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One of the ancient human activities is building construction. It began with a purely functional need for a controlled environment to moderate the effect of climate. Human shelters were constructed to adapt human beings to a wide variety of climates and become a global species. But temporary structures were used only a few days or months. Over time were they evolved into such a highly refined form as the igloo. After agriculture had emerged, people began to stay in one place for long periods. That's why more durable structures began to appear. The first human shelters were very simple. The first shelters were dwellings. But later they were used for other functions, such as food storage and ceremony. Some structures began to have symbolic as well as functional value, marking the beginning of the distinction between architecture and building.

Building constructionhas its own history, whichis markedby a number of trends. Let's describe some of them. One of these trends is increasing durability of the material as the first building materials were perishable. We mention leaves,branches and animal hides. Later people began to use moredurable natural material such as clay, stone, timber. Finally, syntheticmaterials such as brick, concrete, metals, plastics were used inbuilding; anothertrend isquest for buildings of greater height and span. It was possible bythe development of stronger building materialsand byknowledge of how materials behave and how to exploitthem to greateradvantage. The third trend involves the degree of control exercised over the interior environment of buildings increasingly precise regulation of air temperature, light and sound levels, humidity, air speed. All factors that affect human comfort become possible. A modern trend is change in energy of the construction progress starting with human muscle power and developing toward the powerful machinery.