LibGuides: History of Art and Architecture Resources: Architectural Plans

Finding Plans

Unfortunately, there is no one place to go to when looking for architectural plans. This page aims to show you some of the most likely places to try.

Please note: when making a model for an architectural history class, you do not need to know the exact dimensions of the building. What you need to do is get the proportions correct. This will require your finding, at a minimum, a floor plan and an elevation. Using reputable sources is also of the greatest importance.

If none of the options listed here helps, please contact your librarian. I am happy to help you locate a source for these sometimes difficult to find works.

Plan of St Gall Abbey. Ink on velleum, 816-817. St Gall Collection. Luna Insight.

Digital Resources

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
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Recently Artstor has been adding plans of 20th century architecture, supplementing some material from earlier eras. It is very much a hit or miss proposition, but it is recommended as a first stop.
PLEASE NOTE: In order to download images, you must register with Artstor by using your Brown email address and creating a password: when the database opens, click on "Artstor Digital Library," then "Register."
ARTstor is a digital library of close to two million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, social sciences, and history of science with a set of tools to view,-present, and manage images.
Luna Insight This link opens in a new window
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Luna includes plans of many well known buildings, scanned from books by the Brown Library, and should be your second stop for searching.
PLEASE NOTE: To access Luna from off campus, you must first log into the VPN. See the link below.
Web browser LUNA allows viewing and exporting of images, including the contents of the Brown University Instructional Image Collection. LUNA also provides free access to the Luna Commons, image resources contributed by other institutional users of this software.
This database DOES NOT work with EZProxy. Please download the SSL-VPN client to your computer from software.brown.edu to access this resource from off-campus.

Download VPN to access Luna
In order to access Luna Insight from off-campus, you must first log into the VPN. The software may be downloaded on this CIS page. If you are on campus, the VPN is not necessary.
Modern Architecture: A Visual Lexicon
A rather random assortment of buildings, but it sometimes has plans not found elsewhere online.
Archnet
An online community for architects and scholars with a special focus on the Islamic world, based at MIT, features a virtual library of digitized books, journals, reference tools, as well as thousands of images of architecture in the Islamic world.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals This link opens in a new window
This database is also a good place to find information about your buildings. To find plans, click on Advanced Search. Type your building name in the search box, then scroll down to the Physical Description box. Choose one of the options. I recommend trying Elevations or Sections first. When you get your search results, click on the title of an article to see the full record. It will tell you what kinds of illustrations are included. If you don't see a full text link, try the Findit! button to see if we have it through another source.
1930-present; (with selected coverage back to late 19th century) the Avery Index treats architecture and related subjects, such as city planning, historic preservation, and interior design.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Try including words like "elevation" and "section" in your search and you may have some luck here.
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research. Google Scholar includes much of Brown's library materials as well. Look for the "FindIt@Brown" button.

Contemporary buildings: the architectural firm's website might have plans. If not, and you can't find the plans elsewhere, it may be worth your while to try writing to the office.

Google Advanced Image Search
The Google Advanced Image Search form allows you to carry out a much more focused search.

Print and Ebook Resources

Note: Avery Index, listed in the previous box, may lead you to print only journals in the Brown Library collection. Here are some additional print and ebook resources:

Most books on architects and architecture will include building plans. For very well known buildings, try a search in:

BruKnow (Library search)
BruKnow is the Library's platform for searching books, ebooks, databases, articles, multimedia, and special collections.

Plans for newer buildings or renovations may be found here:

Computer Aided Design Office
Computer Aided Design (CAD) Office is responsible for creating and maintaining accurate information for all of Brown University's facilities....The CAD staff supports the University by producing building floor plans and campus maps, creating presentation graphics.

Older building plans are kept in:

Brown University Archives
University Archives contains materials that document all aspects of the history of Brown University.

Don't forget to also check the catalogs of:

Rhode Island School of Design Library
You may check out books with a Brown ID and may use their electronic resources when visiting their library.
WorldCat
Books, journals, sound recordings, videos and manuscripts collected and catalogued by your library and libraries around the world. WorldCat does not include individual articles, stories in journals, magazines, newspapers, or book chapters.

The books below may also be useful:

Key Buildings from Prehistory to the Present
Features plans for around 150 of the most significant buildings in the history of world architecture, from the pyramids and the Parthenon to some of the most important works by recent architects. This book is also available in print.
Key Buildings of the 20th Century
Includes plans for important designs from Charles Rennie Mackintosh to MVRDV. Note: the record for this book in Worldcat lists all of the buildings.
Key Contemporary Buildings
Collection of plans for more than one hundred 21st century buildings, listed in the online table of contents.
How Drawings Work: A User-Friendly Theory
Discusses the history and meaning of architectural drawings.
Understanding Architectural Drawings: A Guide for Non-Architects
Book explains how to read technical drawings and plans.
Understanding Architectural Drawings and Historical Visual Sources
Explains architectural drawings, topographical views, mapping conventions, and more.

Model-making resources

Books on model-making
This list of subject headings leads to books on the subject of model-making, both for physical and digital models.