2560 BCE
Great Pyramid: load-bearing masonry
The Great Pyramid of Giza — roughly 2.3 million limestone and granite blocks — is the supreme feat of ancient load-bearing masonry. Source — Wikipedia, "Great Pyramid of Giza":
Chronological Storyline (15 Milestones)
19 BCE
Roman arch: Pont du Gard aqueduct
Rome perfects the semicircular arch at scale; the three-tier Pont du Gard aqueduct bridge in Gaul still stands two millennia on. Source — Wikipedia, "Pont du Gard":
126 CE
Pantheon: unreinforced concrete dome
Rome’s Pantheon remains the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, its longevity aided by self-healing "hot-mixed" lime concrete. Source — Wikipedia, "Roman concrete":
537 CE
Hagia Sophia: pendentive dome
Hagia Sophia in Constantinople pioneers the pendentive, carrying a vast dome on four arches over a square plan. Source — Wikipedia, "Hagia Sophia":
1163 CE
Gothic flying buttresses (Notre-Dame)
Gothic builders begin Notre-Dame de Paris, using ribbed vaults and flying buttresses to channel thrust outward and open walls to glass. Source — Wikipedia, "Flying buttress":
1779 CE
Iron Bridge: first cast-iron bridge
The Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale is the first major bridge built of cast iron, proving the metal as a structural material. Source — Wikipedia, "The Iron Bridge":
1867 CE
Monier patents reinforced concrete
Gardener Joseph Monier patents iron-mesh-reinforced concrete, marrying concrete’s compression strength with steel’s tensile strength. Source — Britannica, "Joseph Monier":
1885 CE
First steel-frame skyscraper (Chicago)
William Le Baron Jenney’s Home Insurance Building in Chicago is the first tall building carried on a fireproof structural steel frame. Source — Wikipedia, "Home Insurance Building":
1889 CE
Eiffel Tower: wrought-iron lattice
Gustave Eiffel’s 300 m wrought-iron lattice tower demonstrates how calculated open frameworks can reach unprecedented heights. Source — Wikipedia, "Eiffel Tower":
1892 CE
Hennebique reinforced-concrete system
François Hennebique patents a complete reinforced-concrete building system of beams, stirrups and bars, making it a mainstream structural method. Source — Britannica, "Francois Hennebique":
1931 CE
Empire State Building steel frame
The 102-storey Empire State Building rises on a riveted steel frame in just over a year, an icon of high-rise steel construction. Source — Wikipedia, "Empire State Building":
1972 CE
Nakagin Capsule Tower: modular units
Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo bolts 140 prefabricated capsule rooms to a core — a landmark of modular construction. Source — Wikipedia, "Nakagin Capsule Tower":
1973 CE
Sydney Opera House concrete shells
Jørn Utzon’s Opera House is realised through precast, geometrically rationalised concrete shells — a milestone in shell structures. Source — Wikipedia, "Sydney Opera House":
1996 CE
Eastgate Centre: biomimetic cooling
Harare’s Eastgate Centre mimics termite-mound ventilation for passive cooling, an early icon of biomimetic structural design. Source — Wikipedia, "Eastgate Centre, Harare":
2010 CE
Burj Khalifa: buttressed-core supertall
At 828 m the Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest structure, enabled by a Y-shaped "buttressed core" of reinforced concrete and steel. Source — Wikipedia, "Burj Khalifa":