Finding Design Records

There are many repositories for records documenting the design process. The list below includes major archives across the United States that focus primarily on the collection and preservation of design records including architectural, engineering, landscape architecture, construction records, fashion institutes and companies, and furniture companies. If you would like to have your repository added to this list, please contact a DRS co-chair. 

The Society of Architectural Historians also maintains a thorough list of archives, digital projects, and databases.

Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas at Austin

Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania

Art Institute of Chicago, Ryerson & Burnham Archives

Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Avery Library, Drawings and Archives Collection, Columbia University

Ball State University, Andrew Seager Archives of the Built Environment

Baylor University Architecture Collection

Boston Public Library Architectural Plans and Drawings Collection

California Architectural Archives, California Polytechnic State University

Canadian Centre for Architecture

Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives

Center for Architecture, Design, and Engineering, Library of Congress

Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives

DIA Research Library, Archives, & Collections

Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site and the Olmsted Research Guide Online

Georgia Institute of Technology Special Collections and Archives

Getty Research Institute Architecture and Design Archives 

Harvard University Graduate School of Design Special Collections 

Herman Miller Archives

Houston Metropolitan Research Center 

International Archive of Women in Architecture, Virginia Tech

Milton Glaser Design Study Center & Archives

Mississippi State University Architecture Collection

NC State University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center

Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota

Portman Archives

Southeastern Architectural Archive, Tulane University

Stanford University R. Buckminster Fuller Collection

State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center Architecture Research Guide

University of California at Berkeley Bancroft Library

University of California, Santa Barbara: Art, Design, & Architecture Museum: Architecture and Design Collections

University of Arkansas Architectural Archives

University of Delaware: Architecture Manuscripts and Archival Resources

University of Florida Architecture Archives

University of Houston Architecture & Planning Research Collection

University of Miami Campus Architecture Collection

University of Rochester River Campus Libraries: Architectural Drawings Collection

University of Washington Special Collections: Architectural Drawings

Washington University in St. Louis Architecture Collection

Yale University Manuscripts and Archives & Yale University Library