Primary sources are original artifacts or documents. For architectural research, important primary sources include architectural images or drawings. Other relevant primary sources include letters/correspondence, news (newspaper, radio, television), interviews, audio and video, and more.
Library of architectural images that spans the globe and all time periods, with each module offering a mix of historic and contemporary material.
Access note: Must use VPN to access this database from off campus.
You can use Avery Index to search architecture magazines specifically for articles that include plans, drawings, elevations, axonometric drawings, sketches, maps, etc. Then requests scans of the articles using the Find it at CU button and requesting from Interlibrary Loan. Use the Document Feature check boxes in the advanced search to limit to articles with specific types of illustrations:
Detail Magazine
GA Document
Blueprint Magazine
C3 Korea
GA Houses
If you are looking for plans of a specific building there may be no book about that building in particular. However, it is probably in books about the architect in general, so it will be best to search for the architect. You may have to go to the call number section where all the books on that architect will be and look through different books to find plans of sufficient detail.
Key Buildings from Prehistory to the Present: plans, sections and elevations
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Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century: plans, sections, elevations
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Key Urban Housing of the Twentieth Century: plans, sections, and elevations
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Major U.S. newspapers covering 1764-2016, depending on the paper. Includes New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and dozens more.
An archive generally contains collections of original, historical documents, photographs, media, and other materials from individual people or organizations.
Items within archival collections can include: letters and correspondence; architectural drawings; photographs, slides, and negatives; financial and business records; maps; audiovisual media; published books and periodicals; posters; objects, artifacts, and textiles; original research data; artwork; digital files.
The guide below will introduce you to archives and how to do archival research, including what kinds of archival materials are in the CU Boulder archives and how to use them, as well as how to find and use archival materials beyond the CU Boulder Archives.
Two great places to explore digital archives from around the world include:
The tool below will help you research and visualize the demographics of a location/community over time.
