Welcome to your next rabbit hole!
The Building Technology Heritage Library, a project of the Association for Preservation Technology, is a fascinating and informative collection of American and Canadian historical architectural trade catalogs, house plan books and technical building guides. Recently, the association added the 10,000th document to the free online repository hosted on archive.org.
Sourced from various library, museum, and private collections, these vintage gems give a window into the thinking and styling around building and construction over the years.
While the publishing dates range from the late 18th century to the early 2000’s, the majority of the titles are from the early-to-mid 20th century.
The Path to Suburbia
Browsing the titles from these eras, you can see suburbia taking form, with lots of plans and catalogues related to the new ideals for single-family home living rather than dense cities, towns, or villages.
But even still, there’s an old-school durability trying to hang on for awhile through the years, with many books about using materials like structural masonry and brick. However, as the publication dates move closer to the 1950’s, the industry-wide pivot to disposable construction and development becomes evident.
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