For architecture I found 'A History of Architecture' by Bannister Fletcher to be a good start, but my copy is very old (1943 edition) - so try elsewhere if you want to include modernism from the outset. I'm told it's a classic.
And another vote for Pattern Language. Take it out of the library just to see how the thing is written, won't take long to see why software folk cite it.
great post morphir, thanks -