The Society of Architectural Historians is pleased to share the following list of new acquisitions and lesser-known collections in architecture and design archives. Lists of new acquisitions will be compiled on an annual basis. There are more collections which are not listed here but may be useful for your research. Our Digital Resources page will help you search such collections or reach out to each institution.
The New York Botanical Garden Archives
Contact: archives@nybg.org
The Lord and Burnham Collection consists of the surviving office records and architectural plans for the Lord and Burnham Corporation which was the premier builder and designer of glasshouse structures in North America from the late nineteenth century through the 1980s. In addition to grand conservatories for public and private use, the firm was the first to introduce the radiant baseboard heating system.
The Canadian Center for Architecture
Contact: Martien de Vletter
Kenneth Frampton fonds, 3rd Addition
Gift of Kenneth Frampton
Versement AR2023.0006
The records included in this addition largely consist of correspondence, press clippings, copies of essays and lectures given by Frampton (as well as publicity materials for these lectures), and records related to awards and honorary degrees. Many of the CDs included with this accession appear to contain reference material and/or images. Consists of approximately 11 pieces of ephemera, 6 CDs, 3 drawings, 2 photographs, and 0.05 linear metres of textual records.
Peter Eisenman fonds, 23rd addition
On deposit from Peter Eisenman
Versement AR2023.0007
This additional primarily documents Eisenman’s most recent architectural projects including Arsenal Hill in Tbilisi, Georgia; Yenikapi Archeological Museum and Archeo-park in Istanbul, Turkey; Liget Budapest House of Music in Hungary; and the Puzzuoli Waterfront Masterplan in Milan, Italy. Documenting these projects are original sketches, design development drawings, reprographic copies (usually printed CAD drawings), and a few small models. The addition also includes a large amount of photostat negatives used in reproduction and other drawings from Eisenman’s earlier projects, some posters for various promotional activities, including those of IAUS, and a few textual records from Eisenman’s teaching activities. Additional models for Eisenman’s more recent projects are expected soon.
Consists of approximately 7,546 drawings (including 6,750 reprographic copies), 143 photographic materials, 31 posters, 7 models, 2 CDs, and 0.28 l.m. of textual records.
Futurecasting collection, initial donation and 1st addition
Gift of Jenni Hakovirta, Naomi Ratte, Nicole Luke, Magnus Antaris, Andrea McIntosh, Robyn Adams, Berit Kristine Andersen Guvsám, Laila Susanna Kuhmunen, Johanna Minde, and Reanna Merasty
Versements AR2023.0008 and AR2023.0009
This acquisition documents the project development of the Futurecasting group and the research behind their individual artworks that were presented in the CCA exhibition ᐊᖏᕐᕋᒧᑦ / Ruovttu Guvlui / Towards Home. The project is documented through recordings with accompanying transcripts that show project meetings, seminars and workshops. The gallery design for the Futurecasting artworks is recorded through gallery views, plans and installation instructions. The materials documenting the research differ for each group member but generally contain photos, textual records and CAD drawings. The donation consists of 292 digital files (5.96 GB). Two additional drawings were donated to the CCA by Jenni Hakovirta around the same time. This is an important acquisition for the CCA as it is the first collection by Indigenous creators. It is part of a very important and conscious effort to include Indigenous perspectives on architecture in the collection.
In addition and in relation to the Towards Home exhibition, CCA also will receive a drawing by Carola Grahn, digital photography and av material by Geronimo and the digital files by Laakkuluk and Taqralik Partridge.
Go Hasegawa & Associates fonds, 1st addition
Gift of Go Hasegawa
Versement AR2022.0053
This addition to the fonds consists of one model for the House in Kawasaki project in Kanawaga, Japan. The model was loaned to the CCA in 2021 for the exhibition A Section of Now: Social Norms and Rituals as Sites for Architectural Intervention and was subsequently donated to the CCA when the exhibition ended.
Minimum Cost Housing Group fonds, 5th addition
Gift from Vikram Bhatt
Versement AR2022.0046
Addition consists of one model for the Housing a Billion project, Volume 1, in Sichaun, China. The model shows housing alternatives for farmers in urban locations that allowed for ground floor living, rather than high rises. The low-rise solution consisted of the same number of homes as the high rises allowed. Model is in wood and Styrofoam.
Ross and MacDonald fonds, 3rd addition
Gift from David Fish
Versement AR2022.0043
This addition documents some projects by the Montreal architecture firm Ross and MacDonald from around 1959-1965. Projects are documented through original painted renderings of buildings, although some renderings are reproductions of paintings. The projects consist of Toronto Dominion Bank Building (Montreal, Quebec), the Imperial Bank of Canada/Credit Foncier Franco-Canadien building (Montreal, Quebec), the Hall Building at Concordia University, previously known as Sir George Williams University (Montreal, Quebec), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) J. Division Headquarters (Fredericton, New Brunswick), and the Jeddah Airport maintenance facility for the royal aircraft (Saudi Arabia). There are four original paintings and two reproductions in total.
Lives of Documents related donations
The exhibition Lives of Documents – Photography as a Project has resulted in several gifts to the CCA. Guido Guidi gifted his artist book to the CCA. Other gifts to the photography collection are:
Stones. A dummy by Marianne Mueller
Guide to the Wasteland of Francon. 1 copy of 32 page book and digital files by Lara Almarcegui
Paesaggio Italiano. 15 reprints by Gabriele Basilico
112 Postcards. By Armin Linke
New Waves and Mushroom. Reprints and digital files by Takashi Homma
Indra Kagis McEwen research papers
Gift of Indra Kagis McEwen
Research papers related to her publications: All the King’s Horses: Vitruvius in an Age of Princess (MIT, 2023); Vitruvius: Writing the Body of Architecture (MIT, 2003 and 2004).
In between cities, Kaliningrad, Russia, 1994. Montreal: Guido Guidi, 2023
Gift of the estate of Guido Guidi
The library has received a limited-edition book which was printed in conjunction with “The Lives of Documents” show now on display in the main galleries.
New Waves : Taskashi Homma, June 9, 2017 – June 25th, 2017. Tokyo: POST Tokyo, 2017
The library received this volume as a gift from Homma to add to our collection.
WPA Guides
Gift of Mary Lavin
The CCA received a gift of Work Progress Administration guides to different states. These guides were funded to employ writers during the depression. The CCA already has a collection of these guides, but most of our holdings are actually reprints from the 1970s.
University of California, Berkeley
Contact: Environmental Design Archives
Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Moris (SMWM) Collection consists of manuscript materials, drawings, photographs, and born digital items created by the design firm SMWM between 1985 and 2008. The SMWM Collection is particularly interesting for materials related to the firm’s work in community planning and with large real-estate developers and public-private partnerships.
Joshua Freiwald Collection: over 2000 photographic prints and negatives created by California-based architectural photographer Joshua Freiwald (1935-2018) between 1963 and 1985.
University of Texas Libraries, Alexander Architectural Archives
Contact: apl-aaa@lib.utexas.edu
Accrual to the Anthony Alofsin Archive: 57lft and 126.979 GB files representing lectures, articles and correspondence; coursework on the history of modern architecture; and the archive of Henry Easterwood. The Alofsin Archive consists of manuscripts, drawings, and photographic materials documenting Alofsin's personal life and career as scholar, architect, and professor.
Accrual to the Boone Powell collection: 7.5" of papers representing professional organizations, conferences, and awards. Powell (1933-) is a prominent architect and urban planner of the firm Ford Powell & Carson of San Antonio, Texas. The collection contains Powell's personal and professional papers created between 1960 and his 2015 retirement.
Records of Travis Broesche (1911-2003) and Bill Condon (1923-1998): 73 sheets of drawings, 1 photo print, and 3 competition boards representing the Walser residence, Public Works Administration projects and the 1962 competition winning Northline Elementary School for the Houston Independent School District. Accruals expected.
“For Whites” exhibition records: 120 panels, photo documentation (201 files, 550.5 megabytes), and audio recordings of University of Texas School of Architecture professor Dr. Tara Dudley's gallery talk, April 3, 2023 (4 files, 27.3 megabytes). The exhibition was installed in the Mebane Gallery at the University of Texas School of Architecture, spring 2003.
Hardy Heck Moore Collection: over 50,000 photographs and data records by historic preservation consulting firm Hardy Heck Moore (1982-present), ranging between 1948 and 2010, representing over 100 historical documentation projects across the United States (bulk Texas) documenting tens of thousands of residential, commercial, civic, industrial, and military sites.
Accrual to the Alfred Giles collection: original presentation drawings of the Sullivan Carriage House, 1896 (14 sheets), 4" papers, and copy photography: 74 negatives, 40 prints. Alfred Giles (1853-1920) is known for his courthouses, public buildings, and residences in central Texas and Mexico. The collection represents a rare selection of drawings documenting his career.
John Covert Watson collection: drawings (approx 2,550 sheets), 1 inch papers representing the career of Austin Texas architect, John Covert Watson (born 1929). Projects range from 1960s through 1980s. A student of Frank Lloyd Wright, Watson’s innovative Mid-Century Organic Architecture is recognized for its high degree of design and structural quality.
Manuel Parra collection: papers, notebooks, journals and sketchbooks (5.5lf); drawings (3,980); photographic material (1047), slides (247), negatives (6,292) and media (29) documenting the career of Mexican architect, furniture designer and sculptor Manuel Parra (1911-1997). Parra whose design incorporated regionalism and modern aesthetics, practiced from 1930s-1990s, with residential projects located in and around Mexico City.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division
Contact: Mari Nakahara
Wilbur Henry Adams industrial design and related materials (1924-1957, bulk 1940s): 464 items including architectural and industrial design drawings, sketchbooks, photographs, and ephemera (selections digitized) by industrial designer and architect Wilbur Henry Adams (1906-1958) and his wife, interior designer Arleen Williams Adams (1910-1980), ranging between 1924 and 1957 (bulk 1940s).
American Society of Landscape Architects Professional Awards Collection (2022-): The ASLA Professional Awards have seven categories: General Design; Residential Design; Urban Design; Analysis and Planning; Communications; Research; and the Landmark Award, honoring the best in landscape architecture from around the globe. The Library serves as a depository library collecting the most recent years, with a plan to acquire slides dating back to the 1960s.
Cityscape and Landscape: Patrick Alt Photograph Collection (1990-2011): 555 photographs (selection digitized), chiefly platinum prints, showing cityscapes and landscapes mainly from the U.S., including some from Tuscany and China.
East Germany Photos (1980-1990): About 40 photographs (selection digitized) by John Zukowsky (1948-) showing architecture in East Berlin, including the Berlin Wall, in the 1980s.
Global Library photographs by Robert Dawson (2016-2019): 660 photographs (selections digitized) and digital files by Robert Dawson (1950-) showing exterior and interior views of libraries in France, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Italy and Israel. Dawson had also documented the American libraries (selection digitized).
Addition to the Louis A. Marre collection: Nearly 300,000 visual and manuscript materials relating to the history of rail transportation in America and other countries, created and collected by Louis A. Marre (1939-). This is an addition to the existing collection of an extensive, carefully organized, and cataloged collection of over 12,000 photographic prints, film negatives, and transparencies. The Collection covers hundreds of rail systems and engines, and provides coast-to-coast coverage of rail systems using American-made or designed trains across the North American continent (United States, Canada, and Mexico). Although predominantly documenting locomotives, the collection also provides a strong representative selection of rolling stock, non-revenue engines, freight and passenger cars, as well as stations and cabooses. A small portion of the collection covers foreign countries that used American-made or designed engines (e.g., India and Argentina) and foreign-made or designed engines (e.g., Germany and England).
Marc Treib landscape photography collection: Visual encyclopedia of landscape architecture, containing over 30,000 prints, contact sheets, & 35 mm negative sleeves, created by Marc Treib, Professor Emeritus of Architecture, College of Environmental Design, U.C. Berkeley. Treib selected the most informative viewing angles to represent a garden, park, or other feature of the outdoor built environment from the 1960s to the present time. His worldwide travel also took him to the same site at different times, which makes it possible to see changes in a site, too.
