Resources

Resources for schools

Architecture Gallery

Viewing the drawing of St Paul's Cathedral
V&A RIBA Architecture Partnership
Copyright: RIBA

The extensive collections of the British Architectural Library are an outstanding teaching and learning resource for schools. Whether a student or a teacher, you can discover much about the built environment, online or by visiting the Library study rooms.  

Some idea of the wealth of the Library Collections can be gained from looking at How We Built Britain|, the new online exhibition produced in partnership with the BBC. You can explore the length and breadth of the country, and travel through time from the Normans to now. With high quality images, maps and a glossary you can soon become an expert on Britain's architecture, and get a taste of the wonders contained in the library's collections of archives, books, drawings, models and photographs, altogether some 4 million in number.

Want to see more? Then log on to ribapix,| the British Architectural Library's growing image database. Search by style, place and date. See Central Park, New York being built, travel around thew world by trains, planes and automobiles, or glimpse into a Forties front parlour at tea time. It's a great way to explore the collections - surprises are in store for all!

For A Level students, the Library is developing web resources just for you. Watch this space for images and texts to help you get acquainted with Classical Greece and Rome. The outstanding drawings and photographs of the Library are a great way to encounter the glorious buildings produced in these eras. What's more, we can help you understand these more by directing you to later British Classical Revival buildings. Soon available will be collections of images, select texts, podcasts, maps and glossaries.

Visits to the Library collections can also be arranged. The Library's new CETLD Bene Education Room offers excellent facilities for teaching and learning. A chief highlight includes the outstanding Photographs Collection, with some one and a half million images can now be accessed. With state-of-the-art equipment, the collections can be explored online. What's more, the room offers a great base to explore the ever-changing built environment around Portland Place, with iPods and digital cameras available to heighten the experience. For further information visit the CETLD Bene Education Room |webpage, or contact Dr Paul Snell, Education Curator on 0207 307 3711.

At the Victoria and Albert Museum the remarkable collections of the RIBA and V&A can be seen at first hand in the Architecture Gallery.