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
1 linear foot
This collection primarily reflects Olencki's work as a practicing architect, but also contains some materials related to his research interest in church design, and his association with Mies van der Rohe.
16 linear feet — 2000 drawings (in 12 drawers; architectural drawings) — 1.8 GB (online)
The Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers researchers the opportunity to study the personal, professional and faculty papers and conceptual sketches of one of the masters of American modern architecture, whose career spans the second half of the twentieth century. The collection encompasses 15 linear feet of Birkerts' student work, notes and transcripts of speeches, lectures and interviews, video and audio tapes, writings, correspondence, awards, travel diaries, academic course materials, photographs and project records. Perhaps the greatest significance of this collection lies in its presentation of over 1900 drawings of 122 buildings and projects by the architect's own hand, many of which are valuable, early conceptual sketches.
In its pairing of narrative and visual documents, the Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers a rich perspective on the architect himself, illuminating his views on the creative process and the resulting conceptual designs which have defined his expressive architecture over his illustrious fifty-plus-year career. The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is the architect's deeply personal legacy. He recognizes that, while some of his buildings may be demolished over time, his original conceptual designs on paper are conserved here for future generations to study and enjoy. To this end, he has endowed the Gunnar Birkerts Collection to ensure that his drawings will be preserved and that his place in architectural history can be studied and understood.
The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is comprised of six series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Project Records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. The narrative and visual documents in these series illuminate the full breadth of the architect's life and work, from his early years as a student at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany in the 1940s to his career in Michigan as an internationally acclaimed architect, esteemed design professor and global lecturer from the early 1950s to the present.
16 linear feet — 2000 drawings (in 12 drawers; architectural drawings) — 1.8 GB (online)
4.5 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Leonard K. Eaton papers document his career as a professor of architectural history at the University of Michigan and reflect his interest in seventeenth-century Dutch architecture and the Chicago school of architecture. The papers cover the years 1950-1988 and reflect Eaton's activities as architectural historian, student advisor, author, and participant in architectural professional groups.
The Eaton papers have come to the library in three accessions. The first in 1988 came from Mr. Eaton; the second in 1996 consisted of materials that he had donated to the University of Michigan Art and Architecture Library and which they subsequently transferred to the Bentley Library. The third accession contained some topical files and material related to the Palmer House in Ann Arbor. The first accession has been retained in its original order and consists of five series: Correspondence, Topical Files, College Term Papers written by Leonard Eaton, Student Papers written by Eaton Students, and Photographs
The Correspondence series is arranged alphabetically and consists mainly of outgoing letters. Of special interest is the exchange of letters with Lewis Mumford dating from the late 1950s. Topical Files consists of notes and drafts of Eaton's published articles, which have been arranged by title. Also included in this series are articles relating to the landscape architect Jens Jensen as well as notes and published writings from the 2004 accession. College Term Papers written by Eaton series is arranged alphabetically. Mainly undated, these papers reflect Eaton's interest in literature, art and political theory. Student papers written by Eaton students series focuses on Michigan buildings and architecture. The Photographs series includes photographs used in his research on Dutch architecture and a Flint, Michigan, public housing project.
Current results range from 1876 to 2017