History of Architecture

A history of architecture is a record of man’s efforts to build
beautifully. The erection of structures devoid of beauty is mere
building, a trade and not an art. Edifices in which strength and
stability alone are sought, and in designing which only utilitarian
considerations have been followed, are properly works of engineering.
Only when the idea of beauty is added to that of use does a structure
take its place among works of architecture. We may, then, define
architecture as the art which seeks to harmonize in a building the
requirements of utility and of beauty. It is the most useful of the fine
arts and the noblest of the useful arts. It touches the life of man at
every point. It is concerned not only in sheltering his person and
ministering to his comfort, but also in providing him with places for
worship, amusement, and business; with tombs, memorials, embellishments
for his cities, and other structures for the varied needs of a complex
civilization. It engages the services of a larger portion of the
community and involves greater outlays of money than any other
occupation except agriculture. Everyone at some point comes in contact
with the work of the architect, and from this universal contact
architecture derives its significance as an index of the civilization of
an age, a race, or a people.