Architecture Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
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- Which basilica in Barcelona, still under construction over a century after it began, was designed by Antoni Gaudí?
- A. The Sagrada Família
- B. The Sacré-Cœur Basilica
- C. Milan Cathedral (Duomo)
- D. Seville Cathedral
- Which ancient Roman amphitheater could hold tens of thousands of spectators for gladiator fights?
- A. The Roman Forum
- B. The Colosseum
- C. The Circus Maximus
- D. The Pantheon
- Which American architect, considered a pioneer of organic architecture, designed the house 'Fallingwater' built over a waterfall?
- A. Philip Johnson
- B. Frank Lloyd Wright
- C. Richard Meier
- D. Louis Kahn
- Which prehistoric megalithic monument in England consists of a circle of large standing stones?
- A. The Carnac Stones
- B. Stonehenge
- C. Newgrange
- D. The Ring of Brodgar
- Which British architect designed the renovated Reichstag in Berlin, with its famous glass dome?
- A. David Chipperfield
- B. Daniel Libeskind
- C. Norman Foster
- D. Richard Rogers
- Which lightweight, self-supporting structure, popularized by American architect Buckminster Fuller, forms a sphere made of assembled triangles?
- A. The fan vault
- B. The geodesic dome
- C. The parabolic arch
- D. The pendentive dome
- Which Paris museum, opened in 1977, made the bold architectural choice of exposing its pipes, ducts and escalators—usually hidden—on its outer façade?
- A. The Palais de Tokyo
- B. The Grand Palais
- C. The Centre Pompidou
- D. The Musée d'Orsay
- Which Moorish palace and fortress in Granada, Spain, is famous for its courtyards with finely carved stucco and the Generalife gardens?
- A. The Alcázar of Seville
- B. The Alhambra
- C. The Mezquita of Córdoba
- D. El Escorial Palace
- Which stepped Maya pyramid, dedicated to the god Kukulcán and located in Mexico, casts a serpent-shaped shadow illusion during the equinoxes?
- A. Teotihuacan
- B. El Castillo at Chichén Itzá
- C. The Temple of the Inscriptions
- D. The Templo Mayor
- Which French cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is renowned for its nearly intact 13th-century stained glass and famous blue hue?
- A. Reims Cathedral
- B. Chartres Cathedral
- C. Amiens Cathedral
- D. Bourges Cathedral
- Which ancient building technique, in which each course of stone projects slightly beyond the one below to form a false vault without structural mortar, was used for the Treasury of Atreus in Greece?
- A. The voussoir
- B. The flying buttress
- C. Corbelling
- D. The rib vault
- Which contemporary construction technique, laying down concrete or another material layer by layer with a robotic arm, is starting to be used to build entire houses without formwork?
- A. Tunnel formwork
- B. 3D concrete printing
- C. Modular prefabrication
- D. Centrifugal casting
- Which Roman aqueduct in southern France, built in the 1st century to supply Nîmes, spans a valley on three superimposed tiers of arches?
- A. The Pont Julien
- B. The Pont Neuf
- C. The Pont du Gard
- D. The Pont d'Avignon
- Which Italian Renaissance architect designed the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence, a technical feat completed in 1436?
- A. Andrea Palladio
- B. Filippo Brunelleschi
- C. Leon Battista Alberti
- D. Michelangelo
- What does the Atomium in Brussels, built for the 1958 World's Fair, represent?
- A. A water molecule
- B. The solar system
- C. A hydrogen atom
- D. An iron crystal enlarged 165 billion times
- Which Japanese architect, self-taught and a former boxer, is famous for raw concrete buildings playing with light, such as the Church of the Light?
- A. Kenzo Tange
- B. Kengo Kuma
- C. Tadao Ando
- D. Shigeru Ban
- Which Bavarian castle, built for King Ludwig II, is said to have inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle?
- A. Neuschwanstein
- B. Versailles
- C. Chambord
- D. Schönbrunn
- What event lengthened the central span of Japan's Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge by about one metre while it was still under construction?
- A. The 1995 Kobe earthquake
- B. A calculation error by the engineers
- C. Expansion caused by a record heatwave
- D. A passing typhoon
- How were Egypt's Abu Simbel temples saved from the rising waters of Lake Nasser in the 1960s?
- A. Protected by a huge concrete dyke
- B. Lifted in one piece by hydraulic jacks
- C. Left underwater for visits by submarine
- D. Cut into more than 1,000 blocks and rebuilt 65 m higher
- Which monument did a Mughal emperor have built in memory of his wife?
- A. The Taj Mahal
- B. Angkor Wat
- C. The Forbidden City
- D. The Alhambra
Answer key — Architecture Quiz
- A. The Sagrada FamíliaThe Sagrada Família, begun in 1882 to Antoni Gaudí's designs, is still under construction today.
- B. The ColosseumThe Colosseum, completed around 80 AD, is the largest amphitheater ever built in the Roman Empire.
- B. Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright designed Fallingwater in 1935, an iconic house built directly over a waterfall in Pennsylvania.
- B. StonehengeStonehenge, in southern England, is a megalithic monument built around 5,000 years ago whose exact purpose is still debated.
- C. Norman FosterNorman Foster designed the Reichstag's glass dome, completed in 1999, a symbol of democratic transparency.
- B. The geodesic domeThe geodesic dome, theorized by Buckminster Fuller, spreads stress across a network of triangles, allowing wide spans without interior columns, as seen in the Montreal Biosphère.
- C. The Centre PompidouDesigned by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, the Centre Pompidou deliberately displays its technical structure (pipes, ducts, escalators) on its façade, in a style known as 'inside-out'.
- B. The AlhambraThe Alhambra in Granada, a palace and fortress built by the Nasrid dynasty, is renowned for its stucco decoration and the Generalife gardens.
- B. El Castillo at Chichén ItzáEl Castillo, the main pyramid at Chichén Itzá, produces a serpent-shaped shadow illusion down its staircase during the equinoxes, referencing the god Kukulcán.
- B. Chartres CathedralChartres Cathedral preserves an exceptional set of 13th-century stained-glass windows, famous for a shade of blue known as 'Chartres blue.'
- C. CorbellingCorbelling, or the false vault, stacks courses that progressively overhang; it allowed the Mycenaeans to build the famous tholos known as the Treasury of Atreus around 1250 BC.
- B. 3D concrete printing3D concrete printing deposits material layer by layer from a digital model, making it possible to build walls without traditional formwork; houses and even bridges have already been built this way.
- C. The Pont du GardThe Pont du Gard, which crosses the Gardon river, carried water from a spring near Uzès to Nîmes; about 49 meters tall, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
- B. Filippo BrunelleschiFilippo Brunelleschi won the competition to roof Florence Cathedral: his dome, a double shell of bricks laid in a herringbone pattern, was built without full wooden centering.
- D. An iron crystal enlarged 165 billion timesIts nine spheres, linked by tubes, symbolised the optimism of the atomic age.
- C. Tadao AndoHe never went to architecture school: he learned by travelling and visiting buildings.
- A. NeuschwansteinThe 'mad king' had it built as a dream setting inspired by Wagner's operas.
- A. The 1995 Kobe earthquakeThe January 1995 earthquake pushed the two towers, already built, further apart.
- D. Cut into more than 1,000 blocks and rebuilt 65 m higherBetween 1964 and 1968, under UNESCO's leadership, Ramesses II's temples were sawn into blocks weighing up to 30 tonnes, then reassembled on an artificial hill, safe from the waters of the Aswan Dam.
- A. The Taj MahalShah Jahan had it built in Agra, India, after Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631.