If you had to name a quintessential Bay Area style of building, you might go with an elegant Victorian or a cute Arts and Crafts bungalow. You might pick something from the past such as Mission Santa Clara, or something modern, with lots of wood and glass, set amid redwoods or along the waterfront.

Those architectural styles may seem wildly different, but they are all an integral part of the landscape. If you want to understand the origins and diversity of the Bay Area’s architecture, historians say you have to first consider that it developed in response to the region’s natural beauty and mild, Mediterranean climate, which allows people to be outdoors year-round.

But other factors have influenced architecture here. From the Gold Rush through World War II and into the 21st century, the r

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