Recomended Reading

Curious about architecture and design? Below are some recommended books and articles for general readers, no architecture degree or license required! Consider getting them from your local bookstore or library. If you’re an AIA member, you can access some of these titles in AIA Ohio’s Libby Library.

Articles & Podcasts

Since 2020, AIA Cincinnati members have shared their expertise through the Architecture Matters series with Soapbox.
O. Henry’s short story The Last Leaf (published in 1905) is a fictional example of biophilia.
99% Invisible Podcast

Books about Architecture

Marwa Al-Sabouni, The Battle for Home: Memoir of a Syrian Architect
Emily Anthes, The Great Indoors
Erica Bauermeister, House Lessons: Renovating a Life, A Memoir
Bill Bryson, At Home: A Short History of Private Life
Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness
Paul Goldberger, Why Architecture Matters
Sarah Williams Goldhagen, Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives
Ada Louise Huxtable, Goodbye History, Hello Hamburger: An Anthology of Architectural Delights and Disasters
Tracy Kidder, House
Kurt Kohlstedt and Roman Mars, The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
Alexandra Lange, The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids
Diana Lind, Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing
Michael Pollan, A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams
Witold Rybczynski, Home: The Short History of an Idea
Witold Rybczynski, Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture
Witold Rybczynski, The Most Beautiful House in the World
The School of Life, What Adults Don’t Know About Architecture
David Williams, Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology

Books about Architects

Victoria Kastner, Julia Morgan: An Intimate Portrait of the Trailblazing Architect
Anna M. Lewis, Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers
Kelly Hayes McAlonie, Louise Blanchard Bethune: Every Woman Her Own Architect

Books about Urban Design

Sam Anderson, Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding… Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis
Sara C. Bronin, Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World
Mick Cornett with Jayson White, The Next American City: The Big Promise of Our Midsize Metros
Henry Grabar, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World How Parking Explains the World
Wade Graham, Dream Cities: Seven Urban Ideas That Shape the World
Alexandra Horowitz, On Looking: A Walker's Guide to the Art of Observation
Peter Kageyama, For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places
Alex Kotlowitz, Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago
Joel Kotkin, The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us
Charles Montgomery, Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
Witold Rybczynski, Last Harvest: From Cornfield to New Town