Research Guides: FA 80A: Modern Architecture: Finding Background Information

Lisa Zeidenberg

she/her/hers

Contact:

lzeidenb@brandeis.edu

781-736-4697

Subjects: Art, Architecture and Photography, Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies, Film Studies, Music, Theater and Dance

Broadly Focused Architecture Meta Site

Architecture (Art on the Web)
Boston College

Online Art & Architecture Reference

Cross-search several resources in a single search across these groups of dictionaries and encyclopedias on art and art history.

Grove Art Online (Oxford Art Online) This link opens in a new window
Online access to definitive reference works encompassing all aspects of visual culture; includes biographical and subject entries with bibliographies for further research and searchable images made available through Oxford's partnerships with museums, galleries, and other arts organizations.
Benezit Dictionary of Artists This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive source of artists’ biographies in the English language, long a standard reference work in France. Particularly known for its coverage of nineteenth-century and East Asian artists, historic auction prices, and images of artists’ signatures and monograms.
Oxford Reference: Art & Architecture This link opens in a new window
Search facts and definitions found in dictionary and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
"Chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, as illustrated especially by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection." Extends from prehistory to 1600 AD and will continue to expand in scope & depth.

Architecture & Design: Online & Print Resources

Oxford Dictionary of Architecture (Oxford Reference)
"Covers every period of Western architectural history. Includes over 250 line drawings, labelled cross-sections, and diagrams. Biographical entries on leading historical architects, as well as subjects such as algorithmic design, digital architecture, and parametric design, and many entries expanding the coverage of landscape architecture"
Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture (Oxford Reference)
Richly-illustrated volume "offers...up-to-date entries on Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Central and South Asia, Africa, and Europe and spans over a thousand years of history.....Entries provide in-depth art historical and cultural information about dynasties, art forms, artists, architecture, rulers, monuments, archaeological sites and stylistic developments.
Oxford Companion to Architecture (Oxford Reference)
Contains over 1500 A-Z entries covering all aspects of architecture, from architects, building types, and movements and styles to materials, aspects of design, and definition. Particularly strong in its coverage of architecture around the world, and of modern and vernacular architecture.
International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture (Print, 2 volumes)
Biographical information also appears in Biography in Context. Features detailed entries on 523 architects and 467 buildings and sites that have figured prominently in Western architectural history. The set includes over 1,100 photographs and floor plans, and geographic, building, and architect indexes.
Contemporary Architects (Print)
Biographical information also appears in Biography in Context
Comprehensive profiles of the most significant architects of the 20th century. Biographical details of each architect/partnership, listings of works & projects, major exhibitions, bibliography, a personal statement, & an evaluative essay. Illustrated.
A Dictionary of Modern Design (Oxford Reference)
From Art Nouveau to Postmodernism, Benetton to Frank Lloyd Wright, this dictionary covers the past 150 years of international design, with succinct entries on ceramics, furniture, graphics, industrial design, interiors, and fashion.
more...less...
Designers and manufacturers feature in a range of biographical entries, and the dictionary's international focus takes in major movements, key concepts, design terminology, and important design institutions, museums, and heritage sites.
Contemporary Designers (Print)
Biographical information also appears in Biography in Context

Architecture: Print Resources

Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Architecture by R. Stephen Sennott (Editor) "Links architects and structures to entries on the history & theory of the profession.... Features major architects, firms, and professional issues; buildings, styles, and sites; architecture of cities & countries; critics & historians; construction, materials, and planning topics; schools, movements, and stylistic and theoretical terms. Includes... bibliographies & illustrations."
Call Number: Creative Arts Reference NA680 .E495 2004
Makers of 20th Century Modernist Architecture by Donald L. Johnson; Donald Langmead Combines biography and critical analysis with an extensive bibliography of publications by or about architects and engineers whose work has proven influential on the course of modern Western architecture. Opens with a concise historical discussion of the evolution of modernism. Includes many plates of photographs, drawings, and plans.
Call Number: Creative Arts - Reference NA680 .J628 1997
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects by Adolf K. Placzek (Editor) Includes more than 2,400 biographies of architects from antiquity to the present (if born by 1930) from all geographical regions. The substantial biographies for major architects include evaluative essays. All entries include a work list & bibliography. Despite its age, this is still a valuable resource.
Call Number: Creative Arts - Reference NA40 .M25 1982
A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 by Howard Colvin A comprehensive record of every British architect who practiced between 1600 and 1840. Contains authoritative work lists and thorough biographical summaries. Opens with an important essay on the practice of architecture, 1600-1840.
Call Number: Creative Arts - Reference NA996 .C6 1995
Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World by Paul Oliver (Editor) Worldwide overview of vernacular architecture -- dwellings and other buildings, reflecting environmental contexts, available resources, and close relationships to the lives of inhabitants. Falls thematically into two parts: "Theories and Principles (vol. 1) and "Cultures and Habitats (vol. 2-3). Extensive cross-referencing, glossary of terms, comparative lexicon of architectural terms (6 languages), substantial bibliography, index of cultures and habitats, nations and locations.
Call Number: Creative Arts - Reference NA208 .E53 1997
Elements of Style by Stephen Calloway; Elizabeth Cromley Guide to the heritage of domestic architecture in Great Britain & the United States. Copious illustrative material. Chronological arrangement by period & style traces history of the British & American house in a series of essays adhering to the same topical structure (introduction, doors, windows, walls, ceilings, floors, fireplaces, staircases, built-in furniture, services, lighting, metalwork, and woodwork). Biographies of architects & designers; glossary.
Call Number: Creative Arts - Reference NK1860 .E44 1996