Mesoporous materials with controlled composition and pore characteristics have been extensively investigated during recent decades. The design, synthesis and assembly of building blocks with suitable shapes, length scales and functionalities have led to advances in the control of pore structure and morphology, the tailoring of pore surface chemistry, and the variety of framework composition. Aiming at practical applications, supporting the mesoporous materials with suitable matrices is becoming significant besides pore wall composition. In this feature article, recent progress in the synthesis of inorganic, hybrid and organic mesoporous materials at multiple length scales and morphologies is briefly summarized.