What are the similarities between the development of web design and western architecture?

History always repeats itself surprisingly well. Western architecture and web design are both a combination of engineering and art. The similarities between their development history are inseparable from the following four factors:

Provides a place for users

They all use engineering to build them

The advancement of science and technology is their development bottleneck

Nevertheless, they are still a form of art.

With these settings in mind, you can clearly see that architecture and web design have developed along very similar paths. So if you want to know where web design is going, look no further than past architecture.

1. Neolithic Age - Simple and Limited Structures

At this stage, it's a feat to just build anything at all, and aside from variables like size and position, there aren't really any fancy tricks.

2. Classicism: Order and appropriate decoration

Classical architecture places great emphasis on proportion and hierarchy, with clear layers and each part having different functions. The materials and medium (stone/pixels) follow the old style: patterned stone replaces the traditional wooden beams of the early days, and on the web, 3D and skeuomorphic buttons represent physical keys.

3. Romanesque architecture: heavy and rounded

Roman architecture began to use soft edges and thick walls and partitions, which is exactly the style of menus and buttons in web design in the late 90s: thick and easy to click.

4. Gothic style: gorgeous and charming

The beautiful stained glass on the buildings is reflected in the web design, which is CSS and Flash. The use of materials and styles began to break through traditional limitations, and web design began to have unlimited possibilities. Gothic architecture gave stone a breathtaking beauty that made everyone who stood in front of it hold their breath. Web pages from this period also have similar characteristics. Although it is difficult to remember their details, you will never forget the unique beauty of the complex style at that time.

5. Renaissance: Simplicity, Clarity, and Precision

The architecture of the Renaissance corresponds exactly to our current stage. The return of “flat design” bears striking similarities to the Renaissance. During the Renaissance, complex architectural styles were replaced by the orderly classical style. Simple expressions are once again becoming mainstream, and people are beginning to accept this new rule.

At this point, we might as well use the development of architecture to predict the future development direction of web design.

6. Baroque: The distortion of rules

After being constrained by rules for so long, people are beginning to be keen on breaking boundaries and rules. In the field of architecture, people began to break down the elements of classicism and adjust them into more complex forms. The architecture of this stage was more emotional and dramatic. So what impact does it have on web design? Maybe we will know it one day.

7. Neoclassicism: Connected to the Past

Design is like this, it goes on and on. When design develops to a certain stage, it will naturally beautify the original classical style, and it is only a matter of time before it becomes retro again. The old Yahoo website may not look fancy now, but it may look completely different in a few years.

8. The more distant future - who knows?

Next, architectural development may encounter neo-Romanesque or neo-Gothic, which are also new wine in old bottles, and they will return again with the blessing of technology. Of course, these are just possibilities. Who knows about the future?