Architecture Library — Index
Architecture — the art and science of building — across its history, theory, types, technology, and the design of the city. The art that is also engineering and the engineering that is also art: sister to
VisualArts/,Music/,Literature/,Film/, andPerformingArts/in the Arts group, and the disciplinary neighbour ofEngineering-and-Robotics/Engineering/(structures, materials) andSociety/(urban sociology, the economics of land).
- Status: Tier 1 complete — 9 notes (four history, three theory/practice/technology, world traditions, urban design), authored 2026-06-03.
- Conventions: named buildings, architects, treatises, and dates throughout; building and book titles in italic; technical values in prose-with-units (math in KaTeX where needed); no emojis.
Tier 1 — History
| Topic | File | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Antiquity to Gothic | architecture-history-antiquity-to-gothic | Egypt & Greece & Rome, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic; the arch, vault, dome |
| Renaissance to the 19th century | architecture-history-renaissance-to-nineteenth-century | Brunelleschi & Palladio, Baroque, Neoclassicism, the revivals, iron & glass |
| Modern architecture | modern-architecture | the Bauhaus, Le Corbusier, Mies, the International Style, Brutalism |
| Contemporary architecture | contemporary-architecture | postmodernism, high-tech, deconstructivism, the digital turn, sustainability |
Tier 1 — Theory, practice, and technology
| Topic | File | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural theory & criticism | architectural-theory-and-criticism | Vitruvius’s triad, the treatise tradition, Ruskin, the modern manifesto, the postmodern turn |
| Building types & the design process | building-types-and-design | typology (dwelling, sacred, civic, cultural, commercial), the design phases, representation |
| Architectural technology & structures | architectural-technology-and-structures | how structures work, the structural systems, materials, the envelope, services, construction |
Tier 1 — The world and the city
| Topic | File | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| World architecture traditions | world-architecture-traditions | Islamic, South Asian, East Asian, Pre-Columbian, African, the vernacular |
| Urban design & the built environment | urban-design-and-the-built-environment | the form of the city, modern planning & its failure, Jacobs & Lynch, the contemporary city, landscape |
Adjacent libraries
- VisualArts — the period parallels (Renaissance, Baroque, Modern) and architecture-as-art
- mechanics-of-materials · materials-steel — the structural engineering and materials beneath the building
- urban-and-environmental-sociology — the social life of the city and the built environment
- ClimateScience — the carbon and energy stakes of the built environment, sustainable design
- History — the historical context of each architectural period
- Walkthroughs — the building-scale engineering design walkthroughs (district energy, data-center cooling, etc.)