Architectural inspiration

[Micamo]

You know what bothers me? Whenever I look for artistic inspiration for conworld architecture I always find things that are either crazy novelties (ooh, light fixtures that look like awkward pipes on the ceiling!) or are beautiful but overly modernistic (wood, glass, and big-screen TV's everywhere!). What's everyone's favorite fantasy-style, fictional architecture?

In the interests of bandwidth, it would be appreciated if images are kept in links rather than directly embedded in the posts.

Here's mine.

[Ossicone]

When I was a kid I was a huge Dinotopia fan (the movie was terrible!). Looking back now, it seems to be mainly European Classical inspired but not always.

I like a lot of the architecture coming out of the Middle East now. It's amazing what you can do if you just throw money at something. There is also a tradition of geometrical patterns that I love.

I'm happy to see a break from the square. I can't remember any of the names now to look up the pictures though. When I worked at the library, I often was in charge of the architecture and design books we sent to other school. I absolutely loved going through them.

I'm a sucker for some nice wood and glass though.

What I don't like -- Gothic, Rococo.


I see that you are asking for fantasy or fiction but whatever...

[Micamo]

Don't get me wrong, the new stuff is good, but like I said everything new conforms to an existing architectural style (mostly modernistic but you may get the occasional rustic-style place). I don't think I've ever seen a designer attempt to invent something original outside of those really weird, abstract designs.

[Yačay256]

I like a variety of architectural styles, and I shall point to a few buildings (or complexes) that I love:
Chan Chan
Puuc Architecture
Persepolis
As for ornamental styles (I love ornate buildings):
Pacific Northwest Coast Art (I am studying it right now in the book Learning by Doing)
Andean Art(no link, but I love what I saw in The Stone and the Thread)
Maya Calligraphy (Famsi apparently is down...)
Islamic Calligraphy (Especially Ottoman styles)
Igbo Uli Art
Aperiodic Tilings
And Finally, my favorite and if I may brilliant material:
Poured Earth

[cybrxkhan]

Since more or less all of my concultures are directly inspired by and heavily influenced by real world cultures, I guess getting ideas for architecture is a pretty simple task; if I have a conculture that's similar to, say, Ming dynasty China, I search for Ming dynasty architecture. It gets harder when a conculture is inspired by more than one real world culture, but the same process still applies.

However, I do have some styles that I particularly am fond of. One of them is a blending of Middle Eastern, Oriental, and Mediterranean architecture, which is best exemplified here: here.

Other architectural styles I like include:
The Alhambra
Byzantine Interiors (Hagia Sophia Here)
Greek Housing
Tuscan Housing
Silk Road

And so forth. I think it's pretty obvious that I'm very fond of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern architecture in general.

[KiKi Tampusa]

I'm for a combo of Monticello and Neuwschwanstein Castle.

[Relic]

well when I think of a fantasy architecture type i like to think of something that looks ancient in real life and then i try to refine it in my head, like underwater cities that have been found somewhere in Asia, I think of old buildings like that and think of something like atlantis renewed (that's the sort of architecture I'm going for, for my species, yet to be named :P) one that i've always thought of its a roman type of architecture but underwater and made of coral like materials. :D