Top Architecture books curated by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we have connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favouriteArchitecture books – and here are the answers.

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Top Architecture books recommended by experts
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Fundamentals of Architecture

Understanding the concepts of Architecture starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Toward an Architecture

Toward an Architecture

Toward an Architecture tries to open up the field to its outside in order to open up the walls of traditional buildings. Indeed, opening the eyes of the architect and opening the eyes of the building constitute a single gesture that liberates an architecture, polemically dissolving the line betw…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The works

The works

the parts of a machine, especially those that move: If you take the back off this clock, you can see its/the works.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

In Praise of Shadows

In Praise of Shadows

“In Praise of Shadows” (In-ei Raison) is a long essay published in 1934, in which Tanizaki sums up what he feels Japan has lost in becoming modern. In brief, it is his view that the traditional Japanese arts thrived in the shade, and that the glaring light of the Twentieth Century is destroying …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

S,M,L,XL

S,M,L,XL

S,M,L,XL presents a selection of the remarkable visionary design work produced by the Dutch firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.) and its acclaimed founder, Rem Koolhaas, in its first twenty years, along with a variety of insightful, often poetic writings.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Women Who Changed Architecture

The Women Who Changed Architecture

Marion Mahony Griffin passed the architectural licensure exam in 1898 and created exquisite drawings that buoyed the reputation of Frank Lloyd Wright. Her story is one of the many told in The Women Who Changed Architecture, which sets the record straight on the transformative impact women have m…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Modern Architecture : A Critical History 5th ed

Modern Architecture : A Critical History 5th ed

For this extensively revised and updated fifth edition of Modern Architecture, Frampton added new chapters exploring the ongoing modernist tradition in architecture while also examining the varied responses to the urgent need to build more sustainably and create structures that will withstand ch…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional Architecture Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Architecture, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style

Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style

Architectural Digest’s editors have delved into the archives and culled years of rich material covering a variety of subjects. Ranging freely between present and past, the book features the personal spaces of dozens of private celebrities like Barack and Michelle Obama, David Bowie, Truman Capot…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The eyes of the skin

The eyes of the skin

The Eyes of the Skin has become a classic of architectural theory and consists of two extended essays. The first surveys the historical development of the ocular-centric paradigm in western culture since the Greeks, and its impact on the experience of the world and the nature of architecture.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Yes is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution

Yes is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution

Yes is Moreis the easily accessible but unremittingly radical manifesto of Copenhagen-based architectural practice Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG. Unlike a typical architectural monograph, this book uses the comic book format to express its groundbreaking agenda for contemporary architecture.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Little Corner: Coloring Book for Adults and Teens, Super Cute Designs of Cozy, Hygge Spaces for Relaxation (Cozy Spaces Coloring)

Little Corner: Coloring Book for Adults and Teens, Super Cute Designs of Cozy, Hygge Spaces for Relaxation (Cozy Spaces Coloring)

If you enjoy decorating your own cozy room, this Little Corner Coloring Book is for you.
This book features 40 illustrations of places with super cute decor, such as a fully equipped kitchen, a dreamy bedroom, a wooden fireplace, and many more!
It's an ideal present for yourself, your fami…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Engineering in Plain Sight: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment

Engineering in Plain Sight: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment

Engineering in Plain Sight extends the field guide genre from natural phenomena to human-made structures, making them approachable and understandable to non-engineers. It transforms readers' perspectives of the built environment, converting the act of looking at infrastructure from a mundane ine…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Architecture, Form, Space, & Order

Architecture, Form, Space, & Order

Architecture: Form, Space, and Order distills complex concepts of design into a clear focus and brings difficult abstractions to life. The book explains form and space in relation to light, view, openings, and enclosures and explores the organization of space, and the elements and relationships …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Specializations and Deeper Architecture Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. Architecture is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

World Architecture: The Masterworks

World Architecture: The Masterworks

More than 350 color photographs celebrate the finest buildings from over two thousand years of civilization: Hagia Sophia, the Gothic cathedrals of Europe, Islamic masterworks at Isfahan, the Taj Mahal, the Palace of Westminster, Gehry's iconic Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and much more.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

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