Customer Reviews

Great Architecture of the World

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a licensed architect, I'm often asked to talk to children or teenagers who are vaguely interested in architecture. (Well, not that often, but it has happened.) I've been recommending this book for years. It has lots of full-color cutaway drawings. Let me put it this way, if you don't stare fascinated at these drawings, you probably won't be drawn to architecture. My copy of the book is hardcover, printed in 1975, but it's politically correct--Chinese and Hindu architecture is not neglected as in other Western-focused books. You won't find any post-modernism here, however, because I don't think the paperback has been updated (but I might be wrong)

This is the opinion of someone who is neither an architect or art historian, but an amateur who got interested after traveling around and seeing some of the world's great architecture. Also, I have the 1975 version of the book - some improvements may have been made in the most recent edition.

The strength of the book is that it attempts to survey the entire world from ancient to modern times in one, not too intimidating volume. China, Japan, Indian, Islamic, and Pre-Columbian architecture are given short chapters, although the bulk of the book is dedicated to tracing Western architecture from ancient times to shortly after World War II. It is nice to have something fairly comprehensive on the shelf as a reference.

The broad scope of the book is a weakness as well. Over a dozen authors contributed various chapters. The result is spotty, as some authors are clearly better at introducing a general audience to their field than others who seem to forget that they are not at a research conference surrounded by experts. Some parts of the text do a good job at summarizing the technical accomplishments and aesthetic concerns of a period while others are just a litany of names and places (many without corresponding visuals) that is meaningless to the average reader. The large number of authors makes the book incoherent as well as there is no theme or story that carries from one part to another. This makes it much more suited for leisurely poking through sections at random than for reading from start to finish.

Finally, there are a number of technical issues that could have been handled better. While it is true that there are tons of pictures, cutaways, and diagrams, many are too small or of mediocre quality. In other places, the text refers to a compass direction, but north is not labeled on the corresponding diagram. That's fine for medieval churches if you know that the apse is (almost) always in the east, but who knows offhand which way Persepolis is oriented? You can usually figure it out, but this and other issues are frustrating.

In summary, don't buy this book if you want a coherent history to read. If you need just one volume to serve as an occasional reference, however, this one might be ok. Still, I would look around a bit more first.

This is a great resource for anyone interested in Architecture. It gives really good background information on the history of architecture in many different areas of the world. And if you need some really good photographical examples, this a great book. It also includes great picture descriptions so that you can relate it to the body of the work. This book has a wide range of architecture from much earlier ages to the modern age.
All in all, I highly recommend this book if you need a resource for a project or if you're simply interested in architecture.

As a professional architectural historian, I use Norwich's book as a textbook for my introduction to history of architecture survey class. The book is clear and academic with coverage of BOTH Western and non-Western buildings from ancient times to modern. The only problem is that it's out of print. My department has purchased enough copies for me to lend to my students.

You will not find a more comprehensive book in print on Architecture History. It covers more regions and time periods than any other book I've seen. To get this amount of information on architecture history through another source you would need to buy two or three other books. This book has 4 times the number of drawings, photographs, and graphics of any other architecture history book. It is also well written in a concise yet understandable manner. Not only is this book the best quality and most complete book of its kind, it is also by far the least expensive.