Building construction today is a significant part of industrial culture, a manifestation of its diversity and complexity and a measure of its mastery of natural forces, which can produce a widely varied built environment to serve the diverse needs of society. This article first traces the history of building construction, then surveys its development at the present time. For treatment of the aesthetic considerations of building design, see architecture. For further treatment of historical development ,see art and architecture, Anatolian; art and architecture, Arabian; art and architecture, Egyptian; art and architecture, Iranian; art and architecture, Mesopotamian; art and architecture, Syro-Palestinian; architecture, African; art and architecture, Oceanic; architecture, Western; arts, Central Asian; arts, East Asian; arts, Islamic; arts, Native American; arts, South Asian; arts, Southeast Asian.…
