Futurist architecture was a form of architecture from the first half of the century born and theorized in Italy, characterized in its beginnings by strong technical and formal innovation, anti-historicism, exaggerated chromaticism and the use of long dynamic lines, aimed as a whole to suggest an idea of ​​speed, movement, urgency and lyricism. It was part of Futurism, an artistic movement founded by the poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who produced his first manifesto, the Manifesto of Futurism, in 1909. The movement attracted not only poets, musicians and artists (such as Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero and Enrico Prampolini), but also several architects. Among the themes of the Futurists were the cult of the machine age and even the glorification of war and violence as a vitalist impulse towards renewal: several prominent Futurists died after volunteering to fight in the First World War. In this last group was the architect Antonio Sant'Elia (1888-1916), who, although he built little, translated the Futurist vision into urban form.[1]​.

Also in a more general sense, it would be an orientation of architectural design of the 20th and 19th centuries whose inspiration would recall elements of science fiction or spaceships, without forming a specific school or thought.

Futuristic architecture can be characterized like this:

The Art Deco style of architecture with its elongated forms was considered a futuristic style in the 1920s and 1930s. The original name for both early and late Art Deco was Art Moderne")--the name "Art Deco" was not used until 1968 when Bevis Hillier") invented the term in a book he authored. The Chrysler Building is a prominent example of futuristic Art Deco architecture.

In the postwar period, futurism experienced a considerable decline. It was reinvented in the context of Space Age trends, automobile culture, and the fascination with plastic. An example of this type of futurism is the Googie architecture of the 1950s in California. Futurism is an open approach to architecture that has been interpreted by different generations of architects over several decades, but is often considered to have in common prominent forms, dynamic shapes, strong contrasts, and the use of advanced materials.

As well as the departure from the entire historicism style.