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Histories of the digital turn in architecture: General resources

Recommended resources on the history of computing applied to architecture, from the first experiments in CAD circa 1965, providing location info for print resources and links for digital resources.

Recommended for all architectural research

Histories of architecture & computing

Andia, Alfredo, “Reconstructing the effects of computers on practice and education during the past three decades,” Journal of Architectural Education, v. 56, #2, 2002, p. 7–13 (PDF available via Jstor)

Bruegmann, Robert, “The pencil and the electronic sketchboard: architectural representation and the computer,” in Architecture and its image: four centuries of architectural representation, Canadian Centre for Architecture, NA2445.C2M663 1989

Carpo, Mario, The digital turn in architecture 1992-2012, Wiley, 2013 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Carpo, Mario, The second digital turn : design beyond intelligence, MIT Press, NA2543.T43C37 2017

“Discrete : reappraising the digital in architecture,” Architectural Design, March/April 2019 (Theme issue)

Goodhouse, Andrew, When is the digital in architecture? Canadian Centre for Architecture, NA2728.W43 2017

Labaco, Ronald T. (Editor), Out of hand : materializing the postdigital, Black Dog Publishing, N6497.O98 2013

Lynn, Greg (Editor), Archaeology of the digital : Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Chuck Hoberman, Shoei Yoh, Canadian Centre for Architecture, NA680.A722 2013

Bergin, Michael S., “A brief history of BIM,” ArchDaily, December 7, 2012

"Computer-Aided Design,” July 27, 2011, manufacturinget.org

Fankhänel, Teresa & Andres Lepik (editors), The architecture machine: the role of computers in architecture, Birkhäuser, NA2543.T43 A73 2020

"The history of Rhino," Robert McNeel & Associates Wiki, (no date)

Kemper, Alfred M., Pioneers of CAD in architecture, Pacifica, NA2728.P56 1985

MacKenzie, Smith, Future-proofing architectural computer-aided design: MIT's FACADE project, September 27, 2008 (PDF available via MIT Libraries; see the follow-up FACADE 2 via Harvard)

Pongratz, Christian & Maria Rita Perbellini, Natural born CAADesigners : young American architects, Birkhäuser, NA712.P6613 2000

RUCAPS Really Universal Computer Aided Production System (December 5, 1985), (Video available via the SCI-Arc Media Archive)

Sanders N., “A possible first use of CAM/CAD,” in Tatnall, Reflections on the history of computing, Springer, 2012 (PDF available via SpringerLink)

Ivan Sutherland Sketchpad Demo,” (Video available via YouTube)

Fetter, William A., “Computer graphics,” Design quarterly, #66/67, 1966 (Theme issue)

Negroponte, Nicholas, “Toward a theory of architecture machines,” Journal of Architectural Education, Vol.23, #2, 1969, p.9–12 (PDF via Jstor)

Stewart, Clifford Douglas & Frank de Serio, “Design with computers? It’s what’s happening, baby!” Progressive architecture, July 1966, p. 156-8

Catmull, Ed & Fred Parke, “A computer animated hand,” 1972 (via YouTube)

Eastman CM. The use of computers instead of drawings in building design. AIA Journal. March 1975;63:46-50.

Mitchell, William J., Computer-aided architectural design, Petrocelli/Charter, NA2728.M58 (1977)

Negroponte, Nicholas, Soft architecture machines, MIT Press, NA2540.N3751 (1975)

Negroponte, Nicholas, The architecture machine : towards a more human environment, MIT Press, NA2750.N37 (1970)

Deken, Joseph, The electronic cottage, Morrow, QA76.D3336 (1981)

Mitchell, William J., The art of computer graphics programming : a structured introduction for architects and designers, Van Nostrand Reinhold, T385.M58 1987

Putnam, Hilary, Representation and reality, MIT Press, B835.P88 1988

Wojtowicz, Jerzy, Architecture : formal approach, St. Martin's Press, NA2000.W641 1986

“Architects in cyberspace,” Architectural Design, November/December 1995

“Architects in cyberspace II,” Architectural Design, November/December 1998

ArtByte (magazine published 1998-2001; Kappe Library has 1999-2001)

Benedikt, Michael (Editor), Cyberspace : first steps, MIT Press, QC173.59.S65C93 1992

Cubitt, Sean, Digital aesthetics, Sage Publications, 1998 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

De Landa, Manuel, De Landa, Manuel, War in the age of intelligent machines, Swerve Editions, UG478.D4 1991

Holtzman, Steven R., Digital mantras : the languages of abstract and virtual worlds, MIT Press, QA76 .H6234 1995

McCullough, Malcolm, et al. (Editors), The electronic design studio : architectural education in the computer era, MIT Press, NA2728.E44 1990

Mitchell, William J., City of bits : space, place, and the infobahn, MIT Press, TK5105.5.M57 1995

Mitchell, William J., E-topia : urban life, Jim - but not as we know it, MIT Press, 1999 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Mitchell, William J., The logic of architecture : design, computation, and cognition, MIT Press, NA2750.M58 1990

Mitchell, William J. & Malcolm McCullough, Digital design media, 2nd edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold, TA174.M58 1994

Schmitt, Gerhard, Information architecture : basis and future of CADD, Birkhäuser, NA2728.S35713 1999

Stone, Allucquère Rosanne, The war of desire and technology at the close of the mechanical age, MIT Press, QA76.9.C66S883 1996

Aranda, Benjamin & Chris Lasch, Tooling, Princeton Architectural Press, NA2728.A58 2006

Iwamoto, Lisa, Digital fabrications : architectural and material techniques, Princeton Architectural Press, NA2728.I93 2009

Kalay, Yehuda E., Architecture's new media: principles, theories and methods of computer-aided design, MIT Press, NA2728.K35 2004

Kolarevic, Branko, Architecture in the digital age : design and manufacturing, Taylor & Francis, NA2543.T43A724 2005

Leach, Neil, et al. (Editors), Digital tectonics, Wiley-Academy, NA2720.D483 2004

Lindsey, Bruce, Digital Gehry : material resistance, digital construction, Birkhäuser, NA737.G44L56 2001

Lynn, Greg, et al. (Editors), Folding in architecture, Wiley-Academy, NA2728.F63 2004

Maeda, John, Design by numbers, MIT Press, QA76.6.M336 2001

Oosterhuis, Kas, Hyperbodies : toward an e-motive architecture, Birkhäuser, NA2728.O6713 2003

Rahim, Ali, Catalytic formations : architecture and digital design, Taylor & Francis, NA2728.R33 2006

Reas, Casey & Ben Fry, Processing : a programming handbook for visual designers and artists, Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, QA76.6.R4138 2007

Sakamoto, Tomoko & Albert Ferré, From control to design : parametric/algorithmic architecture, Actar, NA2728.F665 2008

Salen, Katie & Eric Zimmerman, The game design reader : a Rules of Play anthology, MIT Press, QA76.76.C672G357 2006

Silver, Mike (Editor), Programming cultures : art and architecture in the age of software, Wiley, NA2543.T43P76 2006

Smith, Dana K., et al., Building Information modeling : a strategic implementation guide for architects, engineers, constructors, and real estate asset managers, John Wiley & Sons, 2009 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Spiller, Neil, Digital architecture now : a global survey of emerging talent, Thames & Hudson, NA2728.S66 2008

Spuybroek, Lars, Research & design : the architecture of variation, Thames & Hudson, NA2750.R46 2009

Steele, James, Architecture and computers : action and reaction in the digital design revolution, Watson-Guptill, NA2728.S74 2002

Verb matters : a survey of current formal and material possibilities in the context of the information age …, Actar, NA687.V47 2004 #2

Bernstein, Phillip, Architecture, design, data : practice competency in the era of computation, Birkhäuser, NA2728 .B45 2018

Canizares, Galo, Digital fabrications : designer stories for a software-based planet, ORO Editions/Applied Research & Design, NA2728 .C34 2019

Hovestadt, Ludger, On digital architecture. Volume I, books I-III, Birkhauser, NA2543.T43 H68 2023

Lostritto, Carl, Impossible and hyper-real elements of architecture : exercises, provocations, and theories of digital representation, Applied Research and Design Publishing, T385 .L678 2023

Histories of computing

Abbate, Janet, Inventing the Internet, MIT Press, 1999 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Atkinson, Paul, Computer, Reaktion Books, 2010 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Boden, Margaret A., Artificial intelligence : a very short introduction, Oxford University Press, Q335 .B632 2018

Ceruzzi, Paul E., et al. A history of modern computing, MIT Press, 2003 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Chun, Wendy Hui Kyong & Thomas Keenan (Editors), New media, old media : a history and theory reader, Routledge, P90.N52 2006

Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California

Charles, Eames & Ray Eames, A Computer perspective : background to the computer age, Harvard University Press, QA76.17 .E15 1990 (originally published 1971)

Essinger, James, Jacquard's web : how a hand-loom led to the birth of the information age, Oxford University Press, 2004. (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Goldstine, Herman H., The computer--from Pascal to Von Neumann, Princeton University Press, TK7885.A5G64 1993

Haigh, Thomas, “Inventing information systems: the systems men and the computer, 1950-1968,” The Business History Review, v. 75, #1, 2001, p. 15–61 (PDF available via Jstor)

Hu, Tung-Hui, A prehistory of the cloud, MIT Press, 2015 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Ifrah, Georges, The universal history of computing : from the abacus to the quantum computer, Wiley, QA76.17.I2713 2000

Isaacson, Walter, The innovators : how a group of hackers, geniuses, and geeks created the digital revolution, Simon & Schuster, QA76.2.A2I87 2014

Ornstein, Severo M., Computing in the middle ages : a view from the trenches 1955-1983, 1st Books Library, HD9696.62.O76 2002

Rojas, Raúl & Ulf Hashagen (Editors), The first computers : history and architectures, MIT Press, QA76.17.F57 2002

Steiglitz, Kenneth, The discrete charm of the machine: why the world became digital, Princeton University Press, TK5103.7.S74 2019

Turner, Fred, From counterculture to cyberculture : Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the rise of digital utopianism, University of Chicago Press, QA76.9.C66T875 2006

Wardrip-Fruin, Noah & Nick Montfort (Editors), The New media reader, MIT Press, TK5102.5.N48 200

Atkinson, Paul, “The best laid plans of mice and men: the computer mouse in the history of computing,” Design Issues, Summer 2007, p. 46–61 (PDF available via Jstor)

Atkinson, Paul, “The (in)difference engine: explaining the disappearance of diversity in the design of the personal computer,” Journal of Design History, v. 13, #1, 2000, p. 59–72 (PDF available via Jstor)

Atkinson, Paul, “Man in a briefcase: the social construction of the laptop computer and the emergence of a type form,” Journal of Design History, Summer 2005, p. 191–205 (PDF available via Jstor)

Gaboury J., “The random-access image: memory and the history of the computer screen,” Grey room, Winter 2018, p. 24-53

Dunne, Anthony, Hertzian tales : electronic products, aesthetic experience, and critical design, MIT Press, TK7870.D86 2005

Richards, Mark & John Alderman, Core memory : a visual survey of vintage computers featuring machines from the computer History Museum, Chronicle, QA76.17.R52 2007

Campbell-Kelly, Martin, From airline reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog : a history of the software industry, MIT Press, 2004 (Ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Campbell-Kelly, Martin, “Not only Microsoft: the maturing of the personal computer software industry, 1982-1995,” The Business History Review, v. 75, #1, 2001, p. 103–145 (PDF available via Jstor)

Cardoso Llach, Daniel, Builders of the vision : software and the imagination of design, Routledge, T385.C366 2015

Da Costa, Andre, "A look at 25 years of Microsoft Office (then and now)," gPost, April 20, 2018

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.

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