Building

In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:

  1. Any human-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or
  2. An act of construction (i. e. the activity of building, see also builder)

In this article, the first usage is generally intended unless otherwise specified.

Buildings come in a wide amount of shapes and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, to land prices, ground conditions, specific uses and aesthetic reasons.

Buildings serve several needs of society – primarily as shelter from weather and as general living space, to provide privacy, to store belongings and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical division of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) and the outside (a place that at times may be harsh and harmful).

Ever since the first cave paintings, buildings have also become objects or canvasess of artistic expression. In recent years, interest in sustainable planning and building practices has also become part of the design process of many new buildings.

Read more about Building:  Definitions, History, Creation, Building Damage

Famous quotes containing the word building:

    “Writing a book I have found to be like building a house. A man forms a plan, and collects materials. He thinks he has enough to raise a large and stately edifice; but after he has arranged, compacted and polished, his work turns out to be a very small performance. The authour however like the builder, knows how much labour his work has cost him; and therefore estimates it at a higher rate than other people think it deserves,”
    —James Boswell (1740–1795)

    “The mention of one apartment in a building naturally introduces an enquiry or discourse concerning the others: and if we think of a wound, we can scarcely forbear reflecting on the pain which follows it.”
    —David Hume (1711–1776)

    “A publisher is a specialised form of bank or building society, catering for customers who cannot cope with life and are therefore forced to write about it.”
    —Colin Haycraft (b. 1929)