Canadian Architectural Archives

Canadian Architectural Archives

The Canadian Architectural Archives was established in 1975 as a joint initiative between the University Library and the Faculty of Environmental Design. The Shrinking Maze: Report of the University Program Review Committee, 1980 recommended that the Library continue its collecting activities with an emphasis on the archives of Canadian creativity which included architecture and design.

The Canadian Architectural Archives is a national research resource that collects the work of Canadian architects.

The mandate of the Canadian Architectural Archives is to collect the work of Canadian architects and architectural firms of regional, national, and international significance.

The Canadian Architectural Archives is one of four units in Archives and Special Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources.

Architectural collections focus on Canadian architecture and emphasize the total documentation of an architectural firm and architectural and design practice. Collections are mainly acquired by donation and may include drawings, textual records, photographs, models, and oral history tapes and transcripts.

The Canadian Architectural Archives is located in the LEED Gold certified Taylor Family Digital Library with holdings in state-of-the-art storage facilities in both the Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL) and the High Density Library (HDL).

Inclusive Dates: 1892- current
Predominant Dates: 1950 - 1980
The Canadian Architectural Archives was established in 1975 as a joint initiative of the University Library and the Faculty of Environmental Design with the mandate of collecting the work of Canadian architects. Most collections are acquired by donation and emphasize the entire output of an architectural practice in order to document design and architectural practice, as well as documenting the work of the firm itself. The CAA's holdings are extensive, and focus on the drawings and documents of 20th and 21st century Canadian architectural firms. The collections may consist of drawings, project and office files, models, photographs, and oral history tapes and transcripts. It attracts researchers and scholars from a regional, national and international and interdisciplinary research base and also serve the needs of practicing architects, architectural historians, and others concerned with the documentation of the built environment.

A list of holdings is available at: http://asc.ucalgary.ca/caa
Digital collections are available at: https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll5

Monday - Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Monday – Friday 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 pm (summer hours)
Closed statutory holidays and between Christmas and the New Year.

Please contact the archives at least 1 business day prior to visiting. Many of our collections are offsite and we require time to retrieve them from our vaults prior to clients accessing them.

Materials can be accessed in the Glenbow Western Research Centre (GWRC) on the second floor of the Taylor Family Digital Library.
The GWRC has several computers that researchers can use to access the internet. One of these computers has a microform reader to view materials.

Information regarding reproduction services is available at: http://asc.ucalgary.ca/services

The Taylor Family Digital Library has a cafe and vending machines on the first floor. More food options are available in MacEwan Hall.