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Architecture & Urban Design

This Library Research Guide is intended as a starting place for UCLA researchers, pointing to resources and strategies for finding information about architecture and urban design topics.

Highlighted Resources!

In 2018, UCLA became a member of the Los Angeles Region Imagery Acquisition Consortium (LARIAC) Program, which provides access to high-resolution aerial imagery of LA County. For mre information, see the Data Science Center's LARIAC page.

ARTstor has released an additional 10,000 images of architectural plans, sections, and related materials selected by the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation from the Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library. This brings the collection total to 20,000 high-quality images! Several other repositories have also released architectural plans in ARTstor, notably Bryn Mawr College. See:

Databases with architectural images as well as other content include:

Image Databases

The following databases are licensed resources available to UCLA users only. Please remember that the Avery Index to Architecture Periodicals is the best database to help you locate specific types of images that accompany articles (elevations, sections, axonometric drawings, plans, site plans, etc.)

Other Images Guides at UCLA

Additional information about locating images is available from the following UCLA Library Guide:

Looking for maps?

Consult the following research guides, web sites and digital image collections to locate maps and cartographic resources:

Other Useful Databases

Southern California Special Collections and Archives

Selected sources for images of Southern California architecture, including repositories of architectural archives.

Also see Images and Cartographic Resources on the Architecture & Urban Design: Los Angeles and Southern California research guide

Selected Regional Collections

The following sources link to regional content outside of Los Angeles and Southern California.

Print Resources

Print indexes help locate reproductions of images in books and periodicals. Examples include:

Searching the UCLA Library Catalog for Illustrated Works

In the UCLA Library Catalog, to limit searches to illustrated books, go to the Advanced Search page, enter a subject search term, then type the keywords 'ill' and/or 'illus' as search terms in: Physical Details.

Subjects used in the library catalog to describe illustrated books often include the terms pictorial works. Examples:

Architecture--Pictorial works
Bridges—Pictorial works

To find representations of particular subjects in art, the library subject headings include in art. Examples:

Architecture in art
Buildings in art