Once you've selected your building, start with a quick Google search to visit the building's website or to Wikipedia, to find basic building facts to inform your search strategy. Here are some sample buildings, with the kind of building facts you might need for your research.
Building Purpose: Residence
Location: Plano, Illinois
Date Built: 1945-1951
Architect: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Alternate Name: Farnsworth House
Major Feature: example of International Style, steel and glass materials
Image Credit: Lessismore2020, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
Building Purpose: Museum
Location: New York, New York
Date Built: 1959
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Alternate Name: Guggenheim Museum (be sure to differentiate from the other Guggenheim museums around the world)
Major Feature: cylindrical or cone shaped building, spiral ramp gallery
Image Credit: Ajay Suresh, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Building Purpose: Museum
Location: Bilbao, Spain
Date Built: 1997
Architect: Frank Gehry
Alternate Name: Guggenheim Bilbao (be sure to differentiate from the other Guggenheim museums around the world)
Major Feature: Exterior curves intended to appear random and catch the light. Interior designed around a large, light-filled, flower-shaped atrium
Image Credit: Zarateman, licensed under Creative Commons Zero
Building Purpose: Museum
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date Built: 2016
Architect: Freelon Group / Adjaye Associates / Davis Brody Bond
Alternate Name: NMAAHC, this museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution
Major Feature: inverted step pyramid surrounded by a bronze architectural scrim, reflects a Yoruba
Image Credit: Difference engine, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
Building Purpose: Library
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date Built: 2004
Architect: Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus of OMA/LMN
Alternate Name: Seattle Public Library (be sure to differentiate between other Seattle Public Library Branches)
Major Feature: several discrete "floating platforms," seemingly a large steel net wrapped around glass skin
Image Credit: IIP Photo Archive, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Building Purpose: Performing Arts Venue
Location: Sydney Australia
Date Built: 1973
Architect: Jørn Utzon
Major Feature: concrete "shells", example of Expressionist Style
Image Credit: Thomas Adams, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
Building Purpose: Transportation Hub, Retail
Location: New York, New York
Date Built: 2016
Architect: Santiago Calatrava
Alternate Names: The Oculus, World Trade Center, World Trade Center Transportation Hub
Major Feature: White metal-clad steel ribs, symbolic of a hand releasing a dove. Alignment with solar angles on September 11. Central skylight illuminates the floor with a beam of light.
Image Credit: Anthony Quintano, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
The Art & Architecture Collection is located on the second floor in the north wing of Norlin Library. The collection houses one of the most comprehensive art library collections in the Mountain West. The Art & Architecture Collection contains approximately 100,000 volumes of reference works, monographs, exhibition catalogues. We subscribe to well over 200 journals and serials.
