Famous Buildings
The famous art museum in Paris shaped like a pyramid
What is the Louvre?
This architect designed the glass pyramid outside the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Who is I. M. Pei?
This is the strongest shape in structures
This style, popular in ancient Greece and Rome, is known for columns, pediments, and symmetry.
What is Classical (or Neoclassical) architecture?
This vertical support, often cylindrical, is used to hold up roofs or arches in classical buildings.
What is a column?
What is Fallingwater?
This American architect is known for his “Guggenheim Museum” in New York, famous for its spiral ramp.
Who is Frank Lloyd Wright?
This curved geometric shape forms the main structural element of Roman aqueducts and cathedral doorways, distributing weight evenly downward and outward.
What is an arch?
Originating in 12th-century Europe, this style features pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses.
What is Gothic architecture?
This architectural feature projects from a wall, often to provide light or increase interior space, and is common in medieval castles and cathedrals.
What is a bay window?
This Barcelona basilica, designed by Antoni Gaudí, has been under construction since 1882 and is still not completed
What is the Sagrada Familia?
This French architect designed the Statue of Liberty’s metal framework and later pioneered early skyscraper construction in Chicago.
Who is Gustave Eiffel?
Domes like the Pantheon in Rome use this circular shape in cross-section to evenly distribute weight down to the supporting walls.
What is a semicircle?
This 20th-century style emphasizes clean lines, minimal ornamentation, and the motto “form follows function.”
What is Modernist architecture?
This traditional Japanese architectural element consists of sliding panels made from wood and paper, allowing rooms to be reconfigured and connected to nature.
What is a shōji?
Completed in 2014, this skyscraper in Lower Manhattan stands 1,776 feet tall, a symbolic number chosen to honor the year of American independence.
What is the One World Trade Center?
This Spanish architect created the organically shaped, titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, a building credited with transforming the city’s economy.
Who is Frank Gehry?
This three-dimensional network of triangles creates lightweight but extremely strong dome structures.
What is a geodesic dome?
Known for curved, flowing forms and intricate ironwork, this late-19th and early-20th-century style includes architects like Antoni Gaudí.
What is Art Nouveau?
This architectural feature, common in Islamic mosques, is a tall, slender tower from which calls to prayer are made.
What is a minaret?
Opened in 2004, this London skyscraper designed by Norman Foster is officially named 30 St Mary Axe but is better known by its nickname referencing a vegetable
What is the Gherkin?
This Japanese architect, famous for his “Church of Light,” is known for minimalist designs that use concrete and natural light.
Who is Tadao Ando?
This advanced geometric surface, often used in modern museums and stadium roofs, curves in two different directions at once, creating a shape that looks like a saddle.
What is a hyperbolic paraboloid?
This mid-20th-century architectural style is known for its massive, blocky forms, exposed concrete surfaces, and fortress-like appearance.
What is Brutalism?
This innovation allowed Gothic cathedrals like Notre-Dame to have taller walls and larger stained-glass windows.
What is a flying buttress?