The National Park Service Rustic Style, also called NPS Rustic or Parkitecture, was developed by the National Park Service to create buildings that harmonized with the natural environment.

In the 1920s, NPS established a policy of rustic design. Promulgated primarily by landscape architect Thomas Chalmers Vint, with support from architect Herbert Maier, rustic design became entrenched as standard practice in the Park Service. During the 1930s, the Park Service administered Civilian Conservation Corps projects in state parks, and used the opportunity to promote rustic design on a widespread scale.

Examples of the style can be found in numerous types of National Park structures, including entrance gateways, hotels and lodges, park roads and bridges, visitor centers, trail shelters, informational kiosks, and even mundane maintenance and support facilities. Many of these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service Rustic buildings are characterized by:

• Intensive use of hand labor
• Native wood and stones
• Native stylistic elements
• Asymmetrical floor plan

After World War II, it became apparent that facilities could not be built in sufficient quantity to contend with a huge increase in automobile traffic. In the Mission 66 program, Vint and Maier abandoned the rustic style in favor of a leaner and more expeditious modern style.

Source: Wikipedia