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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.
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
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
Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University
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
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
There are a few sites that provide compiled lists of repositories or archives that have substantial architectural records collections.
Via repositories:
UNESCO provides an international scope.
Carnegie Mellon University provides a good listing for North America, primarily U.S.
Via archival reference services:
ArchiveGrid is a subscription database that allows patrons to search library, museum, and archival collections.
Archive Finder is a subscription directory that describes over 220,000 collections of primary source material housed in thousands of repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Subscribers can read descriptions of materials held by archives to determine whether further research is necessary.
