Library Guides: Architecture: Finding Photos, Drawings, Plans, etc.

Finding Photos, Drawings, Plans, etc.

To find digital images in LionSearch use the Content Type filter on the left side of any LionSearch results screen.

Use the Advanced LionSearch form.
Enter your search.
When the results screen appears, find the Content Type section in the gray column at the left. In that section, click More.
Select multiple content types that are right for your search (like Art, Image, Photograph, Drawing, Model, etc.)
Click Apply after choosing your content types.
Click on any item with an orange banner for digital images.

Many of the best images are still found in paper books and journals, especially if you want to scan a high resolution image. So often it will be helpful to find a book on your designer or building type, etc.

An easy way to browse a selection of recently designed buildings and public spaces is to use the free e-journal ArchDaily. It uses press releases from design firms and posts the graphics provided by the firms. The information is fresh, but also very brief.

ArchDaily

Notice especially the browsable categories ArchDaily provides under the Projects tab. Try a few of these.

Once you have chosen projects of interest, try LionSearch or the Avery Index to find texts that are based on more than merely a press release.

This is an excellent source for descriptive information and graphics for recently designed buildings – especially when structural details are needed.

DETAIL Inspiration This link opens in a new window
Click on More Options to browse functional types or other categories.
This is an excellent source for descriptive informationand graphics for recently designed buildings – especially when structural details are needed. The database contains the majority of the feature articles from DETAIL magazine as well as DETAIL: Green, DETAIL: Inside, and DETAIL: Structure. Although the contents are usually contributed by a building’s designers (much like most of the recent web magazines) DETAIL imposes standards which include uniform and informative graphics – browsing these shows much about a building’s components and how they are put together. Articles back to 1987 are included. DETAIL: Inspiration is not covered in LionSearch nor via the GetIt button. Searching this database, or the paper copies, is the only route.

The Building Types Online database contains 850 case studies of recent building projects that are documented with 5000 architectural drawings and 2000 photographs. The high-quality architectural drawings are mostly vector-based, drawn to scale and available for download. While the photographs are not high resolution, they do help to provide context to the drawings. Upon entering, download the "Taxonomies" file to see the useful design tagging that is assigned to each project.

NOTE: Use the search box on the LEFT side of the screen. Do NOT use the search box in the top right corner of the screen.

Building Types Online This link opens in a new window
Documentation of about 850 recent building projects organized by building types. Typical results include a project description, drawings, and photographs. Essays discussing major types are also available. Especially strong in housing and its variations but also including libraries, museums, schools and industrial, office and sacred buildings.
Documentation of about 850 recent building projects organized by building types (that is to say, the functional purpose of the building.) Typical results include a project description, drawings, and photographs. Essays discussing major types are also available. Especially strong in housing and it’s variations but also including libraries, museums, schools and industrial, office and sacred buildings.

The Avery Index is a database with descriptions of articles in environmental design magazines. It also allows you to search for a particular type of illustration such as plans, photos, aerial photos, sections, axomometrics, and other graphics.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals This link opens in a new window
articles related to architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning
Contains descriptions of articles on the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, furniture, and interior design and decoration in more than 700 international magazines. Most indexing began with 1934, but some titles are indexed to dates as early as 1741. Updated weekly.

To search for a particular type of illustration or drawing, select your options from the Document Feature box before you perform your search. There are many Document Feature options to select from including plans, sections, elevations and models. Choose as many as you like.

Video Tutorial:

For more help with finding specific drawings and photos in Avery, view our video tutorial.

Resources in this section are all paper-only.

The following Journals are known to have good scale drawings with a lot of photographs. If your search results in LionSearch or Avery returns any of these Journal Titles, look at these first:

A+U or Architecture & Urbanism: NA9000.A73 Q
Croquis or el Croquis : NA5.C7 Q
Detail: NA2835.D4 Q
GA Document: NA680.G32 Q -- circulates like a book
GA Houses: NA7126.G63 Q -- circulates like a book

This series of books contains basic plans, sections and some elevations to scale. Each book also contains a CD-ROM with the digital versions of the drawings. You will have to check the table of contents or index to see which buildings are in each book.
-- the scale of the drawings printed in the book varies
-- the CD-ROM contains drawings at a scale of 1:200 in both ,eps and ,dxf file formats

Key Buildings from Prehistory to the Present: Plans, Sections, and Elevations by Andrew Ballantyne: NA200.B355 2012 Reference
Key Buildings of the 20th Century: Plans, Sections, and Elevations by Richard Weston: NA2705.W44 2010 Reference
Key Contemporary Buildings: Plans, Sections, and Elevations by Rob Gregory: NA2705.G745 2008 Q Reference
Key Houses of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections, and Elevations by Colin Davies: NA7126.D38 2006 Reference
Key Urban Housing of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections, and Elevations by Hilary French NA7126.F74 2008 Reference

This two volume set contains basic plans, sections and some elevations to scale. You will have to check the table of contents or index to see which buildings are in each book. Despite the similar titles, these are not the same as the series listed above.
-- plans & sections are at a scale of 1:250, site plans vary in scale

Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century: volume 1 Houses 1900-1944 by David Dunster: NA680.D86 1985 v.1 Reference
Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century: volume 2 Houses 1945-1989 by David Dunster: NA680.D86 1985 v.2 Reference

These two books are good sources for houses by LeCorbusier.

Le Corbusier Redrawn: The Houses by Steven Park: NA2707.L4P37 2012 Reference -- all 2D plans, sections and elevations are at a scale of 1:200, site plans, axonometric & axonometric sections vary in scale
Le Corbusier 1887-1965: 40 Houses, Buildings and Projects by Le Corbusier: NA2707.L4A4 1997 F Ask at Desk -- all plans are at a scale of 1:200