Books
Best Architecture Reference Books
Our goal, at archtoolbox.com, is to provide all of the hard-to-find technical information that architects spend countless time looking up. We compile this information in an easily accessible website to make your life easier and save precious time that can be used to design.
Unfortunately, there is no substitute for an exhaustive reference book that covers very specific topics. Architects use these regularly, so archtoolbox.com offers you our recommended reference library. These are archtoolbox.com's best architecture books -- the books you want on your office or personal bookshelf.
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Construction Reference
- Building Construction Illustrated by Francis D.K. Ching
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews) - Architects' Data by Ernst Neufert
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews) - Architectural Graphic Standards by Charles Ramsey, Harold Sleeper, and The American Institute of Archietcts
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews) - Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods by Edward Allen
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews) - Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Methods for Architects by Norbert Lechner
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews)
Practice
- How Firms Succeed: A Field Guide to Design Management by James P. Cramer and Scott Simpson
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews) - The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice by The American Institute of Architects
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews)
History
- A History of Western Architecture by David Watkin
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews) - Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William J.R. Curtis
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews)
Theory
- Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
(Amazon reviews) - Architecture Theory Since 1968 by K. Michael Hays
(Amazon reviews)
Urban Design
- The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
(archtoolbox review) (Amazon reviews) - Time Saver Standards for Urban Design by Donald Watson, Alan Plattus, and Robert Shibley
(Amazon reviews)
Monographs, Journals, Tours
- AIA City Guides by Various Authors
(archtoolbox review) (Search on Amazon) - El Croquis Monographs
(Search on Amazon)
Stories and Narratives
- Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King
(Amazon reviews) - Down Detour Road: An Architect in Search of Practice by Eric Cesal
(Amazon reviews) - Observations for Young Architects by Cesar Pelli
(Amazon reviews)