General Resources | History | Organizations | Museums

GENERAL RESOURCES

• Architecture Web Resources - This site has had several incarnations and currently resides at the UNLV web site. Offering links covering every aspect of architecture from bibliographies, architecture search engines, and reference tools, to virtual galleries, standards and codes, real estate, urban environment, and house plans, this site is bound to have the answer to most questions searchers might have.
• Built In America - Built in America is a product of the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress and presents a plethora of photographs, blueprints, and sketches detailing some of our most beloved architectural landmarks from 1933 to the present. Every type of American architecture is represented here from the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico to the Golden Gate Bridge. Lest we forget our humble architectural roots, the collection also features a number of modest plans for windmills, one-room schoolhouses, and the like.
• Digital Archive of American Architecture - An overview of the history of American architecture with many images, beginning with the earliest colonial structures of the 17th century. Includes alphabetical lists of architects and styles with brief definitions and related links. This is a very user-friendly site.
• Great Buildings Online - This is an excellent international and historical directory for built architecture. Over 750 buildings and their architects are available, complete with brief biographical information, sometimes the designer's words, descriptions of the buildings, and a short resource list. Each building has construction date, location, building type, and other fields, all searchable. Many buildings have photos (ones with photos online are in bold). The "architectural types" page includes lists within timelines, building types, climate, locales, architectural styles, contexts, and building elements.
• ProFile on the Web - Locates architecture firms and businesses in the United States. You can search by name, location, key personnel, special focus and services.
• SPIRO - Online architecture slide library. You may search by personal name, object title, location, subject, source abbreviation, or image ID.
• Study of Architecture at Close Range - Includes links to architecture museums and history of architecture sites.

HISTORY

• The American Highway Project (AHP) - The AHP's mission is "to discover, procure, document and preserve through photographic media the architecture and cultural landscapes situated along the highways of the U.S." This site is designed to be an information source and technical library and includes interviews and digital images.
• Art Deco Architecture - Examines the history and architects of this style and offers examples and links to the homepages of the world’s most famous Art Deco buildings.
• Capitolium.org: The Official Website of the Imperial Forums - As part of the Imperial Forum Project, a Roman architectural preservation effort, the city of Rome presents this site documenting the forums built by its emperors. The central feature of the site is the Recovering the Forums section, where users can view images and read descriptions of the historic structures and areas that are being restored. Be sure to take the virtual tour, where visitors can "fly" through reconstructions of the Forum of Caesar and Ulpia by viewing a 3-D movie. The site is rounded out with background information about the history of Rome. Most of the material is available in both Italian and English.
• Castles on the Web - Created by Ted Monk, this site attempts to organize and offer the many sites that hold information related to castles. Tours of castles, abbeys, and palaces are available as well as glossaries, image collections, and even a Castles for Kids section.
• Chicago Landmarks - Whether you are looking for a specific building or for a clickable map of all City of Chicago Landmark buildings and districts, this is the place to start.  Don't miss the section on building styles.
• Frank Lloyd Wright: Life & Work - This site was created in connection with the Ken Burns' documentary shown on PBS. Searchable database catalogs photographs and location maps for all of Wright's 800-plus buildings.
• House Museums on the Web - This useful site was produced by the Baltimore County Public Library and offers links to mansions, castles, old houses and historic sites around the country and around the world.
• Medieval Architecture - Links to information about abbeys and monasteries, churches, castles, cities and towns, and other sites.

ORGANIZATIONS

• AIA Online - The American Institute of Architects' site offers member information, links to local chapters, information about honors and awards, career resources, conferences and anything else of interest to the professional architect.
• The Pritzker Architecture Prize - Provides current information about the world’s most prestigious architecture award.
• Society of Architectural Historians - This site offers biographies of American architects, links to architectural history exhibits, information about the Society, and a database of abstracts of doctoral dissertations relating to American architectural history, 1897-1995.

MUSEUMS

• List of Architecture Museums - This list is created by Yahoo and offers links to architecture museums around the world.
• National Building Museum (Washington, DC) - This museum was created by an Act of Congress and is dedicated to the "world we build for ourselves -- from our homes, offices and factories to our parks, roads, and cities as a whole." Take a virtual tour of the Museum's home which was designed by Montgomery C. Meigs.
• Study of Architecture at Close Range - Includes links to architecture museums and history of architecture sites.

The links in this section were selected and evaluated by the staff of the San Antonio Public Library for their high quality content.

Report broken links to: librarywebadmin@sanantonio.gov.