 | The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, 13th Ed. by The American Institute of Architects
Buy used from: $139.95 The AIA Bible of the practice for the construction industry. Their competition is the CSI Manual of Practice (also in this list), which has been closing the gap in the last years. But this is still a necessary reference for the Architect.
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 | The Project Resource Manual: CSI Manual of Practice by The Construction Specifications Institute
Buy new: $241.02 / Used from: $170.00 |
 | Architectural Graphic Standards, 11th Edition by The American Institute of Architects
Buy new: $173.25 / Used from: $172.14 An overblown attempt of aggiornamento of a venerable standard. Sometime around the 10th edition the AGS started to become more and more irrelevant. A shame...
If you want to check out what the rest of the world uses, take a look at the Neufert. That is a classic treated with respect by its heirs.
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 | Design with Nature (Wiley Series in Sustainable Design) by Ian L. McHarg
Buy new: $38.05 / Used from: $36.34 |
 | Designing Places for People: "A Handbook on Human Behavior for Architects, Designers and Facility Managers" by C.M. Deasy
Buy used from: $35.56 |
 | The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch
Buy new: $14.19 / Used from: $5.75 A classic; I even used it as one of the main sources of my Master's dissertation. But I don't see what value it could have for a general examination. However, if you are interested in theory of urbanism, this (and other books by Lynch) are a must read.
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 | A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals by the late Spiro Kostof
Buy new: $67.46 / Used from: $15.52 A mediocre over-rated oeuvre.
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 | A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series) by Christopher Alexander
Buy new: $40.95 / Used from: $31.50 A great book; a somewhat proprietary approach to architectural and urban design, it was really inspiring for me when I discovered it in 1988. But I really don't understand what it's got to do in a list of basic references.
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 | Modern Architecture: A Critical History (World of Art) by Kenneth Frampton
Buy used from: $0.36 A standard middle-of-the-road account of the history of modern architecture.
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 | The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community by Peter Katz
Buy new: $37.77 / Used from: $19.93 |
 | Programming for Design: From Theory to Practice by Edith Cherry
Buy new: $56.50 / Used from: $59.00 |
 | Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture. ( Twentieth Edition )
Buy new: $160.00 / Used from: $125.00 This is a classic. I used to have the 1923 edition. The last edition I saw was a facsimile - not very good looking.
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 | Design of Cities: Revised Edition (Penguin Books) by Edmund N. Bacon
Buy new: $29.70 / Used from: $6.50 |
 | 2006 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code
Buy used from: $93.05 If you practice in the US, you know this one.
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 | 2006 International Building Code - Softcover Version: Softcover Version (International Building Code) by International Code Council
Buy new: $94.50 / Used from: $70.00 What can you say? At least the two main USA code organizations could get together and produce a single model code.
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 | Building Codes Illustrated: A Guide to Understanding the 2006 International Building Code by Francis D. Ching
Buy used from: $29.40 |
 | Building Construction Illustrated by Francis D. K. Ching
Buy used from: $5.00 |
 | Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods by Edward Allen
Buy used from: $6.49 |
| Building Design and Construction Handbook by Jonathan T. Ricketts
Buy used from: $23.49 |
 | The Architect's Studio Companion: Rules of Thumb for Preliminary Design by Edward Allen
Buy new: $63.56 / Used from: $54.00 |
 | Site Planning - 3rd Edition by Kevin Lynch
Buy new: $48.15 / Used from: $29.99 |
 | Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape Architecture (Belknap Press) by Norman T. Newton
Buy new: $68.20 / Used from: $9.45 |
 | Landscape Planning: Environmental Applications by William M. Marsh
Buy new: $71.47 / Used from: $64.60 |
 | Simplified Site Design (Parker/Ambrose Series of Simplified Design Guides) by James Ambrose
Buy new: $99.00 / Used from: $49.80 |
 | Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles, and Practice by Norman Tyler
Buy used from: $5.11 |
 | Interior Graphic Standards
Buy new: $78.21 / Used from: $49.95 |
 | Sun, Wind & Light: Architectural Design Strategies, 2nd Edition by G. Z. Brown
Buy new: $56.78 / Used from: $49.99 |
 | Time-Saver Standards for Building Materials & Systems: Design Criteria and Selection Data by Donald Watson
Buy used from: $86.43 |
 | Time-Saver Standards for Building Types by Joseph De Chiara
Buy used from: $649.98 |
 | Time-Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planning, 2nd Edition by Joseph DeChiara
Buy new: $113.40 / Used from: $90.00 |
 | The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design by Sandra F. Mendler
Buy new: $60.32 / Used from: $46.99 |
| Concepts In Architectural Lighting by M. David Egan
Buy used from: $1.99 |
 | Understanding Infrastructure: Guide for Architects and Planners by George Rainer
Buy new: $150.00 / Used from: $61.24 |
 | Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification by Ross Spiegel
Buy new: $67.42 / Used from: $59.99 |
 | Simplified Design of Wood Structures (Parker/Ambrose Series of Simplified Design Guides) by Harry Parker
Buy new: $69.13 / Used from: $42.94 |
 | Simplified Mechanics and Strength of Materials, 5th Edition by Harry Parker
Buy used from: $22.99 |
 | AISC Manual of Steel Construction: Allowable Stress Design, 9th Edition by Books
Buy used from: $152.00 |
 | Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders by James Ambrose
Buy new: $77.28 / Used from: $66.33 |
 | Understanding Structures by Fuller Moore
Buy new: $138.18 / Used from: $80.00 |
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