Adjectives to describe architecture

Adjectives to describe architecture

What adjectives can you use to describe buildings/ architecture? Brainstorm a list and then compare with the list below.

1960s                                                                         Ancient

Art Nouveau                                                               Bad taste

Beautiful/ Gorgeous                                                  Boring/ Dull/ Bland

Brick                                                                           Brightly coloured

Classic                                                         Classical

Concrete                                                                    Dated

Ecologically friendly/ Green                       Elegant

Famous/ Infamous                                                    Gothic

Huge                                                                           Iconic

Impressive                                                                 Influential

Innovative                                                                   Kitsch

Low rise                                                                     Luxurious

Medieval                                                                    Minimalist

Mock Tudor                                                                Modern

Modernist                                                                   Multi-storey/ High-rise

Old-fashioned                                              Ornate

Over-the-top                                                               Plain

Pebble-dashed                                           Timber

Plate glass                                                                 Post-modern

Radical/ Revolutionary                                Renaissance

Residential                                                                 Romanesque

Ruined                                                          Rundown

Simple                                                          Single-storey

Spacious                                                                    Stunning

Tall                                                                              Timeless

Traditional                                                                  Ugly/ Hideous

Unexceptional                                              Uninspiring

Unique                                                          Wooden

Timbered

Choose a building that you think your partner will know and describe it until they guess what you are thinking of. They can only guess once for each sentence you say.

Choose one of the categories above and discuss which building is “the most…”/ “the … est” with your partner.

Do the same for the most radical/ revolutionary, influential and/ or innovative buildings.

What inventions have most changed architecture, do you think? What are the histories of those inventions?

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Related pages

Positive and negative words for architecture

Architectural English games/ worksheets

6 Responses to Adjectives to describe architecture

  1. letsoba Ntshadi says:

    thank you…..really helped me

  2. Erandi says:

    Thanks a lot!

  3. summerpixie says:

    thanks really helpful

  4. John Mathias says:

    The word I was thinking of was not there

  5. Jude says:

    i mean i guess it helped

  6. Jonathan Race says:

    Very useful, thanks so much for this list!

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