Perhaps the most famous example of early Baroque architecture is the front facade of St. Peter's in Vatican City. Alternating between columns and pilasters, the front begins to show the undulations typical of Baroque work. Also, the coffers, or sunken panels, in the ceilings inside the interior barrel vaults show the beginnings of an aesthetic of curvature.
Perhaps the prototypical Baroque architect was Gianlorenzo Bernini, who filled Rome with architectural wonders showing the curvaceous emphasis of the Baroque age. Bernini completed St. Peter's by designing the curved collonade that runs out from both sides of the facade; the dramatic circle created by the paired rows of columns is still the focal gathering point of Catholics today. Other works by Bernini and his Baroque contemporaries experimented with the columnar form, making columns that undulated with twists and turns instead of stolidly standing.
While the earlier Baroque phases centered in Rome, the later development of the period moved to France. Late Baroque moves back towards classicism, with less passionate curvature associated with its building designs. Late Baroque buildings in France include the palace of Versailles, commissioned by King Louis XIV, and other chateaus. Their typical feature was the mansard roof, with a dual down-and-out slope. The walls of these chateaus look more classical than the earlier Baroque buildings in Italy, but the roofs seethe with winding railings and spires.
The Rococo period followed the Baroque, a strong reaction to the classicist forces pulling architecture back to the symmetrical and logical. Rococo buildings feature whimsical, passionate curvature within and without, with the result that many structures look like carefully iced cakes, covered with whorls and decadence.