Exceptionally comprehensive, this single- source reference allows readers to compare and contrast architecture, interior design, interior architectural features, design details, motifs, furniture, space planning, color, lighting, textiles, interior surface treatments, and decorative accessories through many centuries--from antiquity to the 18th century--from the many regions of the world. Additionally, it includes later interpretations of architecture, interiors, and furniture to illustrate the evolution of each stylistic influence. Each period is placed within a conceptual, cultural, historical, and social context, and the broad range of examples depicts high-style and domestic structures and furnishings that reflect residential, commercial, and institutional projects. The volume is extensively illustrated and features many illustrations diagrammed with explanatory notes highlighting specific design features. Cultural Precedents. Oriental (China, Japan). Antiquity (Egypt, Greece, Rome). Middle Ages (Early Christian, Byzantine, Islamic, Romanesque, Gothic). Renaissance (Italian Renaissance, Spanish Renaissance, French Renaissance, English Renaissance, American Colonial: England, American Colonial: Spanish, American Colonial: France, American Colonial: Germany, Holland). Baroque (European Baroque, Louis X1V, English Restoration). Rococo (Regencey & Louis XV, Neo-Pal & English Georgian, American Georgian). Early Neoclassic (Louis XVI, French Provincial, Late Georgian, American Federal). For interior design practitioners, furniture designers, design consultants, design manufacturers, and theater and film set designers, as well as those in the related fields of art history, architecture, material culture, museum studies, and history. Also of interest to historical societies, preservation groups, crafts people, design journalists, and the lay person with interest in design. Read Less