Lindell Library: Art & Art History: Designed Environment

Designed Environment Resources

We have a number of books and other resources on local architectural history.

Try searching for the names of architects or for books on Twin Cities architecture using the General Search of our collection for books, articles, videos, and more.
Or try a specialized journal database, such as Art Full Text or JSTOR, to find scholarly articles.

Here are some examples of basic search terms you can use to start out:

Cass Gilbert
Minneapolis architecture
St. Paul architects

Find more information on our Researching Buildings page, and in Suggested Reading, below.

Note about Artstor

While you won't find every architect or building represented in the Artstor database, this art historian's treasure-trove provides many digital images you can use in your research and presentations. For instance, see this sample Artstor search for Cass Gilbert, the renowned Minnesota architect who designed, among other things, the Minnesota State Capitol.

For more about Artstor, see the Finding Images page.

Suggested Reading

Here are some examples of the architecture-related books you can find in our library collection.

Print-only reference books can be found in Lindell Library's Reference Section, near the Learning Commons on the first level of the library.

To find non-reference books, check the call number against our handy library map. Note that some books may be in the separate Oversize section instead of the regular shelves. Ask at the Learning Commons Desk or the Circulation Desk if you need help finding a book.