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Identifying feature

Ribbon window

A continuous horizontal row of windows across a facade, separated only by thin mullions (upright bars). It relies on interior columns carrying the floors and is common on modernist buildings.

a sign of these styles

Bauhaus Dessau, Dessau, Germany: an example of Bauhaus Bauhaus c. 1919–1933 Flat-roofed white boxes, ribbon and corner windows, and zero ornament. Villa Savoye, Poissy, France: an example of International Style International Style c. 1925–1975 Glass walls hung on exposed steel or concrete grids: weightless, ornament-free, and endlessly repeatable.

also seen on

ConstructivismContemporary ModernDeveloper ModernItalian RationalismMiami Modern (MiMo)Prairie SchoolSoviet ModernismSustainable / Green

often seen with

Flat roof A roof that is level or nearly level, often edged by a low wall called a parapet. Curtain wall An outer wall of glass and metal panels hung on a building's steel or concrete frame, carrying only its own… Cantilever A beam, floor or part of a building that projects beyond its support and is anchored at only one end. Exposed structure A building's frame, beams, trusses (triangles of linked beams), pipes or ducts left visible instead of… Modular repetition A facade built from one identical unit, such as a window and its frame, repeated in a regular grid. Piloti Columns, called pilotis, that raise a building one floor above the ground and leave the ground level open. Corner window A window that wraps around a building's corner with no post at the corner. Stucco wall A wall coated with stucco, a plaster of cement or lime, sand and water, finished smooth or textured.