Most modern buildings can be classified into one specific architectural 'type', even if that type doesn't correspond with the era in which they were built. For example, you may see a building constructed in the neoclassical or craftsmen styles. These 'genres' of design are great for describing what kind of look and feel you want your construction to have in shorthand. However, they can also be restrictive. If a building can only fit into one category, then each design is limited to the unique features and ideas that belong to it — not any other features or ideas that you happen to like.
In order to mix things up and create unique architectural design for your personal tastes, consider 'mashing up' two or more genres.
Minimalism and Art Deco
You might think these two styles are categorically opposed, and if kept sterile and separate from each other, they are, but it's possible to mix their elements and produce something which is the best of both worlds, and technically neither. Imagine the sleek and uncomplicated lines of a one-storey minimalist building, but with clean geometric shapes for windows like the Chrysler building in New York.
Postmodern and Tudor
Tudor shapes are very recognisable, so they'll be easy to recreate with more postmodern materials such as glass and chrome. You can create a building which straddles both past and present; it's a traditional shape with ultra-contemporary execution. It'll likely create a nice, open and light space, too.
Gothic and Organic
This is not a combination for somebody looking to blend in or keep it simple, but if these two elements meet properly, they could create something genuinely breathtaking. Organic architecture attempts to marry the building with the environment it exists in; gothic architecture is typified by flowery and intense design, often utilising stone, symmetry and arching shapes. Discard the symmetry so that your building can fit into the space required, but decorate with gothic elements that flow into the natural environment around it — raw stone that transitions into a highly-sculpted part of your construction, for example.
Not every combination will work, and you'll need to be at peace with the idea that not every viewer will necessarily like your building. Realistically, though, you're not building for passersby. You're building for yourself — a striking home which you love, or a commercial property so unusual that it sticks out in the mind of the consumer. To achieve both these purposes, it's worth the risk of ruffling a few traditional feathers.
