Glossary

Beaux Arts - architectural style that continued until the stock market crash ended the building boom of the 1920s. It was used in both civic and domestic buildings; Georgian and Roman styles predominated, adapted with a refinement of detail to 20th-century needs.

Modern - an approach to designing and constructing buildings that has characterized most of the 20th century. Finding its start in Germany after World War I, its use soon spread to other European countries. At first, it offered pure abstract forms to replace stylistic traditions inherited from the Renaissance. Gradually this austere purism became diffused, and by the 1980s architectural theory and practice had ceased to follow modernist orthodoxy.

Neoclassical - style marked by the emulation of Greco-Roman forms. Neoclassical artists sought a style governed by logic, solemn in tone, and moralizing in character.

Renaissance Revival - the Renaissance revival style included neoclassical motifs as well as those based on French Renaissance. In general the style was characterized by large, straight-lined forms decorated with inlays, low relief, and incised linear decoration.

Romanesque Revival - style characterized by deep entrance arches, bands, or groupings of windows, and a sensitive use of various types and textures of stone and brick. Massiveness in stone structures is another major characteristic of Romanesque architecture.