The Story of Buildings From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond by Patrick Dillon (review)

In this ambitious overview of architectural history, Dillon discusses in chronological order dozens of significant buildings, from Imhotep’s design for the pyramid of the pharaoh Djoser in the third millennium BCE, to the environmentally ingenious straw-bale house of Sarah Wigglesworth and Jeremy Till in 2001 London. Although some brief attention is given to non-Western cultures, coverage is heavily slanted toward European developments. Dillon’s text shines brightest when he focuses narrowly on architectural innovations and architects’ quirks—how the system of domes and half domes distributes weight in the Hagia Sophia and how the rivalry between Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini is immortalized in the former’s sculpture cringing in horror in front of the latter’s looming church. Too often, though, swaths of text commenting on world events bog the narrative down, and they seem less interested in providing context than in hustling readers abruptly from one architectural style to the next. Stephen Biesty supplies his signature cutaways for sixteen of the buildings, and these details, together with truly informative insets, are likely to captivate reader attention. Although many architectural elements are defined within the illustrations and annotations, a thorough glossary of terms is sadly missing, leaving readers who can’t tell a nave from an apse or a batten from a piano nobile to fend for themselves. An index and timeline provide some navigational assistance, but expect illustration to trump text for most readers.