5 Essential Books For Architectural Assistants
I have read many architecture books in my time, and there are a few books for architects that I keep at my desktop just in case I need some quick advice. This article will serve as a complete guide for every book you will ever need for practising architects and young architectural assistants alike to survive when practising in a studio.
1 - Architects Pocket Book
This is a commonly recommended book for young architects that is seen as an essential piece of kit. You will find it comes in handy, time and time again, by brilliantly consolidating a lot of information densely packed into a small pocket sized handbook.
If you know nothing about architecture this book is the perfect place to start. If you are just starting in a new architectural studio, with this book you won’t need to constantly ask your co-workers or director questions that they may think ‘they should really know the answer to that’.
It provides information on building units, paper sizes, drawing conventions, industry standards, planning and building regs information, structural and fire information, plus many, many more pieces of essential information that is ideal for architects at all levels.
See also the Building Regulations Pocket Book, Structural Engineer’s Pocket Book and others in the Routledge series as they are an excellent place to get started with a wide scope of the profession.
2 - Barry’s Introduction to Construction
I would not have survived my first year as technical design draughtsman without this book, even to this day I keep this beside my desk in case I need to brush up on my construction knowledge. Even though it is an instruction, it is quite comprehensive in construction information, and provides a solid foundation of information that will give you a deeper understanding of how to best practice, methods and materials for construction.
This book will teach you the crucial building construction information that university will fail to, as Barry goes in depth with each building material that are commonly used, providing the reader with better general knowledge of building construction techniques.
This book may not have all the latest modern building methods that have cropped up in recent years, however it does give the reader everything they need to understand common practises. It’s a vital resource for those who have little to no building construction knowledge.
There is also Barry's Advanced Construction of Building’s which provides further expansion on building construction techniques, however I do find myself referring back to Barry’s Introduction much more, which shows it is a comprehensive piece of kit.
3 - Building Code and Standards
I know, I know…I bet you we’re expecting something a little more fun than this.
As boring as it can often be, it’s very important to not neglect the importance of building regulations and building standards. Without this you could waste valuable time, money and potentially risk building users with poor architecture design.
Here are some of the guides and information tools that are essential for UK architectural design. Excellent knowledge of all of these will make you highly employable for studios, as it means less risk for them, ensuring you know the law and best practices.
Town and Country Planning Act
Building Act 1984
Building Regulations
NHBC Standards
Robust Details
Building Safety Act
4 - Architecture: Form, Space, & Order by Francis D.K. Ching
This book may just be the most influential book of your university days. It provides an essential foundation of knowledge in the function aesthetics of architectural design. This book really does give students the power to illustrate and create forms which provide more than one purpose through the process of design development and design analysis.
This book deals with abstract concepts and illustrates fundamental architecture spatial formation in a way that the reader can find clear and concise. It’s in black and white, mono-colour, no fuss and is very defined with linework.
We highly recommend this book as a guide to understanding how form follows function and how spaces can be manipulated and re-organized for user benefit.
5 - A World History of Architecture
Architectural history is so vast and there are so many time periods it can be quite overwhelming. This book simplifies things as it is organised chronologically and provides a broad overview of the history of architecture, so that you as the reader can gain a better picture of where the origin of architecture styles sits in the timeline of world architecture.
It is brilliantly written and provides plenty of pictures so that you can literally see the evolution of architecture with this book. I wish I had discovered this during my architecture university days, it would have made the history of architecture lectures much more engaging.
