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Architecture Research Guide

Background Research

Background research can help you:

  • narrow down a broad theme into a smaller topic
  • learn the basics of your topic
  • develop a list of keywords to use when searching for more sources
  • develop a research question and/or thesis statement

Starter Databases

Starter databases:

  • simple, browseable databases meant to help students with background research
  • often contain credible reference articles, but can also have viewpoint essays
  • a good alternative or supplement to Wikipedia

Best starter databases for architecture: This link opens in a new window

A database of encyclopedias, almanacs and specialized reference sources.

Contains over 5,000 art images, maps, and line drawings from major collections and also contains links to over 40,000 images at museum websites.

Contains biographies on more than 335,000 people from around the world and throughout history.

Gale eBooks tutorial

Gale eBooks Tutorial

  • This database has subject-specific encyclopedia articles which provide simple topic overviews.
  • A perfect way to get to know your topic before diving deeper into scholarly research.
  • Watch the video below to learn more:

E-Books

Classical architecture
The Architecture of Disability : Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes Beyond Access
Architecture: Form, Space, and Order
Buildings across time an introduction to world architecture
Chicagoland Dream Houses : How a Mid-Century Architecture Competition Reimagined the American Home.
People, Planet, Design : A Practical Guide to Realizing Architecture's Potential
Blue architecture : water, design, and environmental futures
Build Beyond Zero : New Ideas for Carbon-Smart Architecture
Animal Architecture : Beasts, Buildings and Us
Universal principles of architecture: 100 architectural archetypes, methods, conditions, relationships, and imaginaries.
Architecture in Cinema

Reference Books

US : architecture in the United States
100 ideas that changed architecture
A visual dictionary of architecture
Architecture : form, space & order
Total design : architecture and interiors of iconic modern houses
Los Angeles architecture : the contemporary condition
Latin American architecture : six voices
Illustrated dictionary of architecture

Books to Borrow

Why architecture matters
Nothing permanent : modern architecture in California
Ecological buildings : new strategies for sustainable architecture
Come together : the architecture of multigenerational living
Modern architecture : a critical history
The story of architecture
Architecture and labor
Radical architecture of the future
Women in architecture : past, present, and future
About architecture : an essential guide in 55 buildings
Architect, verb : the new language of building
A chronology of architecture : a cultural timeline from stone circles to skyscrapers
The women who changed architecture
Sketching for architecture + interior design