Customer Reviews

A World History of Architecture

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I have always admired architecture. I love wandering through cities, marvelling at their skyscrapers, and travelling to Europe to see older buildings. I bought "A World History of Architecture" so that I could better understand not only the beauty of these buildings, but their place in architectural history. "A World History" exceeded my expectations.

Its sixteen chapters describe the characteristics and innovations of architecture's major movements. You will learn what makes Gothic architecture Gothic, and Romanesque Romanesque. "A World History" also explains how these styles developed from eachother. Although appearance might suggest otherwise, today's skyscrapers are the descendants of the Parthenon and Pantheon.

Not all chapters describe western styles, however. There are long, interesting sections about Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Islamic and Pre-Columbian American architecture. The authors explain how these types influenced Western architecture, something I never realized. It is fascinating to read that Islamic mosques were the source of many concepts found in medieval cathedrals, and that Mayan buildings inspired some of Frank Lloyd Wright's work.

The book is well written and full of beautiful pictures that illustrate the ideas described in the text. I don't think there is a single page devoid of pictures, which alone make the book interesting to leaf through.

My only complaints concern the hefty price and bulky size. This is more of a textbook than bedroom reading. I found it uncomfortable to lay down on a couch to read this, or even sit in an armchair. It is best read sitting at a desk, like your chemistry textbook in high school.

Otherwise, "A World History" is perfect. Having read this, I feel like I have completed an architectural class. This book gave me a knowledge architectural history that I cant wait to use on my next vacation.

This Second Edition of "A World History of Architecture" is an exact reprint of "Buildings Across Time", Third Edition by the same authors and publisher.
The difference? Price. $52 more! Just check the other book. For a while the First Edition was out of print so I was forced to use "Buildings Across Time" (I teach architecture at a Community College so price is very important to me). While I understand that the publishers have to make a profit, how is that that they can "afford" to sell this book for $41 while an exact copy of the "approved" higher education version is $92?
I welcome the addition of notable examples in the last chapter but I have a problem with the removal of many other buildings. Just to name a few that were present in the First Edition and are missing from the Second: Biskupin, Ishtar Gate, Temple of Ramesses II, Great Stupa at Borobodur, Caernarvon Castle etc. I am not sure what this cleansing is all about, both editions are 592 pages. Granted something had to give since there are new examples throughout.
I am only writing this in a hope that the Third Edition would include the missing examples from First Edition. If number of pages is fixed, just make some of the photographs smaller. Come on McGraw-Hill, you can do it!

This is one of those big, beautiful art/architecture books that always seem to end up unread on people's coffee tables. But the book is worth reading for the wealth of good info on the buildings, and the photos are nothing less than superb. Modern wide-angle camera lenses that are used to photograph the interiors of buildings, for example, have improved greatly in the last 10-15 years, and the results show.

The most important buildings, from ancient times to modern times are covered, and the text is well done, informative, and not dry as are many books on art and architecture. One of the book's strengths is the coverage of the ideas and practices of important architects who have contributed many of the buildings in this book. The authors also do a good job of covering the social importance and context of the buildings and how they differed from culture to culture.

After reading this book, I would highly recommend Sir Nicholaus Pevsner's An Outline of European Architecture for more reading on that subject. His descriptions of important buildings are often nothing short of inspired, and he is considered one of the greatest and most stimulating writers on the subject who ever put pen to paper.

No architecture book can cover every important building, but this one covers almost all the ones I would have included. It's been said that buildings like the bigger and more elaborate Gothic Cathedrals, with their labor intensive, complex masonry facades and interiors and their ornate lead-glass windows, are the most expensive artworks ever done, costing a billion dollars to replicate today. Important buildings are therefore essential for us to understand if only for the tremendous amount of resources that go into them.

Overall, a fine book on the subject and one that compares favorably with the many other beautiful, large-format books out there on architecture. I've also seen the book for the list price of $65 in retail shops so if Amazon is selling it for $40 I would consider that a great deal for this book.

It is an outstanding book for aspiring architects who want to gain more knowledge about the history of what they study and practice. From the Egyptians to the modern architects like Frank Gehry, this book explains how, why, and where the great structures of the world were built. It is an excellent research material to use.

This 2nd edition was published in 2003 under ISBN: 1856693538 [Hb] and ISBN: 0071417516 [Hb], in 2004 under ISBN: 1856693716 [Pb], and in 2008 under ISBN: 0071544798 [Hb] and ISBN: 1856695492 [Pb]. It is magnificently illustrated guide to the global history of architecture is an update to include the non-western world and works from women on 608 pages. This impressive survey includes a wealth of information, and is beautifully formatted and enhanced with 570 photographs (300 in color) and 350 line drawings. A series of maps precedes the informative and well-written text.
This 2nd edition gives a deeper knowledge and wider perspective of traditions in architecture throughout the world--from prehistoric through modern structures. The book includes photos, plans, scales for important monuments, residences, government buildings, and religious structures, complete with photos, plans, and scales, including: The Parthenon, Cheops Pyramid, Pantheon, Hadrian's Wall, Versailles, Monticello, The Brooklyn Bridge, Boston Public Library, Rockefeller Center, Fallingwater, The High Museum.
This book also examines the unique methods of great architects past and present. Among them are Alvar Aalto, Robert Adam, Leon Battista Alberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Gustave Eiffel, Peter Eisenman, Antonio Gaudi, Frank Gehry, Walter Gropius, Imhotep, Le Corbusier, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Michelangelo, Glenn Murcutt, Andrea Palladio, Eero Saarinen, Koca Sinan, Louis Sullivan, Christopher Wren, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
The 1st edition was published in 1989 under ISBN: 0874847842 and titled "A History of Western Architecture".
BIOGRAPHIES:
Michael Fazio is emeritus professor of architecture at Mississippi State University, an architect, and architectural historian. He holds a Ph.D. in the history of architecture and urban development from Cornell University.
Marian Moffett earned a Ph.D. at the M.I.T. (1975) and taught history of architecture at the University of Tennessee, where she had collaborated and co-authored with Lawrence Wodehouse including the first edition (1989) titled A History of Western Architecture.
Lawrence Wodehouse, a native of Norwich, England, received a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews (1980), taught history of architecture at the University of Tennessee and others, and was the author of many books and numerous scholarly articles, a registered architect in the UK, and a founding member of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.
CONTENTS:
Preface
Maps
Introduction 1
Ch. 1 The Beginnings of Architecture 9
Ch. 2 The Greek World 39
Ch. 3 The Architecture of Ancient India and Southeast Asia 67
Ch. 4 Traditional Architecture of China and Japan 87
Ch. 5 The Roman World 111
Ch. 6 Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture 141
Ch. 7 Islamic Architecture 165
Ch. 8 Early Medieval and Romanesque Architecture 191
Ch. 9 Gothic Architecture 229
Ch. 10 Indigenous Architecture in the Pre-Columbian Americas 275
Ch. 11 Renaissance Architecture 295
Ch. 12 Baroque Architecture 353
Ch. 13 The Eighteenth Century 397
Ch. 14 Nineteenth-Century Developments 419
Ch. 15 The Twentieth Century and Modernism 475
Ch. 16 Modernisms in the Mid- and Late Twentieth Century 533
Glossary 568
Bibliography 572
Picture Credits 576
Index 577

Professors Fazio, Moffet, & Wodehouse have assembled a book which is impressive in its scope and thoroughness. It covers each subject with a depth appropriate for an academic environment, but remains approachable to the average reader. The photographs and plates are numerous and richly illustrate each topic throughout the volume. Expect this book to become a standard text in the field.

For its type & audience, this is the most comprehensive of the academic histories of World architecture (with a Western emphasis). It has the same limitations as nearly all academic texts in this field, focusing unquestioningly upon traditional periods of style and almost no background regarding the political & technical changes that produce new paradigms in building technique & architectural form.

To the authors' credit, with so much to cover in one volume, their selections were superb. Here are a few critical comments (intended constructively) regarding a text that is overall superbly concise. I feel they over-represent medieval architecture at the expense of Islamic architecture ( Arab,Persian, & Mongol). Also, the 1st & 2nd Industrial Revolutions should be emphasized after 1850.

1) 12th-13th century is all Western / European medieval. Probably state-of-the art architecture of this era was Islamic -- we know that Islamic empires and Monguls were conquering much of Asia during these centuries.

2) Any history of architecture over 2000 years should include at least 3 factors which foment innovations in building techs: catastrophe (Great Fire of London, Great Chicago Fire,), environmental challenges (Venice on a lagoon, St Petersburg on a swamp), War & conquest (Hellenism & Alexander, Islamic empires after 800 ad, post-WWII rebuilding of Europe)

3) How can you discuss medieval manors & castles but not discuss the 17th / 18th century mercantile plantations of the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and British empires?

4)The effects of the first and second Industrial Revolutions upon architecture should be the FOCUS of 19th century and early 20th century architectural history.

5)In terms of 20th century architecture, you cannot evaluate skyscrapers without first understanding the infrastructure that made vertical building possible: elevators, fire protection, steel frames, electrical power, cheap floated glass, etc.

The making of buildings from natural materials is older than the recorded history of the human race. Even in paleolithic and neolithic eras there were remarkable, complex, and enduring structures as evidenced by archaeological discoveries. The collaborative work of the team of Michael Fazio (Professor Emeritus of Architecture, Mississippi State University), Marian Moffett and Lawrence Wodehouse (both of whom have extensive careers teaching architecture at the university level), and now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, "A World History Of Architecture" begins with the advent of the city state architecture beginning with the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, and Egyptians, then proceeds with an architectural survey of the ancient Greece, India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and the Romans. There are detailed chapters covering the distinctive architecture of the Early Christians and Byzantines, Islam, medieval and romanesque Europe. Also presented are informative chapters on Gothic architecture, indigenous American and African architecture, as well as the buildings and structures of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The final four (and extensive) chapters deal with 18th, 19th, and 20th century architectural advances, as well as 'Modernisms in the Mid- and Late Twenty-First Century and Beyond'. Superbly illustrated throughout, the text is consistently informed and informative, making "A World History Of Architecture" a critically essential addition to academic and community library Architectural Studies collections -- and is especially recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in architectural history.

The book is good, it waves at the thousands of years of architectural history. Much like an art book, the period it covers is too long to get into detail about any period, but it serves well as an introductory text for any architectural period.

I finally received this book in a good condition. Very happy! Thanks. This is one of the most interesting and comprehensive books to read on history of architecture. It's definitely not a coffee table book but easy to read and filled with great examples of architecture. This book is really a great value if you want to get some interesting perspective fast. It provides an in-depth look at basic architectural history and concepts and very enlightening. I love this book!