Architecture of Guyana
Little remains of pre-Columbian Guyanese architecture. The indigenous people built almost exclusive from wood, although other natural resources were also used. Their building uses were also extremely limited in scope and nearly all construction was built for housing. Along the coast many of the houses were built on platforms in trees, perhaps to avoid the rains and flooding.
With the arrival of the Europeans came architectural styles from Europe. The first and most important architecture introduced came from the Dutch, who introduced land architecture as a means to lessen the flooding and to give the people more solid land as they built dikes and complex irrigation systems.
In the way of buildings themselves, the only native adaptation made from European styles was using the local wood as forests were plentiful and provided good building materials for the European settlers. Although bricks were used in limited numbers, they were generally too expensive so wood was almost exclusively used. Most of these early homes had verandahs to compliment the weather in Guyana and many of the homes the slaves lived in during the colonial days mimicked these European-styled homes, but tended to be smaller and simpler. The style of choice at this time was the Dutch Palladian style.