Category Archives: library

archive, exhibition, library, special collections

Then and Now: The Library of the School of Architecture

Throughout its 100-year history, the Architecture & Planning Library has been an integral part of the School of Architecture, providing services and collections for information and inspiration.  In tandem with the School, the library has grown and changed to meet the needs of its users—students, faculty, scholars, and the community.

A new exhibit – Then and Now: The Library of the School of Architecture – gives an overview of the library’s history as it developed from a faculty collection, to an established library in 1912, and then how it moved along with the School to its new locations.  Featured are interesting examples of how services and collections have expanded and stories about how people have contributed to their library and archive.

Artifacts from the Alexander Architectural Archive
Photographed by Parker Doelling

The exhibition – on view in Architecture & Planning Library Reading Room in Battle Hall through March, 2011 – is being held in conjunction with the School of Architecture’s centennial celebration 100: Traces & Trajectories exhibition.

Producing a centennial exhibit is a momentous occasion.  The challenge proves that some things never change: it reflects the efforts of an expert staff, dedicated students, the tireless hours of our volunteers, including co-curator Sarah Cleary.

All items on exhibit are from the vast collections of the Architecture and Planning Library and its Alexander Architectural Archive, as well as images courtesy of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

Visit the Flickr slideshow to enjoy more images from the exhibition.

Beth Dodd is Head Librarian for the Architecture & Planning Library at The University of Texas at Austin.

Special Collections at the Architecture & Planning Library
Photographed by Parker Doelling

library, special collections

Florence sketchbook of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1910

The Architecture & Planning Library recently acquired a limited edition facsimile of the Florence sketchbook of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1910, the manuscript sketchbook by Frank Lloyd Wright which served as the maquette or layout for the famous Wasmuth portfolio of 1910 entitled Ausgeführte Bauten Entwürfe von Frank Lloyd Wright [Studies and Executed Buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright].

This sketchbook has never been published before.  Therefore, it will be a very important addition to our collections and will greatly complement our holdings of several editions of the Wasmuth portfolio.  To learn more about these and other Frank Lloyd Wright materials in our collections read Kathryn Pierce’s entry in Shelflife@Texas.

Florence Sketchbook of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1910
Florence Sketchbook of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1910
library, special collections

Architectural Drawing, Now and Then

“In the School of Architecture at the University of Texas, there are drawings from casts, in pencil and in charcoal. The importance of skill in drawing and of appreciation of true proportion make this character of training as necessary for the architect as it is for any other art student.”
So begins an article that sounds like it could have been written yesterday—drawing is a major component of UT’s architecture program. However, this text was published in November 1914 in a journal called Southern Architect and Building News—long before any computer programs could help with those drawings!

Southern Architect and Building News
UT’s earliest issue of Southern Architect, 1892

As it turns out, the Architecture and Planning Library Special Collections has 106 unique issues from Southern Architect’s 1889-1932 run, more than any other institution. In addition to historical article content, the journals are heavy on advertisements, providing a fascinating look at the building materials and products available at the turn of the century.
With the generous support of School of Architecture alum Steph McDougal and her business, McDoux Preservation, we have begun an initiative to index and digitize the journal. We’re developing a work plan, manual and database, and we’ll be needing volunteers soon! Contact Beth Dodd if you’d like to help us make this valuable resource more accessible.
By Amanda Keys, processing assistant in the Alexander Architectural Archive and School of Information student focusing on archival enterprise and special collections

EDITOR’S UPDATE: For an update on the Southern Architect and Building News project, see https://blogs.lib.utexas.edu/aplhighlights/2016/03/17/southern-architect-and-building-news-update/

library, News Items

Special Collections – Summer 2010

During the 2010 summer session, the Architecture and Planning Library has initiated a number of projects that will provide greater access to the content located in the library’s special collections. Supported by the John Green Taylor Endowment and through the generous service of volunteers, these projects will promote special collections use by enhancing collection records and marketing its contents.

Graduate students from a number of disciplines are currently working to index individual collections, generate more comprehensive provenance notes, and develop web content that facilitates collection navigation. These projects are part of an ongoing effort to expose the rich and diverse materials held in the library’s special collections.

With over 20,000 volumes, special collections comprise almost 1/5th of the library’s holdings and function as an invaluable resource for scholars in the disciplines of architecture, art and architectural history, landscape architecture, community and regional planning, building technology and construction science.

library

Sustainable Architecture In Vorarlberg

Sustainable Architecture in VoralbergSustainable Architecture in Vorarlberg by Ulrich Dangel

Earth Day is celebrating its 40th anniversary on April 22, 2010. This once-a-year event galvanizes millions of individuals across the world to help make the planet a cleaner, more sustainable, place to live.

Architects play a crucial role in this effort, helping to solve such issues as urban sprawl and density, environmental impact of building projects, energy performance of buildings, affordable housing, social equity and sustainable technology.

In his book, Sustainable Architecture in Vorarlberg, Ulrich Dangel, assistant professor of architecture at The University of Texas at Austin, discusses the regional building style in Vorarlberg, an Austrian city known for its sustainable construction methods that have culminated into a model for architecture worldwide.

Dangel will have a book signing from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, May 6 at Domy Books located at 913 East Ceasar Chavez, Austin, Texas.

By Amy Crossette, Director Public Affairs for School of Architecture, School of Information.

This book is available at the Architecture & Planning Library.

exhibition, library, News Items

JOURNALS ON(_)LINE(S)

Joshua Bailey, fourth-year architecture student and library student associate, stands behind the mobile he designed for the Architecture and Planning Library.

The UT Austin Architecture and Planning Library (APL) recently installed a two-story mobile in the grand stairwell of Battle Hall.

The installation is intended to raise awareness about electronic journals made available through the University of Texas Libraries that focus on subjects related to the research needs of School of Architecture students, faculty, and staff.

Almost one-third of the 215 journal subscriptions at the APL are available online. The mobile is proportioned to represent this trend—quarter-scale booklets represent journal titles that can be found in print, while the symbol @e is used to represent electronic journals.

Together, the objects hanging in the stairwell illustrate technology’s impact on journal publication and the transitional tension between printed and digital media.

The Journals On(_)line(s) installation, designed by architecture senior Josh Bailey, was funded in part by the School of Architecture’s John Greene Taylor Endowment for Collections Enhancement and the University of Texas Libraries.

library, News Items

Charles W. Moore Room opens

A new room dedicated to the career and work of the internationally renowned architect, Charles W. Moore, has just opened in the General Libraries Architecture and Planning Library within historic Battle Hall on The University of Texas at Austin campus. The Charles W. Moore Room will house the Charles W. Moore Archives donated to the General Libraries Architectural Drawings Collection in the fall of 1996 by Lawrence, David, Steven, and Bruce Weingarten, nephews of Mr. Moore. Two adjacent rooms have also been made available to provide work and storage space for preservation activities relating to the Moore Archives.

The Charles W. Moore Archives includes watercolors, drawings, prints, material related to professional projects, slides, photographs and audio visual materials, correspondence, material related to his teaching career, books and other publications, and a group of twelve memory palaces.

The memory palaces are a group of free-standing constructions in various materials that illustrate a range of architectural concepts such as “walls that layer,” “light that plays,” “aedicules that center,” and “space that leaks in and out.” The memory palaces are approximately ten feet tall and several feet wide. Eight of the memory palaces are currently on display in the Architecture and Planning Library Reading Room in Battle Hall and another two are on permanent display in the Charles W. Moore Room.

With the exception of the books and the memory palaces mentioned above, all of the archival materials from this gift will be housed in the Charles W. Moore Room. The books will be catalogued as part of the Architecture and Planning Library, but will remain in the Charles W. Moore House, operated by the Charles W. Moore Foundation and located at 2102 Quarry Road in west Austin. The book collection consists of approximately 5,000 volumes and 1,000 issues of professional journals. The books are primarily twentieth-century imprints, mainly about Mexican, European, Japanese, American, and regional architecture, gardens, photography, history, literature, and fiction. There is also a selection of children’s pop-up books.

It is estimated that it will take several years to fully process and catalog this extensive collection of materials. Access to the Charles W. Moore Room and the materials within the Archives is by appointment only.