Architectural Drawings and Records

"Architectural drawings come both before the [building] in order to predict what it may be like and also after it to describe what it is or was. Thus they are relevant to the entire cycle of design, construction, and evolution of a building." What Gerald Allen and Richard Oliver said in their book Architectural Drawing: The Art and the Process is true not only for architectural drawings but for all forms of architectural record. Whether they are preliminary sketches, working drawings, or building specifications, these records provide important information about the extant built environment as well as about structures that are no longer in existence. Buildings are not static but evolve and change over time, adjusting to changes in use and/or stylistic trends. They may be renovated, added on to, moved, or destroyed. Their original use may be altered or changed completely. Because of this, architectural records often provide the only evidence of what once was and what changes have been made.

The Kansas Collection's architectural records holdings include building specifications, business records, and numerous types of drawings—plans, elevations, perspectives, presentations, renderings. The size of an individual collection may range from several drawings of a single building to hundreds of drawings representing the career of an individual or firm. In addition to work produced by architects and architectural firms, there are also drawings and reports by students of architecture and individuals involved in historic preservation. Records range from the early 1860s to the present day and cover everything from private homes to business and institutional buildings and from small rural structures to large urban complexes.

Although some types of architectural records, such as specifications, are subject to the same sort of preservation problems associated with other forms of manuscripts and printed materials, architectural drawings pose additional challenges. Original drawings must be stored separately from printed forms because of the deleterious chemicals used in the reproduction of drawings. Drafting ink and pencil, the two most common architectural rendering media, are susceptible to smearing and fading. Whenever possible, drawings are stored flat in metal cases. Oversized drawings are loosely rolled with an interleaving of acid-free stock protecting each roll.

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