Research Guides @ Fordham: Architecture: Researching Buildings

Online Resources / Buildings research...

Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD)
PCAD contains information regarding the buildings and designers of California, Oregon, and Washington. Related professionals such as landscape architects, interior designer, developers, and building contractors and their work are also included. Building records contain information about their creators (when possible) and includes historical and geographic information in addition to images when available. All citations included in building records are linked.
Chicago Landmark
Search Chicago's Architecturally and Historically Significant Buildings, inventoried as part of the Chicago Historic Resources Survey.
CTBUH Tall Building Database - Skyscraper Project
The CTBUH Tall Building Database contains information on 10,000+ buildings – including height information, number of floors, function, structural material, location, professions involved, building images etc.
Google Maps - Indoor Maps
View and navigate floor plans of several commercial locations such as airports, department stores, malls, and more within Google Maps. Indoor Maps is only available in selected locations. Check availability at: Indoor Maps Availability
Iconic Houses Network
Architecturally significant homes from the 20th century which are open to the public as house museums.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
The collections document achievements in architecture, engineering, and landscape design in the United States and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types, engineering technologies, and landscapes. Begun in 1933 the HABS/HAER/HALS collections now include more than 556,900 measured drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories for more than 38,600 historic structures and sites dating from Pre-Columbian times to the twentieth century.
National Register of Historic Places
The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation.

Oxford Art Online
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Oxford Art Online enables access and cross-search functionality to Grove and Oxford reference content in one location. Access to Grove Art Online, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Includes image partnerships with ARTstor, the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Images for College Teaching, Art Resource, Artists Rights Society, and numerous international art galleries and artists.

Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Database
The American Architects and Buildings database contains more than 263,896 projects and buildings, 23,789 architects, engineers and contractors, and over 126,022 images. This database focuses on the work of Penssylvania based architects but also contains a considerable collection of information on California buildings.
SAH Archipedia
An authoritative online encyclopedia of the built world published by the Society of Architectural Historians and the University of Virginia Press. Contains histories, photographs, and maps for more than 8,500 structures and places.
SkyscraperPage Global Cities & Buildings Database
A resource for skyscraper and urbanism enthusiasts, featuring skyscraper diagram illustrations, a world-wide buildings database, and skyscraper-themed discussion forums.

Trade Catalogues and the American Home
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Consult the "Construction and Real Estate" Documents section for catalogues from several companies dealing in prefab houses, such as The Aladdin Company, as well as catalogues selling individual elements of houses, such as ceilings, radiators and bathroom furniture.

NYC Landmark Preservation Commission
The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the largest municipal preservation agency in the nation. It is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status, and regulating them after designation.
NYC Iconic buildings mapped...
In addition to NYC geographic location of iconic buildings found in 13 American cities with facts of interest about each structure.
Great Buildings and Structures in Architecture
Presented by Thought Co. Facts about important world buildings with links to information about theory, history and famous architects... plus interesting looks at cities, styles and designers.

When searching for "buildings"

Most architecture books are not dedicated to a single building. The building you are researching may be discussed in books about the building's:

architect
time period
location such as city or country
building type

Search the Fordham Library Catalog in order to locate books. Searching Tips:

If you know the name of the architect or firm that designed the building, use keyword searching in the Library Catalog for books under these names. Once you have the book in hand, refer to its index or table of contents to determine whether or not your building is mentioned.
If the architect or firm is unknown, try searching under time period, style, place, or building type (i.e.: Architecture -- Romanesque)

To locate articles on your building, you will need to search an indexthat specializes in architectural subjects. The Avery Index is the most comprehensive index of this kind.

TIP: Also try searching Google Books for the name of your building, then search the Fordham Library Catalog for the titles of the books retrieved.