Finding building information
Search tips
Looking for information on a particular building?
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Look for the most specific information first, such as the name of the building.
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Try alternate names - many buildings have different names (e.g. The Forum / The State Theatre.)
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Use "quotation marks" around the building name to search it as a phrase (e.g. "Sydney Opera House").
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Move on to more general information about the architect and/or firm (check for spelling variations).
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If you still cannot find anything, try a subject search with place/country, type of building/architecture, architectural period etc (e.g. Melbourne architecture 19th century)
Information can be found in books, journal articles, newspapers, government records, photographs, maps, drawings and more. You can locate these through Monash databases and the internet.
Where to search
Monash Databases
- Monash Library SearchSearch for journals and eBooks
- Avery index to architectural periodicals (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowDatabase offers a comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture and design, including bibliographic descriptions on subjects such as the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, and interior design and decoration.
- Art & architecture source (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowA good starting point for finding scholarly journal articles across a wide range of Art, Design and Architecture topics.
- Building types online This link opens in a new windowProvides architectural drawings, photos and information on buildings. Large international collection of contemporary buildings, from housing and offices to museums, schools and other building types.
Other databases and websites
- ArchdailyProvides photographs and plans for many architectural projects.
- City of Melbourne - Planning and Building ServicesProvides assistance and advice about construction and land use in the municipality.
- Google BooksYou can search the entire text within a book to see if a particular building is mentioned. You may then need to locate the book at the Monash Library to borrow.
- Google scholar This link opens in a new windowGoogle Scholar uses the familiar Google search engine to search peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
- Land Use VictoriaFind out about land registration, surveying, valuations, place naming, maps and spatial data.
- National Archives of AustraliaThe National Archives’ Victoria office holds over 5,000 architectural drawings of public buildings across Victoria. Dating back as early as the 1850s, the drawings document not only famous Melbourne landmarks, but also humbler suburban and rural facilities, such as local post offices and drill halls. This makes these drawings an invaluable resource for anyone researching local history and heritage.
- Public Record Office of Victoria (PROV)Information on public and government buildings in Victoria. Search for: public building plans, water, sewerage and drainage plans, historic maps and plans, Victorian place names, old land titles, residential building plans, State Bank of Victoria plans, photographs and journal articles. Watch their video "Introduction to Researching Place" for how to search their site.
- RMIT Design ArchivesBoth digital and material, the collections represent historical and contemporary practices which tell the story of Melbourne as a design city, and provide the resources and support for research into Melbourne’s designed environment, design professions and practices.
- State Library of Victoria - ArchitectureSearch for historical photographs and architectural drawings.
- Trove (National Library of Australia)Search historic newspapers, magazines, images of buildings, reports and more.
- University of Melbourne Architecture CollectionView digitised journals, magazines, theses, photographs and more.
- University of Melbourne ArchivesSearch records of architectural firms and individual architects, architectural drawings, photographs and other records.
- Victorian Heritage DatabaseSearch the Victorian Heritage Register which lists the state's most significant heritage places, objects and historic shipwrecks protected under the Heritage Act 2017. It's also home to the Victorian Heritage Inventory which lists all known historical archaeological sites in Victoria.
Featured books with plans
Key Buildings from Prehistory to the Present by ISBN: 9781856698375Publication Date: 2012The latest in this successful series, this book features around 150 of the most important buildings in the history of world architecture--from the pyramids and the Parthenon to some of the most significant works by recent architects.
Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections and Elevations by Publication Date: 2004For the first time, a student can now find all the key plans in one place. Featuring more than 100 of the most significant and influential buildings of the twentieth century, this book includes both classic works by such seminal architects as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto, as well as those by more recent masters, such as Norman Foster. Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas. For each of the buildings included there are numerous, accurate scale plans showing each floor, together with elevations, sections and site plans where appropriate.
Key Contemporary Buildings: Plans, Sections, and Elevations by Publication Date: 2008A collection of more than one hundred twenty-first-century buildings of particular interest for study by students and professionals.
The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture by Publication Date: 2004The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture presents a comprehensive global survey of the most outstanding works of contemporary architecture from around the world to be completed in the last five years. Organized geographically and illustrated with global, regional and sub-regional maps locating each individual building, this monumental tome illustrates more than 1,000 completed buildings and includes some of the most influential projects worldwide as well as many lesser-known buildings.
Maps
Visit the Monash Spatial Data and Maps guide for detailed information on our maps collection and research databases.
Some key resources include:
- Nearmap This link opens in a new windowAn Australian aerial imagery technology and location data company that provides aerial imagery of up to 90% of Australia's urban population. Users can measure distance and area with precision, and view demographic layers and other information overlays. It also enables users to monitor change and map the progress of a construction project, observe site and environmental changes, measure the effect of weathering, and to track seasonal growth or shadowing.
- VicMap topographic maps series This link opens in a new windowVicmap topographic maps cover the state of Victoria in a variety of scales and sizes. These maps depict cultural, constructed and natural features such as rivers, roads, contours, towns, national parks, waterfalls, hospitals and more .. they are created and maintained using Vicmap, Victoria's authoritative foundation datasets.
- Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) Maps SeriesGo to the State Library of Victoria and run a search on 'MMBW' in title in the catalogue.
- Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) Map WarperA tool for digitally aligning ('rectifying') historical maps and plans from Public Record Office Victoria's collections to match today's precise maps.