers, architectural partnership of three brothers who individually and as a team contributed significantly to the development of Russian and Soviet architecture. The brothers were Leonid Aleksandrovich...
Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk
Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk American architects whose early success was rare in a profession in which critical acclaim often was not achieved until late in a career. Their rise to prominence...
Taipei 101
Taipei 101, office building in Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China). Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners, a local architectural firm, the skyscraper has 101 stories and reaches a height, including the spire,...
Donato Bramante
Donato Bramante was an architect who introduced the High Renaissance style in architecture. His early works in Milan included the rectory of Sant’Ambrogio and the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. In...