Façade in Architecture:
A historical Review
Façade Design- ARCH 203
Elements of façade and Design Principle 1
CLASSICAL (850 BC-476AD)
• Balance, proportion and symmetry
• Façade characterized by columns,
ornamentation and pediment.
• Trabeated style
• Basic styles/ orders of Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian, Tuscan and composite
Elements of façade and Design Principle 2
BYZANTINE (527-565 AD)
• The façade was decorative and characterized by
arrangement of facing bricks
• Dome that were constructed over square plans
using pendentives.
• Windows were small , grouped together and
formed in the lower portion of the dome that
was later raised upon a drum
• Doors and windows were semicircular headed
though segmental and horseshoe arches were
sometimes seen
Elements of façade and Design Principle 3
ROMANESQUE (850 BC-476AD)
• symmetrical with large central doorway
emphasized with moldings, portico or arched
windows.
• Thick walls , double shelled with small openings
on the façade. Rose windows were also found.
• Vaulted roof, towers and buttresses
• Blind arcades
Elements of façade and Design Principle 4
GOTHIC (12th -16th century)
• Large stained-glass windows
• Gothic stained-glass windows also
frequently feature tracery
• Pointed arches
• Flying buttresses
• Ornate decorative elements
Elements of façade and Design Principle 5
RENAISSANCE(14th -16th
century)
• Use of columns and geometrical shapes
• Return of domes
• Linear perspectives
• Symmetry, proportion and harmony
Elements of façade and Design Principle 6
NEO-CLASSICAL( 1750 AD TO
1920 AD)
• Symmetry, elegant lines, uncluttered
appearance,
• triangular pediments, free-standing
columns,
• balustraded balconies, pronounced
cornices, and grand-scale
Elements of façade and Design Principle 7
ART-DECO( 1925)
• Stepped gables, sculptured panels, ornate
detailing
• Sleek, linear appearance with stylized, often
geometric ornamentation
• Buildings often feature a series of setbacks
that create a stepped outline.
Elements of façade and Design Principle 8
MODERNISM( 1917-1965)
• Functionalism, purified architectural form,
• Clean structure, lack of ornamentation, and
use of new-age materials steel, glass, and
concrete
• Elements of asymmetry.
• Open floor plans and large glass windows.
Elements of façade and Design Principle 9
POST-MODERNISM( 1950-
2007)
• Sculptural forms
• Frequent embrace of bright color,
sometimes in the form of ceramic tiles or
colored glass
• Liberal use of classical ornamental details
taken from past architectural movements,
often mixed and matched in unconventional
ways
• Use of abstraction
Elements of façade and Design Principle 10
PARAMETRICISM( 1997 to
present)
• Blending complexity and variety, thus rejecting
homogenous form
• avoidance of classical architectural characteristics
such as geometric shapes like squares, triangles and
circles, as well as the avoidance of the simple
repetition of elements.
Elements of façade and Design Principle 11