Eclectic architecture is the late 19th to early 20th century tendency to combine forms, ornamentation, and expression of two or more styles into one composition. It was a product of the "Crisis of Style" within architecture, where architects struggled to find a cohesive national style among the various revival movements occurring. The term can also used to describe architects that designed buildings in different styles according to client desires or their own whims, but this blog will categorize those firms' built work in the style they were built in (unless they combined styles).
Eclecticism became popular during the late 1800s, when revival styles were at their most popular. From the vast catalog of antique architecture available at the time, such as classical, Romanesque, Gothic, and exotic revival styles, architects selected features that would allow them to create unique, more expressive compositions. Unlike orthodox revivalist styles, however, eclecticism in architecture was viewed as forward-thinking since the designs were original.
As mentioned above, eclectic architecture can be easily identified by its union of elements from differing styles. An eye for architectural history makes this easier. Commonly varying features on eclectic designs are ornamentation, forms/expression, vaulting/fenestration, and materiality.
Eclectic architecture fell out of favor with the advent of Modern architecture in the 1930s. Typical Victorian eclecticism had vanished years prior, but Beaux-Arts architecture's tendency to borrow from different periods of classically-influenced architecture likely stems from eclectic architecture.