A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (University of Michigan) records, 1876-2011
92 linear feet — 2 oversize boxes — 1 flat file drawer — 343 GB (online) — 1 archived website
92 linear feet — 2 oversize boxes — 1 flat file drawer — 343 GB (online) — 1 archived website
The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (University of Michigan), records document the teaching of architecture and design at the University of Michigan beginning in 1878. The records include administrative files, correspondence committee minutes, reports, photographs and architectural drawings. The records have been received in a number of separate accessions which may include material that continues or complements record series from a previous accession or may overlap chronologically with previous accessions. This finding aid reflects the intellectual structure of the records by bringing like material together across accessions. As a consequence, in the container listing box numbers will not necessarily be in consecutive order.
The records are organized in the following principal series:
92 linear feet — 2 oversize boxes — 1 flat file drawer — 343 GB (online) — 1 archived website
7 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 19 folders — 1 tube
The Bourquin collection consists of landscape architectural drawings, professional papers, and visual materials documenting the careers of Alice and Jessie Bourquin. The collection has been divided into the following series: Landscape Architectural Drawings; Jessie Bourquin Papers; Alice Bourquin Papers; Joint Projects and Activities; Hillwood Subdivision; and Photographs and other Visual Materials.
18 linear feet — 14 oversize folders
The Emil Lorch papers are valuable for their documentation of the career of this important architectural educator and for that material about Michigan architecture and historic structures that Lorch accumulated in the course of his professional study and organizational involvement. The collection includes extensive correspondence with many of the country's leading architects, most notably members of the "Chicago School," and architectural educators, and manuscript and photographic documentation resulting from Lorch's involvement with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey and various restoration projects, including Mackinac Island.
16 linear feet — 6909 drawings — 6.3 GB (online) — 73 boards
The Robert C. Metcalf papers include architectural drawings, presentation boards, presentation books, client files, photographs, slides, and negatives of Metcalf's work on residential, commercial, and community projects. The collection provides comprehensive documentation on virtually all of the projects undertaken by Metcalf. Projects are documented from design to construction and often subsequent additions and renovations. The materials in the collection are organized into three series: Project Files, General Files, and Visual Materials.
The General Files series includes personal material such as an audio interview with Robert Metcalf (2010), a date book (1974), and Metcalf's undergraduate student work from the University of Michigan (1942-1950).
16 linear feet — 6909 drawings — 6.3 GB (online) — 73 boards
6.25 linear feet — 47 oversize folders
The papers of Tivadar Balogh include correspondence, slides and photographs, clippings, teaching materials, project files, and architectural drawings. The papers are organized into five series: Audio-Visual, Biographical Materials, Office Files, Teaching, and Drawings.
1.3 linear feet (in 2 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
The Walter Sanders collection consists of architectural drawings and photographs, correspondence, and subject files dating from the mid-1930s to his death in 1972. The collection begins with a folder of biographical material followed by a series of folders arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material. Judging by the fullness of his career, it is apparent that these materials represent but a fragment of the documents created and accumulated by Walter Sanders during his professional lifetime. The materials extant in this collection provide a sampling of Sanders' designs, his architectural philosophy, his professional associations, and his teaching career.
The richest portions of the collection include those files of correspondence with other architects and his association with CIAM (the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne) or the International Congress for Modern Architecture. Some of Sanders' correspondents include Buckminster Fuller, Walter Gropius, and Lewis Mumford. There are few materials in this collection relating to Sanders' own designs. Except for photographs and drawings of his Ann Arbor residence, the most interesting drawings are for the Pencil Point Home Competition (undated) and for the Chile Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Course and class material is also limited though something of Sanders' views on architecture will be found in the "Talks" folder.
1.3 linear feet (in 2 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
3.4 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The collection has been divided into the following series: Biographical materials; Correspondence; Writings; Organizations; Projects; Miscellaneous; Diaries and other bound materials; and Photographs.
13.5 linear feet (in 15 boxes) — 7 folders
Staffs of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library and the Bentley Historical Library have prepared separate finding aids for their respective William Muschenheim collections. These have been merged to provide one integrated finding aid. This integrated finding aid lists all Muschenheim materials held by both repositories. All of the drawings, papers, photographs and other materials for each project are brought together in a single job-number/chronological sequence. The physical location of each item/folder is indicated by "A" for Avery and "B" for Bentley. The combined finding aid organizes the Muschenheim papers into four series:
The project files of William Muschenheim are described according to Muschenheim's original filing system in which he interfiled the drawings, correspondence, specifications, and other papers for each job/client. Muschenheim typically assigned each client a single job number no matter how many projects he may have done for the client. There are a total of 130 numbered jobs in the Avery Collection (#1-130, with gaps between jobs 11-17, 25-26, 28-29) and 63 numbered jobs in the Bentley collection (#132-193, there are no materials for 22 of the jobs). There are also nine unnumbered projects (4 Avery and 5 Bentley) and several folders of miscellaneous material.
Each numbered job consists of one or more projects and each project is subdivided by format of material into Drawings, Papers, Photographs, and Presentation Boards as appropriate. There is some variance in the manner in which the two archives have arranged and described project material. The Avery has described its drawings at the item level while the Bentley provides only folder level descriptions for most projects. For this finding aid item level descriptions are provided for selected Bentley projects. Photographs are found in the "Papers" in some Avery project files but are listed separately in the Bentley finding aid.
At both the Avery and Bentley the oversize architectural drawings have been removed from their original folders and stored separately.
The William Muschenheim Architectural Drawings and Papers at the Avery Library span 1929-1957, with bulk dates 1931-1950. Muschenheim's papers document 130 separate jobs, and the visual material consists of 3081 sheets of drawings. The projects mainly represent Muschenheim's work in New York City, but also include work in Albany (NY), Amenia (NY),Bridgehampton (NY), Chappaqua (NY), Hampton Bays (NY), Malverne (NY), Massapequa (NY), Nassau Point (Long Island), Washington (CT), Washington DC, Westhampton Beach (NY), and Woodstock (NY), among other locations.
William Muschenheim had numerous clients which included the following family members: Carl Muschenheim, Elsa Muschenheim, and Frederick A. Muschenheim. In addition to the many clients for whom Muschenheim did alteration work, he also worked with a wide variety of companies. Some of the companies include Bigelow Carpet Company, C.G. Flygare Inc., Excel Metal Cabinet Co., Inc., F. Schumacher & Co., Famaes Development, Hans Knoll, Howard & Schaffer, Inc., Kurt Versen Lamps, Inc., Ledlin Light Designers, Portland Cement Association, and Thonet Brothers, among many others.
The papers and drawings in the William E. Muschenheim collection at the Bentley Library span the years 1923 to 2004, however the bulk of the collection covers the years 1951 to 1985. The papers are primarily comprised of material documenting Muschenheim's research and teaching career from 1950 to 1973 at the University of Michigan, and the private practice he continued in Ann Arbor after leaving New York City. There are limited papers and drawings related to his life and professional work prior to 1950, although the Photographs Series includes beautiful black and white images of many of his important New York projects, and the Publications and Research Series is valuable for articles published in the thirties and the forties showcasing his work. Papers and drawings spanning the years 1929-1957 (bulk dates 1931-1950) are held at the Avery Library, Columbia University.
Muschenheim's early and lasting commitment to the modern movement and to an international view of architecture and architectural education is reflected in the collection, which consists of biographical and professional materials, research and course materials, publications related to his work, project files and drawings, and photographs and slides. The Muschenheim collection will interest researchers drawn to study the work of a pioneering modernist, well known for originality in working with color as an integral part of contemporary design, and those interested in the generation of architects involved in the fifties and sixties with legitimizing the modern period in an academic environment. Additionally, Muschenheim's efforts to illuminate the art of architecture as an important element and expression of culture to a broader segment of society renders the collection important to a wide range of disciplines and interests.
The papers are largely organized according to Muschenheim's original filing scheme, in which he interfiled material related to projects (including drawings) with professional papers, correspondence, and other documents, numbering them sequentially. The Bentley Library collection consists of material numbered 132 to 192. Many large original drawings were removed from folders, flattened, and are stored in drawers. Five series make up the collection: Biographical and Professional Materials; University of Michigan Teaching Career, College of Architecture and Design; Publications and Research; Project Files; and Digitization Project. Users should note that material related to a single project is often scattered throughout the collection. A Supplemental Guide to work produced after 1950 in the additional descriptive data portion of this finding aid. Also appended is Muschenheim's list of projects (numbered 1-189).
13.5 linear feet (in 15 boxes) — 7 folders
Current results range from 1876 to 2017