Mediterranean Interior vs Spanish Colonial
Mediterranean Interior is the cross-discipline counterpart of Spanish Colonial — shares whitewash, arches, and tile with Spanish colonial building.
Mediterranean Interior
The sun-baked villa interior of whitewashed and stone walls, terracotta floors, arched openings, and wrought iron — cool, earthy, and tuned to a warm coastal climate.
- Thick whitewashed plaster or exposed stone walls
- Arched doorways, niches, and windows as a structural motif
- Terracotta and patterned ceramic (azulejo/majolica) tile floors
- Dark heavy ceiling beams and wrought-iron grilles and fixtures
- Earthy palette of white, ochre, terracotta, olive, and sea blue
Spanish Colonial
Church and civic architecture spread across Spain's American and Pacific colonies, fusing European Baroque and Renaissance models with local materials, labor, and indigenous decorative sensibilities.
- Carved retablo-style façade concentrating ornament at the portal
- Bell towers (single or paired) and low domes over the crossing
- Thick whitewashed adobe or stuccoed masonry walls
- Arcaded courtyards, cloisters, and clay-tile roofs
- Fusion of European Baroque motifs with indigenous craft
At a glance
| Mediterranean Interior | Spanish Colonial | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1920s–present | 16th–early 19th century |
| Discipline | Interior Design | Architecture |
| Region | Spain, Italy, Greece, United States (California, Florida) | Mexico, Latin America, American Southwest, Philippines |
| Family | Vernacular, Revival | Baroque, Colonial |
| Formal traits | earthy, sun-cooled, arched, rustic | retablo, towered, stucco, carved-portal |
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