NEB&W Guide to Architectural History

Last Update: 2008-11-08

Structures Table of Contents
Scenery, Structures & Details Table of Contents

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Architecture

• Architectural History
• Common Anachronisms
• Architecture & Technology

Architectural History

Architectural History
SS&D Architectural History
• The Fashion of Architectural Styles
• Why Things Are "Cute"
• Fibonacci & the Golden Ratio

The Fashion of Architectural Styles

• Introduction
• The Immune System
• The Cycle
• The Source

Why Things Are "Cute"

• Bugs
• Mammals
• Cute Architecture
• What's The Point

Fibonacci & the Golden Ratio

• Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci
• Beauty Secret
• The Golden Ratio

SS&D Architectural History

• Introduction
• Regional Styles
• Revivals
• The Revivalist's Palate
• Greek
• Roman
• Classical
• Romanesque
• Norman
• Gothic
• Tudor
• Italian Renaissance
• Bungalow
• Modern
• Steel Frame, Concrete Beam, and Brick
• Steel Frame, Corrugated Iron
• Art Deco
• Art Moderne
• International

Common Anachronisms

• Too Small Windows
• Too Few Dormers In A Gambrel Or Mansard Roofed Building
• No Support For Openings In Masonry Buildings
• Random Windows
• Brick Sills
• Brick Storefronts
• Wainscoting Not Level With The Windows
• Random Stone Wainscoting On A Frame Building
• Random Stone Ramshackle Building
• Rooftop Water Tanks
• Tracks Run Into A Building
• Too Steep Roofs
• Wrong Treatment of Tall Buildings

Architecture & Technology

• The Role Of Technology
• Heating
• Framing
• The Elevator
• Cast-Iron & Steel Framing
• Cement
• Lighting
• Air-Conditioning

American Architecture

• Neoclassical I, 1700's-Civil War
• Victorian I (Picturesque), 1840's-1880
• Victorian II (Ruskinian), 1865-WWI
• Neoclassical II, 1876-Today
• Modern, WWI-Today

Neoclassical I, 1700's-Civil War

• Colonial Georgian, 1700's
  • Georgian & Colonial Revival Houses
  • Georgian Churches

  • Federal Architecture, 1776-1820's

• Greek Revival, 1820's-Civil War
  • Greek Revival Houses
  • Greek Revival Depots
  • Greek Revival Churches

Victorian I (Picturesque), 1840's-1880

• Gothic Revival
  • Gothic Revival Houses
  • Gothic Revival Depots
  • Gothic Revival Churches

• Italianate
  • Italianate Houses
  • Italianate Churches
• Norman/Victorian Romanesque
  • Norman Depots
  • Norman Churches
  • Tall Norman Buildings
• Mansard/Second Empire
  • Mansard Roofed Houses
  • Mansard Roofed Depots
  • Tall Mansard Buildings
• Cast Iron

Victorian II (Ruskinian), 1865-WWI

• High Victorian Gothic
• Queen Anne
  • Queen Anne Houses
  • Queen Anne Depots
  • Queen Anne Churches
  • Stick Style
  • Shingle Style
  • Eastlake

• Chateauesque
• Richardson Romanesque
  • Richardson Romanesque Depots
  • Tall Romanesque Buildings

Neoclassical II, 1876-Today

• Beaux Arts
  • Beaux Arts Depots
  • Tall Beaux Arts Buildings
  • Tall Colonial Revival Buildings
• Period House
  • Tudor
  • Dutch Colonial
  • Spanish Colonial
    • Spanish Mission Depots
    • Spanish Mission Churches

  • Bungalow
    • Bungalow Houses
  • Cape Cod
  • Split Level
  • Ranch

Modern, WWI-Today

• Steam-Era Modern
  • Concrete Beam
    • Tall Concrete Beam & Brick Curtain Wall Buildings
  • Art Deco
    • Art Deco Churches

  • Art Moderne
  • Quonset Huts
• Post Fluorescent Lamp/Post Steam
  • Butler Buildings
  • Tall Post-WWII High Rise Buildings Neo-Victorian

Building Components

Misc.

The section above generally covers structures other than industries, which have their own section, although some may show up here, too.

For another description of architectural history, visit the Rensselaer Country Historical Society's web site.

Except as noted, prototypes are or were in Troy, NY.

Many of the architectural terms used here are defined in the Glossary section, and when I get a chance, I will link the term directly to its definition.

For a brief discussion of how we scratchbuild brick buildings. For an in-depth look at the Victorian rowhouse and their higgledy-piggledy backs and other decrepit construction. For the unique architecture of summer cabins, see this section.

Manufacturers, I will try to incorporate images of your kits as appropriate, if you provide us with them or let us take photos of them off your web site. (Any background as the prototype(s) you based them on would be helpful.) Stock photos of kits are courtesy of the manufacturer.

Please note that I am not an architect, nor have I had any formal training in architectural history. On the other hand, you are probably interested in getting a working knowledge to aid your modeling, and the buildings we tend to focus on are the low-brow, vernacular ones, not the ones built by professional architects.

All dates are approximate.

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