How the City Speaks through its Architecture

As one travels and tours the city of New Orleans, several different styles of buildings and homes will be discovered. From the article City of New Orleans: Historic District Landmark Commission, a segment titled, "Building Types and Architectural Styles" explains just that. Each style provides those who pass by with a sense of nostalgia, as many homes in New Orleans are historic. Seeing the historic homes allow the viewer to  go back in time and imagine New Orleans as it was during that era. In other words, New Orleans relies greatly on its architecture to speak to its residents and visitors. The different building types and architectural styles display homes from every era; from when New Orleans was just beginning to now.

Some examples of building types found in New Orleans include Creole Cottage, Center Hall Cottage, Townhouse, Shotgun, and Bungalow (Hawkins).

Creole Cottage 1790-1850 (Hawkins)

 Center Hall Cottage 1803-1870 (Hawkins)

 Townhouse late 1700s - mid 1800 (Hawkins)

 Shotgun 1850-1910 (Hawkins)

Bungalow (Hawkins)

 Architectural styles in New Orleans vary from Creole, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne / Eastlake, and Colonial Revivial / Neoclassical / Edwardian (Hawkins).

Creole styled homes (Hawkins)

                 

 Greek Revival style (Hawkins)

 Italianate styled homes (Hawkins)

Queen Anne/ Eastlake (Hawkins)

Colonial Revival/Neoclassical/ Edwardian (Hawkins)

 Basically, the types of buildings incorporate the different architectural styles. In other words, for example, a Townhouse can incorporate the Italianate architectural style. 

 Each of the building types and architectural styles originate from a different era and provide New Orleans with history and culture which helps the city speak through its architecture. This link will provide a more detailed explanation of the different building types and architectural styles: https://www.nola.gov/nola/media/HDLC/Guidelines/03-TypesStyles.pdf

 Works Cited

Hawkins, Dominique, and Catherine Barrier. "Building Types and Architectural Styles." Nola.gov. City of New Orleans Historic Distric Landmark Commission, 1 May 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.