Flying buttresses are ornate supports that stick outside the walls of Gothic church architecture, particularly cathedrals. Buttresses were necessary to keep the new, massive stone cathedrals of the middle ages standing. While they were originally functional, church builders made them reflect and enhance the design of their buildings.

An arch is able to remain in its appropriate position because of the way that pressure is placed throughout the entire arch. Pressure can only be appropriately distributed because of the placement of the keystone. The keystone is the central stone in an arch, which is shaped in order to push the weight down through every piece of stone.

Gothic architecture, particularly in the building of churches and cathedrals, featured a number of ornate features. One of the most peculiar was the use of gargoyles, small stone figures of grotesque characters that were placed on the sides of buildings. These figures would often be placed between sculptures of saints and kings, and were viewed as protective features. Some gargoyles also functioned as drainage pipes (through holes in their mouths).

Tuscan is a Roman architectural order and Composite is a Roman combination of orders. Athenian and Monumental are not architectural orders, though they may be used to describe architecture. The three orders are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

The Italian architect Andrea Palladio was well known for his own buildings in his native Venice, but gained greater fame for the work of architectural theory he composed in 1570, The Four Books of Architecture. Drawing on Greek and Roman influences, Palladio called for symmetry, domes, columns, and grand spaces. Each of these elements would become hallmarks of neoclassical architecture during the eighteenth century.

Mannerism was mainly in the sixteenth century, and was not as strong in movement or emotion. Impressionism was a nineteenth century movement focusing on small brush strokes and an emphasis on openness and light in the overall composition. Gothic art is a Medieval art style, which came before the Renaissance. Pre-modern is not an art style. Baroque style is typically used to describe Versailles and Caravaggio.

Fallingwater is generally considered Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece, as the residence was constructed above and incorporated a waterfall. The residence, built in 1939, blended the interior and exterior of the building into Wright's perfect distillation of his "organic" philosophy of architecture. The property remained a residence for many years, but became a protected site in the mid-1960s.

Philip Johnson was a modernist architect who sought clean lines, used steel and glass construction, and valued function in his design. Inspired by the Farnsworth House designed by Mies van der Rohe, Johnson designed his own house in Connecticut as made almost entirely of glass. The rectangular abode is now a tourist site, along with Johnson's entire property, including other buildings and his massive art collection.

John Augustus Roebling, a German immigrant, was the leading designer of bridges throughout the mid-nineteenth century in America. His masterpiece, however, was the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the first steel-wire suspension bridge ever built. Unfortunately, Roebling died in 1870, just as it was beginning construction, and his son Washington Roebling had to take over construction.

La Sagrada Familia was planned as a massive church in Barcelona that would rival its Cathedral in size. After breaking ground in 1882, the church is still not totally finished. Importantly, its architect Antoni Gaudí was killed in a 1926 tram accident, and the work had to continue on under architects with different design aesthetics than its singular original designer.