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How to research buildings: Search by time period

This guide recommends resources, and proposes strategies for researching structures of any era.

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Addis, William, Building: 3000 years of design engineering and construction, Phaidon, TH15.A33 2007

Ching, Francis D. K., et al., A Global history of architecture, John Wiley & Sons, NA200.C493 2011

Fletcher, Banister, et al., History of Architecture, 20th ed., Office NA200.F63 1988

Moffett, Marian, et al., Buildings across time: an introduction to world architecture, McGraw Hill, NA200.M575 2014

Olivier, Paul, et al., Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World, Cambridge University Press, Reference NA208.E53 1997 volumes 1-3

Bergdoll, Barry, et al., Latin America in construction: architecture 1955-1980, Museum of Modern Art, NA702.5.B47 2015

Emanuel, Muriel & Dennis Sharp, Contemporary architects, St. Martin’s Press, NA680.C625 1994

Goad, Philip & Anoma Pieris, New directions in tropical Asian architecture, Tuttle, NA1462.G63 2005

Herz, Manuel, et al., African modernism: the architecture of independence, Park Books, NA1580.A37 2015

Ruan, Xing & Patrick Bingham-Hall, New China architecture, Periplus, NA1544.6.R83 2006

Zellner, Peter, Pacific edge: contemporary architecture on the Pacific Rim, Rizzoli, NA1559.7.A46 1998

Brillembourg, Carolos, Latin American architecture, 1929-1960: contemporary reflections, Monacelli Press, NA702.5.L38 2004

Culbertson, Margaret, American house designs: an index to periodicals 1850-1915, Greenwood Press, NA7207.C85 1994

Curtis, William J. R., Modern architecture since 1900, Phaidon, NA680.C87 1996

Emanuel, Muriel & Dennis Sharp, Contemporary architects, St. Martin’s Press, NA680.C625 1994

Ferguson, Russell, et al., At the end of the century: one hundred years of architecture, Abrams, NA680.A9 1998

Frampton, Kenneth, Modern architecture: a critical history, Thames & Hudson, NA500.F75 2007

Hines, Thomas S., Architecture of the sun: Los Angeles modernism, 1900-1970, Rizzoli, NA735.L55 H56 2010

Kaplan, Wendy, et al., Living in a modern way: California design, 1930-1965, MIT Press, NK835.C3C35 2011 (Survey of all design arts)

Placzek, Adolf K., Macmillan encyclopedia of architects, Collier Macmillan, NA40.M25 1982

Reynolds, Jonathan M., Maekawa Kunio and the emergence of Japanese modernist architecture, University of California Press, NA1555.R49 2001

Risebero, Bill, Modern architecture and design: an alternative history, MIT Press, NA642.R57 1983

Shettleworth, Earle G., “Brief biographies of American architects who died between 1897 and 1947” (Compiled from the American Art Annual; PDF via the Society of Architectural Historians)

Tigerman, Bobbye, et al., A Handbook of California design, 1930-1965: craftspeople, designers, manufacturers, MIT Press, NK835 .C3C35 2011

Withey, Henry F. & Elsie Rathburn Withey, Biographical dictionary of American architects (deceased), New Age Publishing Company, Reference NA​40.W77 (covers American practitioners 1740-1952. Brief entries with vital data and bibliographies)

Addis, William, Building: 3000 years of design engineering and construction, Phaidon, TH15.A33 2007

Blair, Sheila, et al., The Art and architecture of Islam 1250-1800, Yale University Press, N6260.B56 1994

Ching, Francis D. K., et al., A Global history of architecture, John Wiley & Sons, NA200.C493 2011

Colvin, Howard, A Biographical dictionary of British architects, 1600-1840, Yale University Press, NA996.C6 1995

Conant, Kenneth John, Carolingian and Romanesque architecture, 800 to 1200, Penguin Books, NA365.C6 1973

Drexler, Arthur, et al., The Architecture of the École des beaux-arts, NA1047.5.E34A69

Ettinghausen, Richard, The Art and architecture of Islam 650-1250, Yale University Press, N6260.E79 2001

Fletcher, Banister, et al., History of Architecture, 20th ed., Office NA200.F63 1988

Frampton, Kenneth, Modern architecture: a critical history, Thames & Hudson, NA500.F75 2007

Frankl, Paul & Paul Crossley, Gothic architecture, Yale University Press, NA5453.C77 2001

Guo, Qinghua, Chinese architecture and planning: ideas, methods, techniques, Edition Axel Menges,  NA1540.G857 2005

Harle, James C., The Art and architecture of the Indian subcontinent, Yale University Press, N7301.H23 1994

Heydenreich, Ludwig H. & Paul Davies, Architecture in Italy 1400-1500, Yale University Press, NA1115.H49 1996

Krautheimer, Richard, et al., Early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Yale University Press, NA4817.K4 1986

Lawrence, A. W. & R. A. Tomlinson, Greek architecture, Penguin Books, NA270.L36 1996

Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey (HABS, et al. have been documenting U.S. structures (photos, drawings and texts) since the 1930s. See L.A. County prints & photographs in HABS.)

Meyers, Eric M., et al., The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East, Oxford University Press, DS56.O9 1996 volumes 1-5

Middleton, Robin & David Watkin, Neoclassical and 19th century architecture, Abrams, NA600.M513 1987

Moffett, Marian, et al., Buildings across time: an introduction to world architecture, McGraw Hill, NA200.M575 2014

Ward-Perkins, J. B., Roman imperial architecture, Penguin Books, NA310.W34

Watson William, The Arts of China after 1620, Yale University Press, N7343.W38 1995

Watson, William, The Arts of China 900-1620, Yale University Press, N7343.W382 2000

Watson, William, The Arts of China to AD 900, Yale University Press, N7343.W38 1995

Withey, Henry F. & Elsie Rathburn Withey, Biographical dictionary of American architects (deceased), New Age Publishing Company, Reference NA​40.W77 (covers American practitioners 1740-1952. Brief entries with vital data and bibliographies)

Wittkower, Rudolf, et al., Art and architecture in Italy 1600-1750, Yale University Press, N6916.W5 1999 volumes 1-3

Recommended for all architectural research

Please note

  • These guides are intended to provide initial orientation, and suggest a variety of different lines of investigation—not take the place of individual research.
  • All the resources cited here--print and digital--are available through the Kappe Library at SCI-Arc.Items not available at SCI-Arc are not included.
  • Surveys covering multiple projects are preferred over monographic studies focusing on specific works or individuals.
  • Resources on Los Angeles and Southern California are stressed.
  • Proprietary digital resources (Avery Index, Oxford Art Online, ArtStor, etc) can be accessed on-campus at SCI-ARC via any SCI-Arc internet provider. Off-campus they can be accessed 24/7 via the Kappe Library proxy server, and a valid SCI-Arc Network username and password.

The Kappe Library at SCI-Arc

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