Charles Garnier. Le Nouvelle Opera de Paris, 1878

There’s a new exhibition being shown in cases in the Main Library. The collection on display is remarkably beautiful and includes a variety of significant works. But The Architect’s Library is actually a cooperative effort being held in four locations on campus. The cases in the Main Library house a broad selection of books, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century; in the Art Library are books from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center is a small exhibition devoted to the works of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, his followers and predecessors; and in Special Collections you can make an appointment to do your own research using some of the earliest books on architecture collected by the College.

Bernard Forest De Belidor. Architecture Hydraulique, 1737-1753.

A catalogue of the collection entitled The Architect’s Library: A Collection of Notable Books on Architecture at Vassar College, edited by Nicholas Adams, is available from The Art Department or Special Collections. The catalogue has contributions by students in Art 370 (Spring 2013), professor Brian Lukacher, Art Librarian Thomas Hill, and Vassar graduates Sean Weiss (City University of New York) and Lindsay Cook (Columbia University).

On Monday, February 24, there will be a lecture by Anthony Vidler entitled “What do Architects Read? Architectural Libraries from Vitruvius to Venturi.” The event will be held in Taylor 203 at 5 pm.The exhibit itself will be up through May. Be sure to stop in to see these stunning works, and in the meanwhile, pick up a copy of the catalogue, and don’t miss our own Nick Adams discussing the exhibition in more detail in an interview for the Library Cafe as well as the video below.