What architectural styles are prominent in Masonic buildings?

Gothic architecture is the style most intimately connected with the history of the Craft, having been the system practiced by medieval operative masons to construct cathedrals and monasteries 232. Characterised by pointed arches, fan vaults, rose windows, and perpendicular lines, Gothic building methods were preserved as trade secrets until the dissolution of the medieval guilds 2. Early writers such as Sir Christopher Wren posited that this style was derived from Saracenic or Arabic works encountered during the Crusades 2.

In the Craft, classical architecture features prominently through the five orders: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite 12. Within the lectures of the Fellowcraft Degree, William Preston designated the three ancient Greek orders—Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian—as symbols of wisdom, strength, and beauty 2. Classical Greek and Palladian principles were formally woven into modern Masonic symbolism during the eighteenth century, when Palladian architecture under figures such as Wren brought classical proportions into union with older traditions 2.

Egyptian architecture also informs Masonic symbolic history 2. King Solomon is held to have followed Egyptian architectural models in constructing his Temple, notably in the design of the pillars at its porch, which mirror the fluted columns and lotus capitals of Egyptian temples 2.