Abstract

The roots of the emerging study of building history are traced to ethnology, architecture, archaeology and history. The approaches of these disciplines, particularly in the formative period of the decades around 1900, are examined. Buildings were gradually recognized, not only as objects of aesthetic appreciation and historic monuments, but also as important sources for understanding the history of human society. The range of structures examined was broadened beyond great houses and cathedrals to include institutions and farm buildings. Building history has developed as an interdisciplinary combining the study of structures, with written and drawn documents, examining the structures within their social context.