Top ten books for architecture
(And how to use them)

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

Part 1: Solidity and enjoyment of raw materials: three forms of knowledge

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

Part 2: Top ten books on architecture

10. History:
Modern Architecture Since 1900, William JR 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 technique:
Simplified technology 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 Run Your Own Design Firm, A Guide for Interior Designers and Architects, Rubeling, 1994/2007

3. Graphics standards:
Architectural Graphics 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 that there are three forms of knowledge that an architect must gather to create a project; objective knowledge, social knowledge and subjective knowledge.

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