Email: libraries@colorado.edu
If you are not sure what building to research, you may want to start by browsing books, magazines, blogs, or other resources. If there is an architectural style, feature, or specific architect you are interested in, you can search for information on that style, feature, or architect to get ideas of buildings to research. The search tools you will learn about today are ones you can use to explore and select a building.
Once you've selected your building, you might still need to do a bit of research on basic building facts to inform your search strategy. A quick Google search, to visit the building's website or to Wikipedia, can help you get started. Here are some sample buildings, with the kind of building facts you might need for your research. You can use these example buildings during today's class activity.
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
Search the CU Boulder Libraries Catalog:
NA Architecture
SB450.9-467.8 Landscape Architecture
Z679 – Library Architecture
