The Art Institute of Chicago
Department of Architecture
Collecting, Archiving and
Exhibiting Digital Design Data
Section 1:
Current State of Digital Design
Tools and Data
Introduction
Background
Museums and archival institutions have for some time identified a looming problem: As more and more
production and communication in all fields move to the digital realm, archives must include digital data to be
complete. Yet, traditional archiving methods do not adequately handle digital objects, and the complexity of
digital hardware, software and data formats requires new areas of expertise. When the curatorial Department of
Architecture of The Art Institute of Chicago launched this study to determine how the department could collect,
archive, preserve and present digital design data, it was a bold and unprecedented undertaking.
The department contains one of the foremost architectural collections in the United States: over 120,000 plans,
drawings, architectural fragments and models. Founded in 1981, the department has produced an impressive
list of award-winning exhibitions and publications. It has also demonstrated a focus on not only the object, but
also the creative process that produced that particular object, in that place, at that time.
“Those [drawings] that have found their way into museums or archival collections, moreover, have traditionally
been considered as either tools of instruction or curiosities. Yet, because these drawings have been preserved,
studied, and exhibited, as happens increasingly today, they provide information about an architect’s intentions
that a constructed building, or photographs or written descriptions of it, simply cannot. Only in drawings do we
witness those initial ideas that provide insight into the creative process. Only through a series of development
drawings can we trace the evolution of design or study the changes imposed through compromises with a
client, subsequent additions, or remodeling.”1
Thus, t