Top Ten Books for Architecture
(And How to Use Them)

What are the top ten books an architect should read? What is the most important knowledge for an architect to possess? More importantly, how do architects use books in their design process? What do architects think about?

Part 1: Commodity Firmness and Delight: Three Forms of Knowledge

Vitruvius the Roman architect, in The Ten Books on Architecture wrote that architecture is a coming together of three things commodity, firmness, and delight. (The Latin was firmitas, utilitas, venustas) To use contemporary language we would say architecture is composed of structure, utility, and art.

Part 2: Top Ten Books on Architecture

10. History:
Modern Architecture Since 1900, William J. R. Curtis
Honorable Mentions:
Graphic History of Architecture, John Mansbridge, 1967/1999

9. Concepts and Principles:
Architecture: Form, Space, and Order, Francis Ching, 1979/1996

8. Theory:
The Production of Space, Henri Lefebvre, 1992
Honorable Mentions:
Body, Memory, and Architecture, Bloomer & Moore, 1977

7. Art and Artists:
Two Worlds of Andrew Wyeth, A Conversation with Andrew Wyeth, Thomas Hoving, 1978
Honorable Mentions:
The Great Age of British Watercolors 1750-1880, Wilton and Lyles, 1983

6. Architecture and Architects:
I disegni di Carlo Scrpa per Castelvecchio

5. Structure and Engineering:
Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders, Parker /Ambrose, 2011 (1940s)

4. Practice:
The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, AIA, 2002
Honorable Mentions:
How to Start and Operate Your Own Design Firm, A Guide for Interior Designers and Architects, Rubeling, 1994/2007

3. Graphic Standards:
Architectural Graphic Standards, Ramsey/Sleeper,

2. Code Books

1. Towards a New Architecture, Le Corbusier, 1936

Part 3: The Big Three and Design in the Design Process

From this reading list we can see there are three forms of knowledge an architect must assemble to create a project; objective knowledge, social knowledge, and subjective knowledge.

свернуть