Research Guides: Architecture: Images & Maps

Find Images

Read this first. Use the general indexes, databases, Internet links, and printed reference tools listed below to find images. Images might be immediately accessible in the database you search; however, many desired images will only be embedded within another publication, and these are difficult to find unless the images are indexed. You may need to use printed reference tools that index images in books and periodicals. Also consult related subject guides, such as for Art and Urban and Regional Planning, for additional image and map resources.

Using Digital Images

Most of digital images you find on the Internet are protected by copyright. See the How to Cite Images page when using digital images for your academic work.

Check if your purpose of using the image is under Fair Use:

Fair Use Check List

If you are using images beyond the protections of Fair Use, consult the Copyright Claims in Architectural Works by the Library of Congress U.S. Copyright Office.

Scanning

When scanning images from a printed publication, the best practice today is to save TIFF as master files, then compress to JPEG for your digital presentations. The Library of Congress has the practice of scanning pictorical works at 300 ppi and 24 bit color at the minimum. The standard practice today for JPEG images is to resize them to 1024 x 768 pixels at 72 dpi for a full screen view. Also, make sure to write down the detailed information of the publication, then cite the source that you have scanned from. See: How to Cite Images

To learn more about scanning, the below are two great resources:

Architecture/Maps/Historical sites Image Resources

ARTstor To use the digital library of ARTstor, click "Enter Here" in the box that says "ARTstor Digital Library" in the upper right corner. Register or log in with your free ARTstor account (separate from the UH account) to use full functionality. ARTstor is a digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.
Digital Sanborn Maps, 1914-1957 - Hawaii Digital access to fire insurance maps from various areas in Hawaii. Users have the ability to easily manipulate the maps, magnify and zoom in on specific sections, and layer maps from different years.

1001 Wonders (World Heritage Tour) 1001wonders.org (world-heritage-tour.org) documents around the world, 1001 cultural and natural sites in panophotographies - immersive and interactive panoramic images. The goal is to build a museum atlas for those unable to travel for whatever reason. Bringing to all, including history-geography teachers and their pupils, free knowledge, free of charge and free of advertising.
18th - 20th Century Art & Architecture (Art Images for College Teaching - AICT) Emphasis on ancient, medieval, and Renaissance European art and architecture reflects the author's research and teaching interests.
archInform (International Architecture Database) Information on over 12,000 architectural works. The architecture of the 20th century is the main theme of this database.
Archiplanet Archiplanet is the community-constructed content site for all the buildings and building creators on Earth, sponsored by ArchitectureWeek and GreatBuildings.com. Post and edit the facts, photos, and descriptive drawings here on your favorite buildings of all kinds, anywhere, from your own cottage to your nation's capitol.
Architecture, Design & Engineering Drawings (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs) Covers about 40,000 drawings (described in more than 3,900 catalog records), spanning 1600 to 1989, with most dating between 1880 and 1940. The designs are primarily for sites and structures in the U.S. (especially Washington, D.C.), as well as Europe and Mexico. American architects and architectural firms created most of the images. Building types range from the United States Capitol and the Library of Congress to private residences and hamburger restaurants.
Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century America (Library of Congress, Photographs by Samuel Gottscho and William Schleisner, 1935-1955 ) The Gottscho-Schleisner Collection is comprised of over 29,000 images primarily of architectural subjects, including interiors and exteriors of homes, stores, offices, factories, historic buildings, and other structures. Subjects are concentrated chiefly in the northeastern United States, especially the New York City area, and Florida. Included are the homes of notable Americans, such as Raymond Loewy, and of several U.S. presidents, as well as color images of the 1939-40 New York World's Fair.
ArchNet Digital Library (MIT) Located in MIT's Design Lab in the School of Architecture and Planning, ArchNet is a web-based international community of scholars, students, and professionals working in architecture, planning, landscape design, and the related fields. This community shares expertise, local experience, and resources, and engages in dialogue around pertinent issues. The website itself provides access to scholarly resources and a forum for community members to interact, promoting debate and critical thinking.
Asian Historical Architecture A photographic survey of Asia's architectural heritage. It has over 17,500 photos of 844 sites in twenty-one countries, with background information and virtual tours.
The Atlas of American Architecture : 2000 Years of Architecture, City Planning, Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering (printed book) Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
British Library Images Online Images Online gives you instant access to thousands of the greatest images from the British Library's collections which include manuscripts, rare books, musical texts and maps spanning almost 3000 years. The range of images available include illustrations, drawings, paintings and photographs. Images available with the option to license hi-resolution images for commercial purposes. Images for educational use are available at 500 pixels.
Catena, the Digital Archive of Historic Gardens and Landscapes A searchable collection of historic and contemporary images that include plans, engravings, paintings, and photographs. Typologically organized archive of digital images with accompanying educational materials. The initial component of Catena is built around the villa, an important landscape type in garden history. Its purpose is to serve as an educational tool for teachers and scholars of landscape history affiliated with schools and universities.
Chartres: Cathedral of Notre Dame Chartres Cathedral is among the best preserved of the major French cathedrals, with extensive programmes of sculpture and stained glass. It was a major site of pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin Mary, to whom the cathedral is dedicated. This website provides access to a comprehensive collection of images and detailed descriptions of Chartres Cathedral. Please select from one of the following options to search or view images of Chartres Cathedral:
Cities and Buildings Database (University of Washington) A collection of digitized images of buildings and cities drawn from across time and throughout the world. Nearly 10,000 images ranging from New York to Central Asia, from African villages, to the Parc de la Villette, and conceptual sketches and models of Frank Gehry's Experience Music Project. Images have all been scanned from original slides or drawn from documents in the public domain. They are freely available to anyone for use in the classroom, student study, or for individual research.
Cities Around the World Cities Around the World presents over 6,100 photographic images from the slide collections of the American Geographic Society Library. The images selected for this project focus on architecture, city life, people, transportation and other aspects of urban development, such as neighborhoods, commercial streets, and business districts. The pictures were taken by two photographers, Harrison Forman and Harold Mayer between 1942 and 1994.
Courtauld Institute of Art: Art and Architecture A collection of more than 40,000 images, mostly black and white, from resources at the Courtauld Institute, University of London.
David Rumsey Map Collection Database The historical map collection has over 22,000 maps and images online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented.
A Digital Archive of Architecture An online archive of images scanned from the author's collection of slides for educational use. Includes Prehistoric, Roma, Romanesque, Gothic, 15th century, 16th century, 17th century, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century, Belgian Architecture, and American Architecture.
Domestic Interiors Database An analytical survey of the ways in which the interior has been represented since the Renaissance in Western Europe and North America. A scholarly research tool that includes textual and visual sources. The main focus of the database is on the changing appearance and layout of rooms in a range of domestic buildings; the objects that furnished those rooms and the ways rooms and objects were represented; how people used rooms and furnishings; and how they thought about them.
Emporis A commercial website about buildings. Here you can find any structure, from a hut to a skyscraper, in more than 60,000 cities worldwide. Focus is on the full life cycle of a building. You can find buildings from over one hundred years ago to futuristic properties planned for 2020 and beyond.
Great Buildings Online Gateway to thousands of buildings with images, models, commentaries, bibliographies, web links, and more.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs) The collections document achievements in architecture, engineering, and landscape design in the United States and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types, engineering technologies, and landscapes, including examples as diverse as the Pueblo of Acoma, houses, windmills, one-room schools, the Golden Gate Bridge, and buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Inter-American Institute for Advanced Studies in Cultural History The Inter-American Institute for Advanced Studies in Cultural History provides images for educational use since 1988, including Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin America, Medieval and Renaissance Spain, Spanish Missions in the United States, Roman Empire, and Islamic Art and Architecture. Photograph collection provided by Dr. James Bartholomay Kiracofe.
Map Collections (American Memory, Library of Congress) The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress holds more than 4.5 million items, of which Map Collections represents only a small fraction, those that have been converted to digital form. The focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that are not covered by copyright protection.
NYPL Digital Gallery (New York Public Library) Free and open access to over 700,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.
RIBApix A database dedicated to providing exceptional and unique images from the collections of the British Architectural Library at the Royal Institute of British Architects, the world’s most extensive visual archive devoted to architecture. RIBApix covers world architecture of all periods together with related subjects such as interior design, landscape, topography, planning, construction and the decorative arts. Many of the images are also of social documentary importance.
SAH Archipedia (Society of Architectural Historians) Currently, the content of SAH Archipedia is drawn from the book series, Buildings of the United States, and includes histories and thematic essays from twelve of the published BUS volumes: Massachusetts (Metropolitan Boston), Rhode Island, Pennsylvania (Eastern and Western), the District of Columbia, Virginia (Tidewater and Piedmont), West Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, and Alaska.
Structurae; International Database and Gallery of Structures Images and data on over 40,000 works of structural engineering, architecture, or construction through time, history and from around the world. Documentation begins at the time of the pyramids in Egypt and Roman construction, continues to Romanesque and Gothic churches and through to the Industrial Revolution all the way to today and beyond. Structurae deals mostly with bridges, tunnels, dams, skyscrapers, stadiums, towers, etc.
Visual Collections (Cartography Associates) Over 300,000 images from museums, universities and private collections can be found through this site. Uses the LUNA Insight viewer. Organized into five topics: Cartography; Fine Arts; Architecture; Photography; and Other.
World Architecture Index : a Guide to Illustrations (printed book) Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
World Images and Architecture Portfolios WorldImages database provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains approximately 80,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery. WorldImages may be freely used for non-profit educational purposes. The images are organized into over 800 portfolios which are then organized into subject groupings.
Yale Silk Road Database Presents over 11,000 images of major sites in the Silk Road region taken by Yale University faculty in the summers of 2006-2010.
Encyclopedia of World Art (printed book) Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.Half of each of the 17 volumes of this celebrated encyclopedia is devoted to images.
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Printed encyclopedia. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Illustration Index (printed book) Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.Indexes roughly ten highly illustrated magazines--American Heritage, Life, National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonian, Sports Illustrated, Travel and Leisure, etc.
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Printed index. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.