architectural style

The Architect's Dream by Thomas Cole (1840) shows a vision of buildings in the historical styles of the Western tradition, including ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, and Gothic. An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and building structures) based on 84 of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, form, size, structural sign, and regional character.

Architectural styles are frequently associated with a historical epoch (Renaissance style), geographical location (Italian Villa style), or an earlier architectural style (Neo-Gothic style), and are influenced by the corresponding broader artistic style and the "general human condition". Heinrich Wölfflin even declared an analogy between a building and a costume: an "architectural style reflects the attitude and the movement of people in the period concerned".