Use the resources on this page to discover basic information about architects and buildings. The resources are produced by scholars and experts in the field. They can be trusted to supply factual information about the topic that does not need to be cross checked. Don't forget to cite these resources too!
If you are looking for resources about Texas architects and buildings, please see our state specific guide.
Below are a sample of useful reference works. More can be found in the Reading Room at the Architecture and Planning Library.
The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture by
This is a major revision and expansion of what has long been recognized as a basic reference in its field. Besides updating the existing text, the authors have broadened the book by including many new entries on landscape architecture as well as by significantly increasing their treatment of American architects and architecture. This is a highly readable work, worldwide in scope, covering architecture from ancient times to the present. Major entries on key individuals, styles, movements, materials, and terms range up to several pages in length and include cross references and bibliographies for further reading. This is an essential addition to the reference shelf of every architectural student and buff.
International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture by
In two volumes, the International Dictionary of Architecture covers the history of architecture from ancient Greece to the present. More than 400 critics of Western architecture have contributed to this text.
Don't forget about the Building of the United States Series published by the Society of Architectural Historians. These works are arranged by states and regions within states and can be found in the Architecture and Planning Library's reference section under call number NA 730.
For example:
Buildings of Texas : Central, South, and Gulf Coast by
The architectural history of Texas spans more than 300 years of European settlement and 10,000 years of habitation by native peoples. The incredibly diverse natural landscape and equally varied built environment has produced an architectural heritage of national and international stature. This book, the first of two volumes devoted to the Lone Star State, covers the central, southern, and Gulf Coast regions (the earliest areas of Spanish and Anglo settlement and the majority of the counties that won independence from Mexico in 1836) and includes four major cities--Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, and San Antonio. The authors consider the contributions made by various cultures--Native American, Spanish, Mexican, Anglo, African American, German, Czech, Polish, and Italian--to the state's rich architectural heritage. More than 1,000 building entries canvass the most important and representative examples of Spanish missions, log cabins, German stone houses, Victorian courthouses, Moderne stores, contemporary ranch houses, modern skyscrapers, postmodern retail strips, and incursions by internationally renowned architects. With the burgeoning interest in heritage tourism, this in-depth guide--enlivened by 351 illustrations and 50 maps--will satisfy the curiosity of both local and out-of-state visitors, bringing new energy to the state's promising preservation movement.
Buildings of Texas by
From Dallas-Fort Worth to El Paso, Goodnight to Marfa to Langtry, and scores of places in between, the second of two towering volumes assembled by Gerald Moorhead and a team of dedicated authors offers readers a definitive guide to the architecture of the Lone Star State. Canvassing Spanish and Mexican buildings in the south and southwest and the influence of Anglo- and African American styles in the east and north, the latest book in the Buildings of the United States series serves both as an accessible architectural and cultural history and a practical guide. More than 1,000 building entries survey the most important and representative examples of forts, courthouses, houses, churches, commercial buildings, and works by internationally renowned artists and architects, from the Kimbell Art Museum's Louis Kahn Building to Donald Judd's art installations at La Mansana de Chinati/The Block. Brief essays highlight such topics as the history and construction of federal forts, the growth and spread of Harvey House restaurants, and the birth of Conrad Hilton's hotel empire. Enlivened by 350 illustrations and 45 maps, Buildings of Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains, and West affords local and out-of-state visitors, as well as more distant readers, a compelling journey filled with countless discoveries.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.
