This useful corner of the Victoria and Albert Museum website offers a very clear, nicely illustrated account of building styles under four headings:
- modern, high tech and postmodern
- East Asian, South Asian and Spanish Islamic
- gothic and gothic revival
- classical and classical revival.
The V&A Architectural Style website © Victoria & Albert Museum
Clicking on any one of these headings takes you to well-captioned photographs with a good zoom-in facility. For example, you could choose to compare Salisbury Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament to show the differences and similarities between gothic and gothic revival, or the Alhambra Palace as an example of Spanish Islamic. The accompanying written information is informative but unfussy and the site is fast and easy to use.
You could use the website with the whole class via an electronic whiteboard or set students to access it at individual workstations. There’s also a 10-question quiz to consolidate, or test, learning.
Key stages: all
Key subjects: history, art & design
Built environment education: building design, architectural styles
Access this resource on the V&A website
Visit the Victoria & Albert Museum page
