Churrigueresque vs Mission Revival
Mission Revival is the cross-discipline counterpart of Churrigueresque — its successor Spanish Colonial Revival drew on Churrigueresque ornament; Mission Revival itself stayed plain.
Churrigueresque
An extravagantly ornamented late-Spanish-Baroque mode — named for the Churriguera family — defined by densely sculpted façades and the inverted-obelisk estípite pilaster, reaching its wildest expression in New Spain.
- Estípite pilasters (inverted-obelisk shafts encrusted with ornament)
- Densely carved retablo-façades with horror vacui surface treatment
- Broken, layered cornices that dissolve structure
- Niche-figures of saints embedded throughout the frontispiece
- Lavish gilding and polychromy on interior altarpieces
Mission Revival
A turn-of-the-century American style inspired by California's Spanish colonial missions — smooth stucco walls, curvilinear shaped gables, arcaded porches, and red-tiled roofs.
- Curvilinear, scalloped 'mission-shaped' gables and roof parapets
- Smooth, plain stucco wall surfaces with minimal ornament
- Arcaded porches and loggias with wide round arches
- Low-pitched roofs of red clay (mission) tile with wide eaves
- Mission accents: bell towers/espadañas and quatrefoil windows
At a glance
| Churrigueresque | Mission Revival | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Late 17th–18th century | 1890–1930 |
| Discipline | Architecture | Architecture |
| Region | Spain, Mexico, Spanish Americas | United States (California & Southwest), Florida, Mexico |
| Family | Baroque | Revival |
| Formal traits | estipite, dense-ornament, carved-facade, gilded | shaped-gable, stucco, arcaded, tile-roof |
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