Architectural Archives

Bringing together researchers in architectural history and digital humanities from the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia), three of Brisbane’s oldest architectural firms, and specialists in digital histories from the State Library of Queensland, the Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture makes explicit the story of Queensland’s post-war architecture. The project’s aims were threefold: to document the oral histories of a generation of architects who studied and worked in Queensland from 1945-1975; to gather these into a single online multimedia archive producing a new knowledgebase of Queensland architecture and design; and to use innovative semantic web technologies to make visible for the first time a history that is currently veiled, dispersed, and tacit. The digital archive examines the value of digital technologies not only to the construction and documentation of the architectural archive but to the ways we interpret, construct and understand architectural history. This is demonstrated by the project’s use of innovative web technologies including semantic text analysis, semantic tagging or annotations, compound object authoring, and semantic inferencing to the study of architectural history.

Il volume, primo di una serie istituita per presentare i temi scelti nell’ambito del Progetto T.E.S.I. (Tesi Europee Sperimentali Interuniversitarie), è predisposto come supporto scientifico per illustrare il luogo e la storia del Campus Universitario di Bari, area in cui si ipotizza la realizzazione del Sistema Palazzo delle Biblioteche.

Les travaux des élèves-architectes, réalisés au cours de leurs études, sont aujourd’hui regardés comme une part emblématique du dessin d’architecture. Banc d’essai de la créativité architecturale, ils constituent le lieu d’acquisition d’un savoir-faire qui passe par la maîtrise technique et artistique de l’expression graphique autant que celle de la conception proprement dite. Les  archives privées des architectes, ici collectés par l’Académie d’architecture, permettent bien souvent de mieux replacer ces dessins dans les réalités multiples de la formation.

The current understanding is that there are two types of archival description: collective description and item description. Certain Japanese studies on the two types of archival description have generally investigated archives, but the interrelationship of these types in regard to architectural records has not been discussed in Japan. In this paper, we consider types of architectural records description and compare two finding aids to elucidate the differences between the two types of description. We explored the adoption of a single-layer structure in regard to finding aids and organized description elements used in the library collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects. We also investigated the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley and determined that it contained many finding aids offering descriptions up to the series level. The study determined the following two points. (1) When collective understanding is sought, item description is employed as necessary; collective understanding does not always require collective description-rather, it can be achieved by using item description. (2) The RIBA library used MARC archival description and the UCED archives used EAD archival description; thus, the two collections employed different methods in regard to the digital of finding aids. The RIBA library met the challenge of digitization by creating two types of catalog (the full and simple catalogs) for records from before and after 1840, however, for those collections that have many records from recent years, description using the single-layer structure of the MARC format may be insufficient. The paper concludes that difficulties are likely to be encountered when a single digital finding aid system is used to search a collection that includes records that are different in nature.

There are two challenges for architectural records in archival science: one related to bulk emerging from the creation of mass records nowadays and the other related to human behavior accumulating a combination of personal papers and office records. Based on records management practices and archival science theory for architectural records, this paper evaluates the Standard Series as a method for addressing these challenges. First, this project of the University of California at Berkeley in the late 1990s is introduced to explain the origin of the method. The impact of the Standard Series on the activities of the Society of American Archivists and on certain catalogs created since 2000 is then examined. Finally, the method is analyzed as a function-based classification system of archival science, with reference to Michael Cook’s theory. As a result, we found that the Standard Series is an effective method for addressing quantity and quality challenges of architectural records and can be considered a user-friendly model for researchers.

Highlights: • Heritage Assessment Practitioners (HAPs) in South Africa currently have access to limited architectural-historical knowledge, that is either born-digital or founded on analogue principles. • Platforms in South Africa are in their infancy as they are often limited in number, coverage and size of the content. • There are, however, concerted efforts being made to digitise analogue archives while the establishment of newer digital-born platforms is beginning to make the work of a HAP easier. Abstract: The intellectual basis for preservation and conservation is formed by the study, record and dissemination of the works of humanity. Due to the negative impacts of exponential city growth, through densification and the impact of climate change, more considered design approaches need to be made for the reuse and adaptation of buildings in historical contexts. The fast pace of project design, and implementation, in the 21 st century, has fostered the need for directly accessible architectural heritage knowledge. Therefore, architectural heritage practice demands access to curated information to ensure considered, and appropriate, design responses. This is important, not only for heritage and other related practitioners, but also for researchers and students. The advent of the Information Age initiated new methodologies for archiving knowledge. These developments provided architectural heritage practice with extended platforms of knowledge, either born-digital or founded on analogue principles. But what are these digital architectural heritage knowledge platforms in South Africa? Where are they located and how is information curated? How accessible is the information and how useful is it for heritage assessment practitioners? This article will describe the development of analogue architectural platforms and their development into digital formats. Thereafter, the nature of architectural heritage practice in South Africa will be defined through an assessment of legislation and professional practice. Then the types of information needed for architectural heritage practice to be effective will be explained. A selection of currently available architecturally related heritage platforms (with a digital bias) will be located and described, followed by a critique of their effectiveness. A number of case studies will then be highlighted to determine the effectiveness of the work of heritage assessment practitioners. The article will conclude by suggesting ways of adding value to current, and future, digital information platforms to cater to the pressing needs of architectural heritage practice in South Africa. Keywords: architectural heritage practice; heritage assessment practitioner; digital architectural heritage; knowledge platforms Resumen: La base intelectual para la preservación y la conservación está formada por el estudio, el registro y la difusión de las obras de la humanidad. Debido a los impactos negativos del crecimiento exponencial de la ciudad, a través de la densificación y el impacto del cambio climático, se necesitan enfoques de diseño que consideren más la reutilización yla adaptación de los edificios en contextos históricos. El rápido ritmo de diseño y ejecución de los proyectos en el siglo XXI ha fomentado la necesidad de contar directamente con conocimientos accesibles sobre el patrimonio arquitectónico. Por lo tanto, la práctica del patrimonio arquitectónico exige el acceso a información comisariada para asegurar respuestas BARKER & SWART, 2020 Virtual Archaeology Review, 11(22): Article in Press NNs-NNe, 2020 2 de diseño consideradas y apropiadas. Esto es importante, no sólo para los profesionales del patrimonio y otros profesionales relacionados, sino también para los investigadores y estudiantes. El advenimiento de la Era de la Información inició nuevas metodologías para archivar el conocimiento. Estos desarrollos proporcionaron a la práctica del patrimonio arquitectónico una amplia gama de plataformas de conocimiento, ya fueran digitales o basadas en principios analógicos. Pero, ¿cuáles son estas plataformas de conocimiento del patrimonio arquitectónico digital en Sudáfrica? ¿Dónde se encuentran y cómo se comisaría la información? ¿Cuánto de accesible es la información y cuánto de útil es para los profesionales de la evaluación del patrimonio? Este artículo describirá el desarrollo de las plataformas de arquitectura analógica y su transformación en formatos digitales. Posteriormente, se definirá la naturaleza de la práctica del patrimonio arquitectónico en Sudáfrica mediante la evaluación de la legislación y la práctica profesional. A continuación se explicarán los tipos de información necesarios para que la práctica del patrimonio arquitectónico sea eficaz. Se localizará y describirá una selección de plataformas de patrimonio relacionadas con la arquitectura actualmente disponibles (con un sesgo digital), seguida de una crítica de su eficacia. A continuación se pondrán de relieve varios estudios de casos para determinar la eficacia de la labor de los profesionales de la evaluación del patrimonio. El artículo concluirá sugiriendo formas de añadir valor a las plataformas de información digital actuales y futuras para satisfacer las necesidades apremiantes de la práctica del patrimonio arquitectónico en Sudáfrica. Palabras clave: práctica del patrimonio arquitectónico; profesional en evaluación del patrimonio; plataformas de datos digitales; patrimonio arquitectónico

It is thought that using a method based on archival science may enable the "documentation" of architectural records. However, neither methods nor what it means to “document” architectural records have been discussed. Therefore, this study aimed to understand types of architectural records and the management methods used in regard to such records. On this basis, we analyzed architectural finding aids used by archives. In this study, we surveyed finding aids by relying on the thinking of archival science. We discovered that two types of finding aid are used for architectural records. First, we determined record types by conceptually referring to architectural records and the Standard Series. Secondly, the study elucidated the way that DACS handles description for architectural records. Finally, we reviewed the structure of the two finding aids that can be used to search for architectural records at the Smithsonian Institution: the catalog and the guide, which play different roles. In so doing, this study laid the foundation for a method for arranging and describing architectural records based on archival science.

E. Boeri, Il Mediterraneo di Ettore Sottsass: ampliamento di Villa Meloni e Casa Salemi a Iglesias, pp. 200-202.
E. Boeri, Progetto per Villa dell'Ingegnere Lora Totino, Torino, pp. 205-206.
E. Boeri, INA-Casa 1951-53: l'esperienza piemontese, pp. 206-209, p. 211.
E. Boeri, Tecniche, materiali, costruzione: architetture con volte sottili, p. 210.
E. Boeri, L'esperienza INA-Casa in Sardegna, pp. 212-215.
E. Boeri, Appunti per un progetto di una casa al mare. Progetto di villa ingegner Fiorentino, pp. 269-270.

DACS, a description standard from the US, has been used in the description of architectural records. However, in Japan, how DACS is used is not well known. This study sought to understand the structure of architectural finding aids that use DACS; we summarized the characteristics of DACS and explored finding aids in which DACS is applied. First, we surveyed the standard description elements defined by DACS and determined their priority. Secondly, we confirmed that referring to a companion standard, a specialized guide to architectural records, was preferable. Third, we analyzed the structure of two architectural records finding aids that use DACS. This study elucidated the function DACS plays in architectural records description. Analysis of the two finding aids yielded the following findings. (1) The finding aids analyzed generally covered the minimum elements of DACS. (2) The use of a companion standard influenced arrangement at the series level and how container lists were created. The study showed revealed the basic structure of architectural records finding aids; taking architectural records as an example of collecting archives, it was shown that analyzing other kinds of collecting archives is also possible using this method.

An ‘archive’ is a totality of records, layers and memories that are collected. A city is an archive that consists of the conscious selection of these layers and traces of the past and the present, looking towards the future. Metaxourgio is an area in the wider historic urban area of Kerameikos in Athens that includes traces of various eras, beginning in antiquity and continuing all the way into the 21st century. Its archaeological space ‘Demosion Sema’ is mostly concealed below ground level, waiting to be revealed. In this proposal, the area of Southern Metaxourgio is redesigned in light of archiving. Significant traces of antiquity, other ruins and buildings are studied, selected and incorporated into new interventions.
The area becomes an ‘open archive’ that leads towards its new character. The proposal aims not only to intensify the relationship of architecture with archaeology, but also to imbue the area’s identity with meanings that refer to the past, present and future.

In 2012, the United States of America received its newest Presidential memorial. Four Freedoms Park, designed by Louis Kahn and situated on Roosevelt Island in New York, honours Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the country’s 32nd President. Completed almost seven decades after the President’s death, and four decades after the death of its architect, the project forms one of a growing number of architectural works that can be regarded as what this paper terms “posthumous monuments of modernism,” being projects that have been constructed not from the desk of the architect, but rather from their historical archive. This paper considers the problem of the posthumous monument in relation to the specific case study of Louis Kahn’s Roosevelt Memorial. It first offers an account of the emergence of this memorial, and then, through this work, consider the ethical, philosophical, and historical implications of posthumous architecture.

Bringing together researchers in architectural history and digital humanities from the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia), three of Brisbane’s oldest architectural firms, and specialists in digital histories from the State Library of Queensland, the Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture makes explicit the story of Queensland’s post-war architecture. The project’s aims were threefold: to document the oral histories of a generation of architects who studied and worked in Queensland from 1945-1975; to gather these into a single online multimedia archive producing a new knowledgebase of Queensland architecture and design; and to use innovative semantic web technologies to make visible for the first time a history that is currently veiled, dispersed, and tacit. The digital archive examines the value of digital technologies not only to the construction and documentation of the architectural archive but to the ways we interpret, construct and understand architectural history. This is demonstrated by the project’s use of innovative web technologies including semantic text analysis, semantic tagging or annotations, compound object authoring, and semantic inferencing to the study of architectural history.

Women's traces in the architectural archives are as faint as they are scarce, and, with a few famous exceptions, women's contributions in the modern era appear too vague when we consider the radical changes in society and the roles played therein by women. While female protagonists were becoming more common in certain fields, the field of architecture seemingly had no equivalent to, say, Maria Skłodowska Curie. What we should rather say is that there is no evidence of an analogous female contribution to the history of architecture and design. Moreover, this presumed lack of input into the field of design might be misinterpreted as a failure to participate in building common ground. It might ultimately appear to be a failure - a culpability even - to conceive of a new modern environment for their own new life in a modern society. This nonsensical vision of a lack or, at best, of a discontinuous range of initiatives made by women within this framework highlights the importance of the role played by archives and source material in making history, and this necessitates some preliminary considerations. Were women really disinterested in shaping, in terms of design, a way of life tied up with their emancipation, or, rather, are sources providing evidence of their involvement really just not accessible? Some examples of overlooked female creativity may help to underline this lack of information and the consequent need to reformulate crucial links between sources and history in order to gain a new understanding of women's contributions. It is our belief that there is a need to put female creative culture in the spotlight, and a digital approach offers a new perspective by making it possible to create a new kind of digital archive. In any event, what is certain is that a new critical approach to collecting sources and making history is overdue. Institutional records offices are essential for the collection and spreading of cultural heritage as well as for the fostering of research. Digital platforms can create links capable of shaping a new cultural context since they provide an overview of the broad networks operating in design processes. From the point of view of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, as well as of the built environment, there exists no single author-demiurge but rather a collective of collaborative workers. In this perspective we aim to introduce a couple of case studies of women's creative work as demonstrations of possible new critical approaches to architectural and design culture and its history. The first focuses on the little known designers Margaret and Frances Macdonald and the entrepreneur Kate Cranston, the second on the almost unknown landscape designer Norah Geddes. In this context they aim to articulate some aspects of this cultural perspective. Case studies takes into account the period just preceding the Modern Movement as a turn of important changes. Lastly we discuss how it is possible to create a digital archive is which makes known the historical, creative culture of women as this comes to light.

The Standard Series for Architecture and Landscape Design Records, which was released in 2000 in the United States, is an archival arrangement technique to eliminate the vast backlog of architectural records. In the 21st century, this technique has been used as the basis for many finding aids intended to solve backlog problems. However, this technique is unknown in Japan. The purpose of this study was to clarify the significance of the Standard Series in archival science and to consider its applicability in Japan. We reviewed the Standard Series in the context of archival science and conducted an experiment to test the application of the method to Japanese architectural records. This study revealed that the Standard Series is effective in regard to architectural records in Japan. First, we considered the characteristics of the Standard Series, focusing on functional classifications; subsequently, we used the Standard Series approach to analyze the structure of three existing finding aids. Finally, the author’s own use of the method for processing was reviewed in a case study at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Japan. The results showed that the approach was comprehensible from the standpoint of archival science; its practicality was confirmed. The results indicated two challenges for processing: controlled vocabulary in areas in which English is not natively spoken and the application of the approach to digital architectural records.