Look for articles about a specific building in the in the New York Times . The library has the print index back to its inception in 1851. Look under the name of the building and related subjects such as owner or architect's name or broader terms such as apartment buildings . The New York Times has international coverage, but there will more information on US and New York buildings. Sociological Sociological Abstracts You will not find information on a particular building, but if you are interested in the sociological implications of apartment buildings or urban environments, this is the index to use.
Sociological factors can have implications for design.
This is also a good source for articles about architecture and social considerations. This is a comprehensive index for psychology journal articles. Human reactions to factors like aesthetics, space, and light are all important to design. This is a large database and terms like architecture and space have several meanings in the context of psychology. The title of the journal may help you to determine relevance.