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Identifying feature

Battered wall

A wall built with a batter, meaning it slopes inward as it rises and is thicker at the base. It appears on ancient Egyptian temples, Tibetan buildings and Pueblo adobe walls.

a sign of these styles

Great Mosque of Djenné, Djenné, Mali: an example of African Vernacular African Vernacular traditional–present Sculpted earthen walls with permanent projecting timber spikes, conical thatched roofs, and courtyard compounds. Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt: an example of Ancient Egyptian Ancient Egyptian c. 3000–30 BCE Massive stone walls that lean inward, giant gateway towers, and columns shaped like papyrus and lotus plants. Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut: an example of Egyptian Revival Egyptian Revival c. 1810–1930 Walls that lean inward as they rise, columns topped with lotus or papyrus, and winged sun disks over doorways. Aztec Hotel, Monrovia, California: an example of Mayan Revival Mayan Revival c. 1920–1940 Walls sloping inward, stepped rooflines, corbel arches, and bands of geometric relief that imitate Maya glyphs.

also seen on

MesoamericanPersian (Achaemenid)Pueblo Revival

often seen with

Carved stone relief Figures or patterns carved into stone so they project from a flat background, called low relief when shallow… Courtyard An open-air space enclosed by the walls of a building or group of buildings. Flat roof A roof that is level or nearly level, often edged by a low wall called a parapet. Stepped platform A base built as a series of stacked terraces, each smaller than the one below, with a temple or building on… Colonnade A row of evenly spaced columns carrying a horizontal beam, called an entablature, or a roof. Geometric ornament Decoration made of zigzags, chevrons (V shapes), stepped forms and other repeated geometric shapes instead… Monumental stairway A wide outdoor staircase leading up to a building's main entrance, often spanning much of the front. Stepped setback Upper floors set back from the street in stages as a building rises.