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Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library
To access ALL Databases & Electronic Resources that the University Libraries offer, please go to the Databases by Title (A-Z) list.
for books in the Penn State collection
The CAT - PSU's Libraries Web Catalog
-- The online catalog of materials owned by Penn State Libraries. All formats (books, journals, audiovisuals, maps, recordings, etc.) are included. Circulation status for individual items also provided.
for journal articles & quick reference
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
-- Guide to the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (html format)
-- Guide to the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (pdf format - 205 kb)
-- References to articles on architecture and design, archaeology, city planning, interior design, historic preservation, and landscape architecture.
Bibliography of the History of Art
-- The Bibliography of the History of Art indexes and abstracts art-related books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and articles from 2500 periodicals as well as exhibition and dealer's catalogs.
Oxford Art Online
-- Encyclopedic coverage of the history of the visual arts in all media: architecture, ceramics, decorative arts, design, drawing, sculpture, and others.
-- Provides online access to the following reference titles:
Oxford Reference Online
-- Oxford Reference Online consists of a wealth of facts, figures, definitions, and translations found in dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. Items of particular interest are their basic Encyclopedia; their selection of Art & Architecture Reference Titles; their Bilingual Dictionaries, including both Italian-English and Latin-English; and Classical Civilization Reference Titles.
Digital Collections of Images at Penn State
-- This database provides access to digital images from Penn State’s collections, including the Art History Department Visual Resource Selections and the Worldwide Building and Landscape Pictures.
Rome in Detail: A Guide for the Expert Traveler (book)
Gatti, Claudio
-- This guide’s antique-style maps are lovely to look at, although a bit harder to use than others. It does, however, offer much more information about Rome’s neighborhoods and monuments than many others, and is relatively recent.
Rome: DK Eyewitness Travel Series (book)
Ercoli, Olivia
-- This guide is the inverse of the Rizzoli: DK is known for its strong, legible graphics, which this guide provides in the form of great maps and images. The text is brief, however, but still useful.
The Buildings of Europe: Rome (book)
Woodward, Christopher
-- Organizes Rome’s major buildings into historical periods, from antiquity to 1990s.
The Architecture of Rome: An Architectural History in 400 Individual Presentations (book)
Grundmann, Stefan
-- Also organized chronologically, with longer, more thorough entries for each building.
Architect’s Guide to Rome (book)
Salvadori, Renzo
-- Brief and excellent, with photos of Rome that only an architect would take.
Guide of Modern Rome : Architecture 1870-2000 (book)
De Guttry, Irene
-- Focusing on Rome's often neglected modern and contemporary architecture, including those in the Roman suburbs. NOTE: This guide is organized by building types (office buildings, schools, etc.) rather than the usual organization by location or style.
Architecture, from Prehistory to Postmodernity (book)
Trachtenberg, Marvin
-- Your basic, huge architectural history textbook.
A History of Architecture (book)
Fletcher, Sir Banister and others
-- Another massive survey of architecture that contains black & white line drawings and photos that reproduce quite nicely.
An Atlas of Rome: The Form of the City on a 1:1000 Scale Photomap and Line Map (book, map)
Novelli, Italo ed.
-- The Rome Atlas also has excellent introductory essays about the history of Rome maps from antiquity to the present.
Édifices de Rome Moderne... (book)
Letarouilly, Paul Marie
-- Letarouilly presents engraved plans and views of Rome’s most famous “modern” buildings, which means anything since Christianity was legalized. However, many of the drawings have been “perfected”, such as crooked medieval church plans are drawn to look perfectly straight, etc., so cross-check drawings with other sources.
Letarouilly on Renaissance Rome: the Student’s Edition of Paul Letarouilly’s Edifices de Rome Moderne... (book)
Letarouilly, Paul Marie
-- A useful, concise introduction to what Letarouilly’s works are about.
The Vatican and Saint Peter's Basilica of Rome (book)
Letarouilly, Paul Marie
-- Letarouilly’s documentation of the Vatican & Saint Peter's.
Rome 1748: the Pianta grande di Roma of Giambattista Nolli in facsimile; with an introductory essay by Allan Ceen (book, map)
Nolli, Giambattista
-- The mother of all Rome maps. Enough said. See also The Interactive Nolli Map of Rome Website, hosted by the University of Oregon.
Ruins of Ancient Rome: the Drawings of French Architects who won the Prix de Rome, 1786-1924 (book)
Cassanelli, Roberto
-- These are the studies of Roman monuments carried out by French Architects in Rome at the French Academy, which served as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts’ visual “database” back in Paris. The projects are stunning, but like Letarouilly, are not always accurate reconstructions of the buildings they present, so verify.
Forma Urbis Romae (book, map)
Lanciani, Rodolfo
-- Set of maps showing the excavations conducted by Lanciani, the head archaeologist for the city of Rome, first published from 1893-1901. These drawings document exactly where he excavated and what was found, practically stone by stone, with line drawings identifying ancient remains, in black, in relation to “modern” streets and buildings, shown in red, with blue lines representing planned changes from his day. In addition, the Danish website: Lanciani: Forma Urbis Romae which presents Lanciani’s maps online.
The Architecture of the Roman Empire (book)
MacDonald, William Lloyd
-- The standard introduction to Ancient Roman architecture.
Architecture in Italy, 1400-1500 (book)
Heydenreich, Ludwig Heinrich
Architecture in Italy 1500-1600 (book)
Lotz, Wolfgang
-- Both of these books from the Pelican series (originally one volume) provide excellent introductions to Renaissance-era architecture in Rome.
The Architecture of Modern Italy, vol 1: The Challenge of Tradition, 1750-1900 (book)
The Architecture of Modern Italy, vol 2: Visions of Utopia, 1900-Present (book)
The Architecture of Modern Italy (electronic resource)
Kirk, Terry
-- Kirk provides the first coherent study of Italian architecture from Neoclassicism to the present in any language. The first volume includes concise, useful discussions of Nolli, Piranesi, and the early architecture of the newly unified Italian Kingdom. The second volume focuses on Rome's often neglected modern and contemporary architecture.
Index to Italian Architecture: A Guide to Key Monuments and Reproduction Sources (book)
Teague, Edward H.
-- This is not a book about Italian architecture, but a book that indexes other books that do discuss Italian architecture, and can help determine which references are relevent. The author has analyzed an extensive list of books (in code at the front), then charted certain types of information, like which books discuss any one particular building. In the “Site Index” chapter – look under “Rome”.
Rome: an Oxford Archaeological Guide to Rome (book)
Claridge, Amanda
-- Excellent starting point for recent information about Rome’s ancient monuments.
This guide created by:
Denise R. Costanzo - 2006
updated: T. AumAn - September 2008
