HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE History furnishes the architectural designer with opportunities to study buildings in such mass and detail that new forms can be based on accurate knowledge of the old as they exist or existed, full size and in position, with their natural environment of light, shade, play of colour and variety of line. It gives him knowledge of the materials, the craftsmanship and the allied arts that have determined the form and character of buildings, and of the social, political and religious changes that affected nations in the past and were reflected in their buildings. Architectural history differs substantially from archaeology (q.v.) with which, nevertheless, it is too of ten confused. The archaeologist unearths and studies the forms, materials and embellishments of ancient buildings. The architectural historian relates the information gleaned by such scientific research and develops a record of past architectural styles together with the underlying human relationships that brought them into being.
To understand the evolution of the art of architecture intelli gently one must first understand the mental processes by which man creates architectural works. Such procedure has not materi ally changed since ancient Egypt which, as far as is known, was the first western nation to establish a civilization with a fixed cultural background to leave enduring records of its achievements. The architect called on to enclose space, whether it be a tomb, shrine or simple dwelling, first looks about to see how it has been done before. If facilities are available, he travels to other lands to study foreign methods. If documents concerning ancient works exist, he turns to them also for enlightenment. From all such information as a background, from the practical requirements of his problem and from the materials and methods of construction at hand, he creates his work.
The lay mind frequently mistakes the origin of architectural styles. There are no strict demarcations between periods. Only the extent of centuries of history makes seeming divisions, because the high spot in each period is the determining factor, obscuring the transitional periods between. The present occidental art has been influenced more strongly by the ancient western countries, beginning with Egypt, than by India, China or Japan (q.v.) ; but the growing present-day connections between Far East and West may affect it more materially than past centuries of separated civilizations. The following outline is designed to relate the special articles, on such predominant periods as those of Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Gothic, which appear in this work under their own headings, with the general trend of the world's architectural development from the earliest recorded efforts. (See INDIAN