Reading list for candidates
Please see below for a selection of reading to help you start thinking about architecture. Prices shown may have changed. Many can be bought second hand from sites like wob. Some of these books may be obtainable in local libraries. If you live near an Architecture School with a library or the RIBA Library in London you should be able to go in and look at the books there for free. Prices may vary from the list here.
We recommend you read at least one of the following before coming to interview:
- Moore, R. (2013), Why webuild,Picador, £12.99
- Pallasmaa, J. (2005), The Eyes of the Skin, Wiley, £24.99. First published 1996
- Samuel, F. (2019), Why Architects Matter, Routledge, £36.21
- Sharr, A. (2018), Modern Architecture: A Very Short Introduction, Thames and Hudson £8.99
- Till, J. (2009), Architecture Depends, MIT, £12.85
You also might also find some of the following books relevant to your interests.
Introductionstomodernarchitecture
- Colquhoun, A. (2002), Modern Architecture, Oxford, £14.99
- Hernandez, F. (2010), BeyondModernistMasters:ContemporaryarchitectureinLatin America, Birkhäuser, £70
Sustainability
- Berners-Lee, M. (2021), ThereIsNoPlanetB:AHandbookfortheMakeorBreakYears, CUP,£9.95
- Brand, S.(1994), Howbuildingslearn:Whathappensafterthey’rebuilt,Viking, £24
- Monbiot, G. (2023), Regenesis, Penguin, £7.99
- Hagan, S. (2015), EcologicalUrbanism:TheNatureOfTheCity,Routledge £51.99
- Stephenson, F. (2019), Housing Fit for Purpose, £32.99
Social Justice and community
- Akala (2019), Natives:Race and Class in the Ruins of the Empire, Two Roads, £6.49
- Blokland, T. (2017), Communityasurban practice, Polity Press, £14.66
- Boys, J. (2014), Doing Disability Differently, Routledge, £37.59
- Escobar, A. (2018). Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. Duke University Press. £21.99
- Fields, D. W. (2015). Architecture in Black: Theory, Space and Appearance. Bloomsbury Publishing,.
- Schneider, T., Nishat, A. and Till, J. (2011), Spatialagency:otherwaysofdoing architecture, Routledge £43.99 Alternatively see https://www.spatialagency.net/
Spatial Justice & nature
- Cowen, R. (2016), Common Ground, Windmill £10.11
- Minton, A. (2009), GroundControl:Fearandhappinessinthe twenty-first-century city, Penguin, £3.32
- Shrubsole, G. (2020), Who Owns Britain? William Collins, £9.99
- Hayes, N. (2022), The Trespasser’s Companion, £12.46
- Cramer, D., The NarrowEdge, Yale £15.32
- Tree, I., Wilding:ThereturnofnaturetoaBritish farm, Picador, £8.19
Cities
- Steel, C.(2013), HungryCity,Vintage, £12.99
- Gehl, J. & B. Svarre (2103), How to Study Public Life, Island Press£25.18.
- Tonkiss, F. (2013), CitiesbyDesign:theSocialLifeofUrbanForm, Polity Press,£15.65
- Mc Guirk J. (2015), RadicalCities:AcrossLatinAmericainsearchofaNew Architecture, Verso, £15.28
- Engel, J. et al (2022), Sacred Civics: Building Seven Generation Cities, Routledge. Free online at https://www.routledge.com/Sacred-Civics-Building-Seven-Generation-Cities/Engle-Agyeman-Chung-Tiam-Fook/p/book/9781032059112
- Simone A. and Pieterse E. (2017), NewUrbanWorlds: Inhabiting Dissonant Times, Polity, £18.99
Economics
- Mazzucato, M (2021), Mission Economy, Allen Lane, £7.99
- Raworth, K. (2018), Doughnut Economics, Penguin, £10.99
Practice
- Jollife, E. & Crosby, P. (2023), Architect: The Evolving Story of a Profession £32.00
- Ratti, C. (2015), Open Source Architecture, Thames and Hudson £9.29
- Samuel, F. (2023), Housing for Hope and Wellbeing, Routledge, £15
Drawingandmakingarchitecture
- Coates, N (2012).,NarrativeArchitecture,Wiley, £32.99
- Dernie, D.(2016), MaterialImaginationin Architecture, Routledge, £37.99
- Farrelly, L. (2012), The Fundamentals of Architecture, AVA, £13.51
- Francis Kéré (2021), Momentum of Light, Lars Muller, £51
- Unwin, S. (2014), Analysing Architecture, Routledge, £22.94
- Wigglesworth, S. (2011), Around and About Stock Orchard Street, £34.99
Fiction classics for inspiration
- Calvino, I. (1997), Invisible Cities, Vintage. Originally published in 1972. £6.99
- Perec, G. (2008), Species of Spaces and Other Pieces, Penguin, £10.99. Originally published in 1974.
Some of these websites may be of interest:
https://www.aisforarchitecture.org/
https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Home
https://www.thenatureofcities.com
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
https://www.bl.uk/projects/national-life-stories-architects-lives