Happy World Emoji Day! Yes, the cartoon icons that have come to substitute for written communication for a generation of young technophiles are beloved enough that they have earned their very own (global) holiday. The ubiquitous cheeky yellow characters and their accompanying symbols have officially ingrained themselves into our lexicon, for better or for worse (they even have their own movie coming out later this month—and no, not just via Snapchat), and an entire population will never look at an innocent peach or a nutritious eggplant the same way again. In recognition of the occasion, AD has decided to explore the architecture of the emoji, offering a helpful guide for the texting neophyte and the emoji-fluent alike. Without further ado, AD's unofficially official catalog of emoji architecture.
Emoji name: House
Our description: Shingle-style, single-floor gable-front cottage with oversized, no-muntin windows, bracketless eaves, and a red-brick chimney without visible mortar.
Best use: Aspirational image of the only type of home a millennial can ever hope to own.
Emoji name: Cityscape
Our description: Variegated skyline in cool hues showcasing multiple steel-frame skyscrapers and low-slung Brutalist buildings.
Best use: When feeling blue in New York City; to convey an especially smoggy day in Beijing.
Emoji name: Classical building
Our description: Palladian-style Greek Revival villa with tetrastyle portico supported by four Doric orders.
Best use: Invite to a birthday celebration for Andrea Palladio; a nostalgic imagining of the Parthenon in its earlier years.
Emoji name: Love hotel
Our description: Hotel in the style of St. Petersburg's nouveau-Moorish Don Cesar, featuring modernist rooflines and round-arched windows.
Best use: Invite to a romantic getaway; possibly in conjunction with peach and eggplant emojis.
Emoji name: Office building
Our description: Brutalist tower in cast concrete with repeated rectangular windows and visible rooftop utility space.
Best use: A weak defense of what's often called the "most hated" architectural style; to signify the mundanity of office work.
Emoji name: Derelict house
Our description: Derelict house.
Best use: An extremely ambitious restoration project; a DIY renovation gone bad.
Emoji name: European castle
Our description: Medieval-style tri-turret castle featuring Gothic-style windows, parapet with merlons and embrasures, and wooden portcullis.
Best use: Something having to do with Game of Thrones.
Emoji name: Mosque
Our description: Moorish religious structure with onion dome roof, three ogee arches, and freestanding minaret.
Best use: A trip to the Maghreb region or the Iberian peninsula—or a daydream of one.
