Five Orders of Architecture, and James Gibbs's, Rules for Drawing the Several Parts of Architecture. Pattern books can be credited for the regularization and continuity of classical architectural mouldings across countries and continents particularly during the colonial era, contributing to the global occurrence of Classical mouldings and elements. Pattern books remained common currency amongst architects and builders up until the early 20th century, but soon after mostly disappeared as Classical architecture lost favor to Modernist and post-war building practices that conscientiously stripped their buildings of mouldings. However, the study of formalized pattern languages, including mouldings, has since been revived through online resources and the popularity of new classical architecture in the early 21st century. Gothic Mouldings The middle ages are characterized as a period of decline and erosion in the formal knowledge of Classical architectural principles. This eventually resulted in an amateur and 'malformed' use of moulding patterns that eventually development into the complex and inventive Gothic style. While impressive and seemingly articulate across Europe, Gothic architecture remained mostly regional and no comprehensive pattern books were developed at the time, but instead likely circulated through pilgrimage and the migration of trained Gothic masons. These medieval forms were later imitated by prominent Gothic Revivalists such as Augustus Pugin and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc who formalized Gothic mouldings, developing them into its own systematic pattern books which could be replicated by architects with no native Gothic architecture. See also Ancient Greek architecture Ancient Roman architecture Architrave Baseboard Entablature Glossary of architecture Molding plane Renaissance architecture References Further reading Theory of Mouldings (Classical America Series in Art and Architecture); C Howard Walker (Author); Richard Sammons (Foreword); W. W. Norton & Co. (July 31, 2007); External links Architectural elements Ceilings Ornaments (architecture) Woodworking