From cobblestone roads to Gaudi, Architecture in Europe offers some of the widest diversity in the world. Its often challenging to wrap your mind around just how these buildings come to be .
Because of its rich cultural and architectural history, Europe is wonderland for design lovers , photographers and architects.
20 masterpieces of this wonderland an architect must see are:
[Ancient]
Colosseum, Rome, Italy
This elliptical in shape with its long axis flavian amphitheatre by Vespasian was built of blocks of Travertine stone. It includes all the ancient architectural orders and contained 45000 sitting places along with 5000 standing places.
Acropolis, Athens, Greece
This UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE is an ancient citadel on a rocky outcrop above Athens with remainings of several Ancient buildings and the most famous of them is Parthenon.
The UNESCO site claims:
The Athenian Acropolis is the supreme expression of the adaptation of architecture to a natural site. This grand composition of perfectly balanced massive structures creates a monumental landscape of unique beauty consisting of a complete series of masterpieces of the 5th century BC. The monuments of the Acropolis have exerted an exceptional influence, not only in Graeco-Romanantiquity, a time when in the Mediterranean world they were considered exemplary models, but in contemporary times as well.
[Art Deco]
Empire State Building, New York, London
This iconic 1931 completed structure containing 102 floors is built with materials like limestone, Aluminium, Granite, steel. The building completed in late Art Deco called Art Moderne which gives aesthetic industrial modern look yet refined. It defined the modern concept of skyscraper .
[Gothic]
Notre-Dame-De-Paris, Paris, France
Its cruciform plan , elevated nave, transept and tower were borrowed from 11th century Romanesque architecture but its pointed arches, rib vaulting were strictly Gothic. Its one of the first Gothic cathedrals to have flying buttresses.
[Historic]
Schwerin Palace, Schwerin, Germany
It is a palatial schloss. Major parts of the current palace were built between 1845 and 1857, as a cooperation of the renowned historicist architects Gottfried Semper, Friedrich August Stüler, Georg Adolf Demmler and Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. The castle is regarded as one of the most important works of romantic Historicism in Europe and is designated to become a World Heritage Site. It is nicknamed “Neuschwanstein of the North”
[Baroque]
San Carlo Alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, Italy
Designed by one of the leading Baroque Architects Francesco Borromini it is one of the finest examples of Baroque Architecture.
[Romanesque]
Leaning Tower Of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Perhaps it is the most well known architectural oddity in the world. It is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation.
[Expressionist + Deconstructivist + Contemporary]
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
This structure by Canadian-American Architect Frank Gehry is One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a “signal moment in the architectural culture”, because it represents “one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something.”
[Modernisme+ Noucentisme+ Art Nouveau+ Spanish Gothic]
La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
Construction of the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família began in 1882, more than a century ago. The temple is still under construction, with completion expected in 2026. It is perhaps the best known structure of Catalan Modernisme, drawing over three million visitors annually. Architect Antoni Gaudi worked on the project until his death in 1926, in full anticipation he would not live to see it finished.
[Renaissance+ Baroque]
St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican city, Rome
St. Peter’s is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter’s is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as “holding a unique position in the Christian world” and as “the greatest of all churches of Christendom”.
[Neoclassical]
Buckingham Palace, London, England
The Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the Britain monarchs since 1837. In present time, it serves as the administrative headquarters of the Monarch.
Arc De Triomphe, Paris, France
The Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l’Étoile — the étoile or “star” of the juncture formed by its twelve radiating avenues.
[Perpendicular Gothic Revival]
Palace of Westminster , London, England
One of the most recognised buildings in the world, the Palace of Westminster owes its stunning Gothic architecture to the 19th-century architect Sir Charles Barry. Now Grade I listed, and part of an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Palace contains a fascinating mixture of both ancient and modern buildings, and houses an iconic collection of furnishings, archives and works of art. Find out more about the history and features of this magnificent building.
[Deconstructivism]
The Dancing House, Prague, Czech Republic
The Dancing House, or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot.
[Modern]
Guggenheim Museum, New York, US
…[Wright’s] great swansong, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of New York, is a gift of pure architecture—or rather of sculpture. It is a continuous spatial helix, a circular ramp that expands as it coils vertiginously around an unobstructed well of space capped by a flat-ribbed glass dome. A seamless construct, the building evoked for Wright ‘the quiet unbroken wave.’
Barcelona Pavilion, Spain
As part of the1929 International Exposition in Barcelona Spain, the Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Mies van der Rohe, was the display of architecture’s modern movement to the world. Originally named the German Pavilion, the pavilion was the face of Germany after WWI, emulating the nation’s progressively modern culture that was still rooted in its classical history. Its elegant and sleek design combined with rich natural material presented Mies’ Barcelona Pavilion as a bridge into his future career, as well as architectural modernism.
[Modern+ Organic]
Fallingwater, Pennsylvania, US
Fallingwater preserves Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, conserves the site for which it was designed, and interprets them and their history for present and future generations.
[International + Modern]
Villa Savoye, Poissy, France
Situated in Poissy, a small commune outside of Paris, is one of the most significant contributions to modern architecture in the 20th century, Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier. Completed in 1929, Villa Savoye is a modern take on a French country house that celebrates and reacts to the new machine age.
Farnsworth House, Illinois, U.S.
designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1945 and constructed in 1951, the Farnsworth House is a vital part of American iconography, an exemplary representation of both the International Style of architecture as well as the modern movement’s desire to juxtapose the sleek, streamline design of Modern structure with the organic environment of the surrounding nature.
[Modern+ Neo-futurism]
Shard, London, UK
“The Shard” is a colloquial name for the London Bridge Tower. It is essentially a pyramid of glass that stands at the southern terminus of London Bridge. With a completion date of 2012 it has already been recognised as the tallest building in the European Union.
The Shard was designed by famed architect Renzo Piano in conjunction with Broadway Malyan.
Anwesa Dey
B.Arch student at Piloo Mody College Of Architecture,Cuttack
exploring and learning about various aspects of Architecture.
