It is always important to be able to learn and gain more knowledge surrounding your craft and when it comes to architecture, there is plenty of literature to pull from. We have compiled 10 great books you can find now for free online, especially with the current situation forcing us to stay in, electronic books provide an option with easy access.
1.) Le Corbusier: Elements of a Synthesis (1968)
By Stanislaus von Moos
Elements of a Synthesis is a precise and systematic dissection of Le Corbusier’s life and work.
2.) The Architectonic Colour: Polychromy in the Purist Architecture of Le Corbusier (2011)
By Jan De Heer
This book dissects and examines Le Corbusier’s relationship with Purist Painting.
3.) Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture (15 BC)
By Vitruvius Pollio
Quite simply, one of the most influential architecture books of all time.
4.) Japan : Its Architecture, Art, And Art Manufactures (1882)
By Christopher Dresser
Considered the first industrial designer, Christopher Dresser studied the craft of Japanese design. Dresser includes his elegant Japanese influenced sketches and drawings.
5.) Surrealism and Architecture (2005)
Edited by Thomas Mical
Thomas Mical attempts to show the significant connection between surrealist painting and architecture.
6.) The Architecture of the City (1982)
By Aldo Rossi
Pritzker winner Aldo Rossi’s take on urban planning’s impact on the construction of the city. His urban theories were considered groundbreaking at the time this book was published.
7.) Eric Mendelsohn (1940)
By Arnold Whittick
The biography of Eric Mendelsohn, the architect known for his simple yet powerful sketches. An influential art deco architect, Mendelsohn escaped Nazi Germany, finding success abroad.
8.) Four Walking Tours Of Modern Architecture In New York City (1961)
By Ada Louise Huxtable
Huxtable was the first architecture critic at The New York Times and a Pulitzer Prize winner. This, one of Huxtable’s lesser known works, still has relevance to this day (even if a few of the buildings have had name changes).
9.) Modern California Houses; Case Study Houses 1945-1962 (1962)
By Esther McCoy
Designed by architects such as Richard Neutra and Pierre Koenig, these houses defined west-coast architectural theory at the time.
10.) Architecture And Furniture (1938)
By The Museum Of Modern Art
These essays highlight Alvar Aalto’s designs in architecture and furniture. Originally published as a companion to a furniture and design exhibition at the MoMA in 1938, the highlight is Aalto’s early use of new and innovative wood products.
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