The records of Indiana's architectural history are deteriorating rapidly through benign neglect, digital file corruption, and disposal from architectural firms across the state. The solution for reducing the amount of important work lost to time or the dumpster is to identify these at risk resources and to expand the architectural archives best able to protect these types of records.  You can help the Drawings + Documents Archive at Ball State University identify at risk resources in Indiana by taking their three-minute survey and letting them know if you have documents in your storage areas in need of preservation.

 

As the only archives dedicated to preserving the history of Indiana's built environment, the Drawings + Documents Archive at Ball State University currently works to preserve these records by collecting and providing access to thousands of architectural and landscape architectural renderings, sketches, photographs, and documents by Indiana architects and landscape architects from the 19th century to yesterday. The Drawings + Documents Archive supports 1,000 research questions every year that aid architects working on adaptive reuse projects, students writing their graduate theses, and landscape architects researching historic landscapes. Improving collections and environmental concerns will enhance the capabilities of practitioners in the field and improve the quality of primary source literacy education at CAP.  In this regard, the archives is prepared to become the repository for all Indiana built environment records and a consistent point of contact for CAP alumni and architects and other designers and planners in Indiana and across the country.

 

Once the Drawings + Documents Archive at Ball State University has determined the overall need, their process will include the pursuit of funding to complete digitization of drawings and models, as well as to create expanded storage, display and interpretation opportunities for at risk collections.

 

CLICK HERE to complete the online assessment of drawings, models and related artifacts that reside at your office or in your possession that you think should be considered for preservation. Representatives from Ball State will follow up to conduct further assessment and begin the preservation efforts.

The symposium is scheduled for May 18, 2017, at Butler University. In this age of declining enrollments, ever-increasing pressure to resist tuition increases, and reduced funding from state governments and other sources, planners are challenged to identify alternative approaches for funding facilities and providing campus services. CLICK HERE to learn more and to register.