Building your Architectural Library

It seems we've been told since nearly the beginning of our architectural education of the extremely important concept of building our architectural library. I actually do have a good number of architecture books, but most of them are gifts from aunts and uncles who don't really know what a good book is for an architecture student. Therefore, my architectural library mainly consists of general architectural history books with a handful of Frank Lloyd Wright books and bios sprinkled here and there. It's not that I don't appreciate those books and don't enjoy thumbing through them, it's just that it kind of feels like receiving a subscription of Architectural Digest for your birthday instead of Architectural Record. Inspired by the Barnes and Noble giftcard I found in my wallet and the prospect of returning my second copy of 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School (both had been gifts) for some store credit, I set off in hopes of expanding my architectural library with a book or two more relevant to my studies than the secret life of FLW.

I eventually found the architecture section, and realized I had been quite naive in my hopes of finding something along the lines of Vers une architecture or Delirious New York. There were only about 6 ft worth of architecture books, and even more sad was that these were mixed in with the interior design books. Really, the majority of the books in that section seemed to be about home improvement. After much sifting I eventually settled on two purchases: The Architecture of Happiness and From Bauhaus to Our House. The former is about the philosophy of the importance of our architectural environment on our personal psyche and the latter is a critical satire on modern architecture. Neither is written by a big name in the architecture world, and I seriously doubt either is on the list of recommended books given to us by our freshmen studio profs, but I look forward to reading them nonetheless and hope to gain some unconventional architectural wisdom.