25 Books Every Architect and Architecture Lover Should Read

Whether you’re an architect, architecture student, or just a big fan of all things design, books are some of the best ways to expand your knowledge of the built environment and “learn from the greats.” That’s why we have compiled 25 of our favorite books for architects and architecture lovers.

Many of these books are popular pieces about architecture theory that seriously influenced the profession and represent the manifestos of specific architectural movements—think Venturi, Scott Brown, and Izenour’s Learning from Las Vegas and its relationship to the Postmodern movement. We also included great resource books that show how architectural drawings can truly be works of art. If you love flipping through beautifully detailed drawings, you’ll love Manual of Section or even A Visual Dictionary to Architecture.

Plus, if you’re looking for a gift for an architecture lover in your life, they might be missing an architectural classic that would complete their library. In this case, we think famous titles like the revolutionary Le Corbusier’s Towards a New Architecture or Rem Koolhaas’ Delirious New York are some great choices.

Scroll down for a taste of our favorite architecture books to add to your collection, and be sure to check out My Modern Met’s Bookshop and our architecture collection for even more great titles.

Keep scrolling to find 25 great books about architecture.

 

A Visual Dictionary of Architecture

 

The Architecture of Community

 

The Architecture of Happiness

 

The Architecture of the City

 

Black: Architecture in Monochrome

 

Cities for People

 

Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture

 

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

 

Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan

 

Design Like You Give a Damn [2]: Building Change from the Ground Up

 

The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses

 

Experiencing Architecture

 

The Four Books on Architecture

 

The Future of Architecture in 100 Buildings

 

In Praise of Shadows

 

Jutaku: Japanese Houses

 

Learning from Las Vegas

 

Lo—TEK. Design by Radical Indigenism

 

Manual of Section

 

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

 

The Poetics of Space

 

The Ten Books on Architecture

 

Towards a New Architecture

 

The Works: Anatomy of a City

 

Yes Is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution

 

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