Start your research with our collection of books, lectures and essays available onsite in the Reading Rooms and some out of copyright publications, accessible digitally via Trove.

• The British Carpenter: or, A Treatise on Carpentry. Containing the Most Concise and Authentick Rules of that Art, in a more Useful and Extensive Method than has been Made Publick, Francis Price, 1753
• The Book of the Modern House: A Panoramic Survey of Contemporary Domestic Design, Patrick Abercrombie, 1934
• Camps and Cottages: How to Build Them. With Plans and Diagrams by the Author, Charles Danville White, 1948
• Architecture du Bonheur: L’Urbanisme est une clef, Le Corbusier, 1955
• 300 Home Plans: The Biggest Range of Australia’s Most Popular Home Plans, Page Publications, 1965
• Gregory’s 200 Home Plan Ideas, Beryl Guertner, 1965
• Palazzi di Roma, Pietro Ferrerio & Giovan Battista Falda, 1968, a facsimile of seventeenth-century architects, Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi and Giovanni Battista Falda’s 1655 two-volume work, Palazzie di Roma de piv celebri architetti
• Post-war Planning in the Capital Cities of the Mainland States, Peter Harrison, 1972
• Cooler Houses in a Warm Climate: A South West African Experiment, TW Scott, 1973
• Vladimir, Bogoliubovo, Suzdal, Iurev-Polskoi: Sputnik Po Drevnim Gorodam Valdimirskoi Szemli, N Voronin, 1974, illustrated analysis of church architecture in Russia
• Andrea Palladio, Pearl Sanders, (trans.), 1975, an illustrated translation of the works of Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio.
• Tohoku No Minka Tanbo Nisshi, Tsuyoshi Ogura, 1976
• Wohnbereiche, Wohnquartiere: Stadt, Vorort, Umland, Harald Deilmann, Gerhard Bickenbach & Herbert Pfeiffer, 1977
• A Manual of Architectural History Sources in Australia, David Saunders, (ed.), 1981
• Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture: A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place, Romaldo Giurgola, 1982
• Building Conservation in Australia, Peter Freeman, Eric Martin & John Dean, 1985
• Regionalisme Dalam Arsitektur Indonesia: Sebuah Harapan, Ra Wondoamiseno, 1991
• Canberra 1912: Plans and Planners of the Australian Capital Competition, John W Reps, 1994, a comprehensive history of the design competition and its aftermath for Australia’s Federal Capital, beautifully illustrated with maps, plans and photographs.
• Qing dai jiang zuo ze li, zhu bian Wang Shixiang - 清代匠作則例 / 主編王世襄, 2000, reprint of two handwritten manuscripts on architecture, architectural woodwork and carpentry in the collections of Beijing da xue tu shu guan and Zhongguo wen wu yan jiu su.
• Best Contemporary Country Houses, Gary Takle, 2011
• Cities for People and Nature, K Parris, B Barrett, H Stanley & J Hurley, 2020
• Living Little: Simplicity and Style in a Small Space, Hannah Jenkins, 2020
• Future Homes: Sustainable Innovative Designs, Avi Friedman with Charles Gregoire, 2022
• Reclaimed: New Homes from Old Materials, Penny Craswell, 2022 

We have several magazines and journals available onsite and online via Trove or our eResources portal. Some eResources are accessible from home with a Library login.

• Architect (1967-1996), Journal of the Victorian Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
• Architecture Australia (1976-), Official journal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
• Master Builder’s Home Plans (1987-1994), Journal series from the Queensland Master Builder’s Association.
• Outdoor Design and Living (2000-2019), For outdoor living, design and products supported by the Landscape Contractors Association of NSW.
• Western Australian Gardens Annual (1997-2000), Homes and living magazine retitled in 2001 to Homes & Living. Gardens
• Western Australia Annual (2001-2007)
• Town Planning Review (1910-1995), A UK journal published by the Liverpool School of Architecture and Department of Civic Design. The January 1913 issue featured a cutting critique of the patchwork re-design of Walter Burley Griffin’s plan by the Federal Government’s Departmental Board. 

The federal capital city of Australia : the final plan, 1911, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-150144593

The following magazines are digitised and available to view in Trove:

• The Australian Home Beautiful: A Journal for the Home Builder (1925-1954), a magazine devoted to house design, planning and construction, decoration furnishing, garden and home management.
• The Home Builders Annual (1938-1950), 12 issues relating to the design, construction and furnishing of Australian domestic dwellings.
• The Commonwealth Home (1925-1930), as the new Commonwealth of Australia’s Federal Capital developed and populated, this magazine on the design, construction and furnishing of the Australian home promoted home design and ownership as a way to rebuild the nation in the aftermath of the First World War and the Great Depression.
• Architecture: An Australasian Review of Architecture and the Allied Arts and Sciences (1917-1955), the official journal of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, West Australian and Tasmania.
• Building: The Magazine for the Architect, Builder, Property Owner and Merchant (1907-1942), the official journal of the Federated Master Builders’ Association of Australia.
• Journal of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects (1929-1942) 

We hold a rich collection of personal and professional papers of Australian architects and city/landscape planners and designers working here in Australia and overseas. 

Papers of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin collected by Eric Nicholls

Eric Nicholls was an architecture associate who worked closely with the Griffins during their time in Australia, particularly on their work in Melbourne and Sydney, although the contents are largely Walter’s papers relating to his work on Canberra.

The Donald Leslie Johnson Collection of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin Documents

Donald Leslie Johnson was an American architect who also worked in Australia. This collection is devoted entirely to his research into the life and work of the Griffins and includes photographs of architectural plans and drawings.

Papers of William Hardy Wilson

William Hardy Wilson was an architect, artist and writer whose design style became heavily influenced by his travels in China. His collection includes catalogues and press cuttings relating to exhibitions of his work, as well as catalogues of his collecting and artwork, some of which were donated to the Library. Correspondence and diaries include references to his architecture and published works. Included in this collection is 93 of his architectural drawings and sketches.

Hardy Wilson, Kurrajong Library design, 1951, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147897540

Papers of Peter Harrison, 1918-1990

Peter Harrison was a Brisbane-born architect and town planner who worked for Canberra’s National Capital Development Commission as their Chief Town Planner from 1958-1967. This collection focusses heavily on his work here in Canberra and includes his research and papers relating to the Griffin’s work and plans for Canberra. The collection also includes 370 photographs of plans and drawings relating to the creation of Canberra.

Papers of Eleanor Cullis-Hill

Eleanor Cullis-Hill was an architect practising in post-war Sydney. Her collection, while small, is invaluable for those interested in domestic architecture in Australia during this time. It includes original designs and alternation drawings on Cullis-Hill's domestic and infrastructure projects.

Papers of Walter Bunning

Walter Bunning was an architect and town planner who, along with CA Madden, established Bunning & Madden in 1945. Among their most notable designs is the National Library of Australia building, which opened at its current location on 15 August 1968. Our collection also includes Records of Bunning & Madden relating to their work on the building and on the development of the Parliamentary Triangle and a further collection of Bunning’s papers from 1933-1976. 

Bunning & Madden, Architectural portfolio for completion of LG1 of the National Library of Australia building, 1968, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144065454

Papers of Romaldo Giurgola, 1945-2008

Romaldo Giurgola was an Italian-born architect with design-award-winning buildings in countries across the globe. His firm Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects, based in America, won the design competition to build Australia’s new Parliament House, which opening on 9 May 1988.

Papers of Roger Johnson, 1932-1992

Roger Johnson was an architect from Britain who worked in Kenya, South Africa and Burma before moving to Western Australia in 1961. Later Johnson moved to Canberra to take up the position as the First Assistant Commissioner for the National Capital Development Commission. The collection also contains the Roger Johnson collection of architectural plans, 1941-1989.

Papers of Richard Clough, c. 2004

Richard Clough studied architecture at the University of Sydney and landscape architecture at University College London. He was employed by Canberra’s National Capital Development Commission from 1959-1981 and placed in charge of the landscape design of Lake Burley Griffin, ANZAC Parade and the design of the National Library of Australia’s forecourt. In addition to his notebooks from this time, we also hold Clough’s collection of slides relating to the construction and landscaping of Canberra’s National Triangle. 

Richard Clough,  Aerial view - filling of Lake - no planting - Mt. Pleasant in foreground, Canberra, 1909, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143733395

We hold many pictures and maps relating to architectural, city and landscaping design and planning. The collection primarily focusses on Australia, however, the collection does feature international architectural and landscaping projects, including architectural drawings for the Amsterdam Town Hall by Dutch architect Jacob van Kampen.

Bunning and Madden slides

Bunning & Madden slides relating to the design and construction of the National Library of Australia, 1960-1968, features 164 photographs of designs, models and plans for the Library’s home on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin.

Charles Daley maps

The Charles Daley map collection contains 87 maps relating to his work with the Commonwealth Public Works Branch in Melbourne and Federal Capital Advisory Capital, later Federal Capital Commission. The maps are part of the larger manuscript collection, Papers of Charles Studdy Daley, 1899-1966.

Max Dupain photographs

The Max Dupain collection includes photographs relating to the design and construction of the National Library of Australia, as well as his Sydney Nostalgia portfolio.

A G Foster photographs

The A G Foster collection of photographs of Sydney, 1920-1945, includes aerial views of Sydney, buildings and businesses under construction and renovation, as well as photographs of architectural drawings.

Rex Nan Kivell Collection

The Rex Nan Kivell Collection contains thousands of maps, paintings and drawings, including architectural plans and sketches. 

J B Spencer, B Baynes, Thomas Collier, J Manning, George McRae and Hardie & Boynes, Proposed shop & houses for R. B. Baynes Esq. at Darling and Best Streets Woolloomooloo, 1891, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230635835

Eric Milton Nicholls collection

The Eric Milton Nicholls collection, ca. 1910-1966 is specifically related to Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin’s work in Melbourne and Sydney.

Surveys for Australia’s Federal Capital

We hold many maps, reports and photographs relating to the surveys of the many sites across New South Wales proposed for Australia’s Federal Capital. This includes 69 NSW Crown Lands and Survey maps, and maps and reports by the Commonwealth Surveyor in charge of the survey team, Charles Scrivener

E T Luke photographs

E T Luke's photographs capture several of the new Commonwealth’s senators on a tour in 1902 during which they “inspect”, “spy”, “view”, “peep” and “discuss” the proposed Federal Capital sites.

Wolfgang Sievers photographic archive

The Wolfgang Sievers photographic archive, 1938-1991, has over 9,000 photographs and illustrates the architectural history of early twentieth-century Australia from the monumental to the industrial.

Jørn Utzon architectural plans

The Jørn Utzon collection of architectural plans contains his work on the Sydney Opera House. 

For government buildings you can enquire with the relevant state archives. State archives may also hold limited amounts of plans for commercial and residential properties. Examples of collections include:

• Queensland State Archives
• State Records Office of Western Australia
• State Records NSW
• Libraries Tasmania
  • Index to Public Works 1877-1935
• The National Archives of Australia
  • Original designs and documents relating to the Federal Design Competition
  • Records relating to the design of Australia’s General Post Offices and lighthouses for each state

For commercial or residential buildings, you may find archives in relevant state libraries or museums, local councils or local historical societies. For example:

• State Library of NSW
• Powerhouse Museum in Sydney
• State Library of Victoria

Notable architectural collections held at universities include:

• Melbourne University Architecture, Building and Planning Collection
• University of Sydney SciTech Library
• University of New South Wales Faculty of the Built Environment
• University of Queensland, Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture
• University of South Australia, Architecture Museum
• Curtin University, Summerhayes Family Collection

Some prominent public institutions may hold copies of architectural plans in their own archives. 

Search architecture on the National Museum of Australia website to view collection objects and features on the Sydney Opera House, house plans and artefacts in the Springfield Station Collection and a model of the Olympic Village from Rome in 1960. Search the website for ‘architecture’ to discover the diversity of the architectural holdings in the NMA

For National Trust properties contact the relevant state National Trust regarding their archives.