A classification characterizing buildings that share many common attributes, including similarity in general appearance, in the arrangement of major design elements in
ornamentation, in the use of materials, and in
form, scale, and structure. Such styles are often related to a particular period of time, geographical region, country of origin, or religious tradition, or to the architecture of an earlier period.
Often, a term that includes the word style (such as Santa Fe style) is an architectural mode rather than an architectural style.