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History of architecture: free practice, theory and problems
The Greeks and Romans laid the foundations of Western architecture. Much of what we still call "classical" – columns, symmetry and proportion – comes from here.
Contents
- Antiquity
- The Middle Ages
- Renaissance and Baroque
- The 1800s: classicism, historicism and Art Nouveau
- Modernism
- Norwegian and contemporary architecture
1. Antiquity
What is it about?
The Greeks and Romans laid the foundations of Western architecture. Much of what we still call "classical" – columns, symmetry and proportion – comes from here.
Key points
- The Roman Vitruvius wrote that good architecture needs three qualities: firmitas (strength), utilitas (usefulness) and venustas (beauty). The triad is still used.
- The Greeks built with post and lintel in stone. Stone beams take little tension, so spans were short and columns close together.
- The three orders: Doric (a plain cushion capital), Ionic (scroll-shaped volutes) and Corinthian (acanthus leaves).
- The Parthenon in Athens (447–432 BC) is the best-known Greek temple. Its lines are deliberately slightly curved (entasis and curvature) so they look straight.
- The Romans used the arch, the vault and the dome, and they had concrete. The arch carries the load down as compression, which stone handles well – so spans could be much larger.
- The Pantheon in Rome (c. AD 125) has a concrete dome about 43 m across with an opening – the oculus – at the top. The concrete gets lighter higher up the dome.
Example
The aqueducts show Roman engineering: rows of arches carried water channels across valleys for many kilometres – with a slight, even fall all the way.
2. The Middle Ages
What is it about?
In the Middle Ages the church was the great client. Two styles dominate: Romanesque and Gothic. In Norway people also built stave churches in wood.
Key points
- Romanesque (c. 1000–1200): round arches, thick walls, small windows and heavy, closed spaces. The walls had to be thick to take the thrust of the vaults.
- Gothic (from c. 1140, the church of Saint-Denis near Paris): pointed arches, rib vaults and flying buttresses. Loads are gathered in ribs and piers, so walls can open up for large stained-glass windows.
- The pointed arch gives less sideways thrust than the round arch and can be adapted to different spans and heights.
- The Gothic ideal was height and light – the church interior as an image of heaven. Examples: Notre-Dame in Paris, Chartres and Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.
- Stave churches are built with upright posts (staves) on sill beams. Urnes (c. 1130) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Borgund (c. 1180) is one of the best preserved.
Example
In a Gothic cathedral you can see the structure: the ribs in the ceiling carry the load down into the piers, and the flying buttresses outside take the thrust – so the walls can be almost all glass.
3. Renaissance and Baroque
What is it about?
From the 1400s, architects in Italy returned to the ideals of antiquity – renaissance means rebirth. In the 1600s came the Baroque with movement, drama and power.
Key points
- The Renaissance sought harmony, symmetry and proportion based on simple numerical ratios and the human body.
- Brunelleschi completed the dome of Florence Cathedral (1436) without scaffolding from the ground, with a double shell and bricks laid in a herringbone pattern.
- Linear perspective was developed – the drawing got a single vanishing point.
- Palladio (Villa Rotonda) wrote about proportion and influenced buildings across Europe and the USA for centuries.
- The Baroque (c. 1600–1750): curved forms, strong contrasts of light and shadow, long axes and large complexes that display power. Examples: Bernini's square in front of St Peter's and the palace of Versailles.
- Gardens and town plans became part of the architecture: avenues, symmetry axes and viewpoints.
Example
Versailles is built along one long axis running through the palace and out into the garden. The king's bedroom sits in the middle of the axis – the architecture tells you who holds the power.
4. The 1800s: classicism, historicism and Art Nouveau
What is it about?
The 1800s was the century of industrialisation. New materials such as iron and glass appeared, while the styles often borrowed from the past.
Key points
- Classicism (c. 1750–1850): calm facades, columns and pediments modelled on antiquity. In Norway, Christian Heinrich Grosch designed the University of Oslo among other buildings.
- Historicism: older styles were copied – Gothic Revival for churches, Neo-Renaissance for banks and public buildings.
- The Crystal Palace in London (1851) was built from standardised parts in iron and glass and went up in just a few months – a forerunner of modern prefabrication.
- Art Nouveau (Jugendstil, c. 1890–1910): organic, flowing forms inspired by plants. Ålesund was rebuilt in Art Nouveau after the town fire of 1904.
- In Norway the dragon style became popular around 1900: timber with dragon heads and motifs from the Viking age and stave churches.
Example
Railway stations of the 1800s often combined a stone facade in a historical style towards the street with a bright iron-and-glass hall over the tracks – the past outside, the future inside.
Practise the 1800s: classicism, historicism and Art Nouveau in the app →
5. Modernism
What is it about?
Early in the 1900s architects broke with historical styles. With steel, reinforced concrete and glass, form could follow function and structure.
Key points
- "Form follows function" (Louis Sullivan): form should come from what the building is used for.
- Bauhaus (Germany, 1919–1933, founded by Walter Gropius) brought together art, craft and industry.
- Le Corbusier's five points (1927): columns (pilotis) lifting the house, free plan, free facade, ribbon windows and roof terrace. It was possible because the load is carried by columns, not walls.
- Mies van der Rohe: "Less is more". The Barcelona Pavilion (1929) has free-standing walls and flowing spaces.
- In Norway the style is called funkis (1930s): white, smooth surfaces, flat roofs and large windows. The Ekeberg Restaurant (Lars Backer, 1929) is an early example.
- Criticism came later: monotonous housing blocks and cities planned for cars. Postmodernism (from the 1970s) brought back colour, symbols and history.
Example
When the load is carried by columns (a concrete frame), the outer wall does not have to carry anything. Then the windows can run in one long band along the whole facade.
6. Norwegian and contemporary architecture
What is it about?
Norwegian architecture has grown out of climate, landscape and timber. Today sustainability is the big question: how do we build with a low carbon footprint?
Key points
- Sverre Fehn won the Pritzker Prize in 1997. The Hedmark Museum in Hamar builds new inside old ruins – past and present side by side.
- Snøhetta designed the Oslo Opera House (2008), whose roof is a sloping public floor you can walk up, and the library in Alexandria (2002).
- Wenche Selmer designed small timber houses where the landscape and the place shape the form.
- Mass timber (cross-laminated timber, CLT) and glulam make it possible to build tall in wood. Mjøstårnet in Brumunddal (2019, 85.4 m) was at the time the world's tallest timber building.
- Plus-energy buildings produce more energy than they use over their lifetime. Powerhouse Brattørkaia in Trondheim (2019) is an example.
- Reuse and transformation: the most climate-friendly building is often the one that already exists. Converting gives far lower emissions than demolishing and building new.
Example
The Opera House roof is both a structure and a public square. The architecture gives something back to the city – anyone can walk on the roof, even those who never go to the opera.
Practise norwegian and contemporary architecture in the app →
Example problems with solutions
Here are some of the problems in history of architecture. In the app, calculation problems get new numbers every time, so you can practise until it sticks – and take a graded practice exam before the real one.
Antiquity: What are Vitruvius' three requirements for architecture?
Answer: Strength, usefulness and beauty
Firmitas, utilitas and venustas.
The Middle Ages: What characterises Gothic architecture?
Answer: Pointed arches, rib vaults and large windows
Gothic gathers loads in ribs and piers and opens up the walls.
Renaissance and Baroque: What does "renaissance" mean?
Answer: Rebirth
The rebirth of the ideals of antiquity.
The 1800s: classicism, historicism and Art Nouveau: Which Norwegian town was rebuilt in Art Nouveau?
Answer: Ålesund
After the town fire of 1904.