The American Archivist / Vol. 43, No. 3 / Summer 1980 325

The Provenance and Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 Preservation of Architectural Records

ALAN K. LATHROP

ARCHITECTURAL RECORDS are the doc- Architectural records have existed uments created in the course of de- since very ancient times. They have signing a building, as well as those gen- been found in Egypt and Sumeria erally documenting the construction of etched on clay tablets and limestone a building.1 Historically, they have em- flakes or drawn on papyrus sheets. anated from both the design and the Specifications, called syngraphai, sur- construction processes, primarily serv- vive from Hellenistic Greece, and Ro- ing the purpose of conveying abstract man houses have been unearthed with ideas and intentions to clients and fanciful architectural perspectives builders for transformation into three- painted on their interior walls.2 Draw- dimensional reality. More recently, they ings and models are mentioned in sur- have resulted from the growing num- viving accounts from China as early as bers of laws, ordinances, and codes by the fifth century A.D. A temple draw- which governments regulate architec- ing from the eighth century, executed ture, development, and construction. on hempen cloth, exists in Japan.3 Building permits, tax records, even In medieval Europe, architects were city planning maps, constitute archi- primarily technicians, skilled in the tectural records in the broadest sense building arts. Working largely anony- of the term. The following, however, mously in a time that mirrored our will be solely concerned with the kinds own—brutal, pragmatic, contempla- of records that originate in private ar- tive—their buildings were not valued chitectural firms, especially drawings as works of art, but rather for the func- and reproductions of drawings (prints), tions that took place in them.4 Few the nature of the media on which they drawings were necessary. In close touch are produced, and their potential per- with the workmen, the architects ishability. worked at the sites where they could

1 I am following a definition put forth by John Harvey, to which I subscribe wholeheartedly. John H. Harvey, "Architectural Archives," Archives 2 (Lady Day, 1954): 117. 2 J. J. Coulton, Ancient Greek Architects at Work (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977), pp. 68-72. 3 Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1971), vol. 4, pt. 3: 106-7. 4 Jean Gimpel, The Medieval Machine (New York: Penguin Books, 1977), pp. 114—46; Barbara Tuch- man, A Distant Mirror (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), pp. xiii-xx; J. Bronowski, A Sense of the Future (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1977), pp. 8-9. 326 The American Archivist / Summer 1980

improvise as necessary without having The transmutation of the architect to sketch out their ideas in detail. The from technician to artist found confir- few drawings that were made, like mation in the establishment of the their counterparts today, were in- Royal Academy of Architects, at Paris, tended simply to convey information in 1671. Founded to train architects, Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 and were not meant to be preserved; it concentrated on education in design therefore, very few have survived. The theory; and subsequently this tradition oldest extant architectural plan is that was passed on to the academy's suc- for the abbey of St. Gall, drawn with cessor, the highly influential Ecole des red ink on parchment in about the Beaux-Arts, in 1797. The Ecole taught year 820. After 1100, architects pro- aspiring young architects to be com- duced what were actually engineering petitive and systematic artists and to plans and elevations on boards or slabs seek the true elements of design in of plaster at the construction sites, wip- Greek, Roman, and Baroque forms. ing them clean after their usefulness After 1865, the rise of industriali- had ended, thereby casually destroy- zation had brought a concomitant need ing their creations.5 for new management techniques that The Renaissance brought a pro- could deal more efficiently and suc- found change in attitudes. Art became cessfully with both the operation of valued for its own sake, not as a means large businesses and the problems to an end; and along with the new em- raised by their complex activities.7 phasis came architects who viewed Taking their cue from big business, themselves less as technicians, engi- first the engineering profession and neers, or craftsmen than as artists. Be- then the architects adopted new man- cause they were no longer trained in agerial practices, which made possible the building arts and spent less time at the employment of numerous special- the construction sites, they were forced ists directed or coordinated by a man- to rely more heavily upon drawings to ager or superintendent. communicate their ideas. The result "Architectural factories" appeared was that more drawings had to be pro- in the late nineteenth century with duced, and so more have survived. At staffs in excess of one hundred per- the same time, the public developed a sons, most of them specialists in a sin- respect for these men as artists and gle function—estimating, design, legal began to value their drawings as works problems, mechanical systems, sanita- of art; and as art the drawings were tion, structural engineering, or the preserved. Many drawings were repro- writing of specifications.8 These large duced in engravings and widely mar- organizations had the advantage of keted.6 being able to attract and execute grow-

5 John Hooper Harvey, The Mediaeval Architect (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1972), p. 102. 6 N. Cross, The Automated Architect (London: Pion Ltd., 1977), pp. 9, 155-57. 7 See Alfred D. Chandler, The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (Cam- bridge: The Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, 1977). 8 One such firm was Daniel Burnham's office in Chicago, which became a sterling example of big business in architecture. He once said to Louis H. Sullivan: "My idea is to work up a big business, to handle big things, deal with big businessmen, and to build up an organization, for you can't handle big things unless you have an organization" (Wayne Andrews, Architecture, Ambition, and Americans [New York: The Free Press, 1978], p. 204). See also Carl W. Condit, The Chicago School of Architecture (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964), pp. 108—15. Architectural Records 327

ing numbers of commissions for very also being responsible for the financial large and technologically complex operations of the office.11 buildings, because of the overwhelm- The designer might or might not ing amount of specialized talent they be a member of the firm. If he was an could bring readily to bear on such employee or a principal, it would be Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 projects. The architecture profession his duty to produce concept sketches in this country became capitalistic, op- of the prospective building after dis- erated primarily as a profit-making en- cussing the limitations with the busi- terprise after 1865, interested in ac- ness partner and the client. Concept quiring and producing as much work sketches would usually be large per- as possible in order to accumulate spective drawings of the finished greater profits rather than in perpet- building and would form the basis for uating artistry. As in the Middle Ages, the later elevations drafted as part of architects once again became techni- the working drawings. However, free- cians as they searched for innovative lance designers also existed; these "ar- ways to use the new methods and ma- chitects' artists" sometimes were terials which technological progress moonlighting while employed as brought.9 Their methods of operation draftsmen, or they simply set up in- and the types of records they gener- dependent offices to produce designs ated foreshadowed those in common for architect clients.12 At least one en- use today. terprising individual is known to have The principal partners in these large won a number of competitions for his firms usually divided their responsibil- clients, after which his services were ities and delegated others. No longer usually terminated.13 In all situations, could one person supervise every one the work only went out over the name of the operations taking place, and of the employing architects. Rarely managers of the several divisions were were the designers, if other than the required.10 One principal, for exam- firm's principal, credited with the de- ple, might create or supervise the for- sign. mulation of designs while another was At the same time, in another part of the business partner, with the chief re- the office, the specifications and con- sponsibility for attracting clients, ascer- tracts were prepared. Specifications taining from the clients the lot size and are written instructions to the contrac- building design and cost limitations, tor supplementing the working draw- scheduling the beginning and comple- ings with information pertaining to tion of construction, determining the details of workmanship, fabrication, fees to be charged for producing the and materials. Contracts were also drawings and other documents, while written and issued from the architect's

9 Brent C. Brolin, The Failure of Modern Architecture (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1976), p. 14. 10 Bernard Michael Boyle, "Architectural Practice in America, 1865-1965—Ideal and Reality," in The Architect: Chapters in the History of the Profession, Spiro Kostof, ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), p. 314. 12 See Eileen Manning Michels, "A Developmental Study of the Drawings Published in American Architect and in Inland Architect through 1895" (Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota, 1971). This aspect of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century architectural practice has never been thoroughly explored. Michels is probably the best source for a preliminary overview of the question. 13 William G. Purcell, "Forgotten Builders—The Nation's Voice," Northwest Architect 8, nos. 6 and 7 (1944): 5. 328 The American Archivist / Summer 1980 office, embodying terms agreed to by skipped; and then the framing draw- the architect, the client, the contractor, ings were assigned numbers, again and the subcontractors, relating to consecutively. After that, more num- work performance, payment of fees, bers were skipped, then the plumbing

liabilities, and deadlines. set was inserted, followed by the me- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 Engineers and specialists in sanita- chanicals and electricals, if necessary. tion, mechanical, and electrical systems (A later innovation prefixed the var- also worked on their special aspects of ious sets after the general with letters the plan. The drawings for these com- denoting contents: M for mechanical, ponents of the building were made in S for structural, etc.) Perkins recom- the respective divisions of the office or mended that a book index be kept for in the office of a consulting engineer all the drawings with their numbers, who might be retained by smaller firms. sheet titles, draftsmen's names, dates, Coordinating all of the functions in the and the drawer or box where the office was the general foreman, who drawings were stored. There would also worked with the client and the also be space for noting who checked contractor: out the drawings.16 It is doubtful that many firms actually reached this level He must be informed about all work in of sophistication in the organization of design and under construction. He has no their records. architectural or technical functions. He be- In-house filing systems were consid- comes unpopular with draftsmen by get- ting them to hurry, is unpopular with the ered very important. Current sets, client who wants work to progress faster. . . those for buildings under design or and still must remain cheerful and cour- construction, would be kept in drawers teous.14 or boxes in the drafting room, with their contents clearly labeled. Old orig- By 1890 the efficient office was also inals were rolled, tagged, and ar- expected to have an efficient organi- ranged in the vault alphabetically by zational system for its plans and other building name. Correspondence would documents. A contemporary explana- be kept in letter file boxes while con- tion of the recommended system, as tracts were bundled in alphabetical or- proposed by H. E. Perkins, gave an in- der and placed in the vault. Specifica- dication of the kinds of records valued tions were also boxed and filed by job. most by architects (judging by the level The functions of the nineteenth- of sophistication of the retrieval sys- century architectural office and the tems), and demonstrated how the var- records generated by those functions ious types of documents were identi- persist substantially unchanged into 15 fied. the present day. Draftsmen still pro- For the general set of tracings, those duce working drawings, specifications depicting the floor plans, elevations, writers still prepare written instruc- and structural and ornamental scale tions for contractors (although both details, each sheet was numbered con- are much more voluminous and com- secutively. Several numbers were plex than they were ninety years ago),

14 H. E. Perkins, "System in Architects' Offices," The Inland Architect fc? News Record 17 (Feb. 1891): 3. ls Ibid., "The Management of an Architect's Office," The American Architect and Building News 33 (5 Sept. 1891): 149. 16 Perkins,"System in Architect's Offices," p. 3. Architectural Records 329 contracts continue to be vitally impor- chitect's Handbook of Professional Prac- tant but are now drawn on standard- tice.1" ized forms published by the American The proliferation of architectural Institute of Architects (AIA), and cor- records in the twentieth century, both

respondence flows between architects in type and in numbers, presents ar- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 and contractors and clients, although chivists with formidable problems of probably in far less volume than do preservation. Unfortunately, little re- telephone calls which go largely unre- liable information is available about corded. New kinds of records—nota- the perishability of architectural rec- bly microfilm, and those arising from ords from the past 100 years. A small modern reproduction methods and amount of basic information is avail- from computers—have proliferated in able in published sources on the na- the twentieth century and appear with ture of materials used by architects, increasing frequency in collections of past and present; this information per- architects' papers. mits a few tentative conclusions to be The theories and organization be- made regarding potential preservabil- hind modern architectural practices ity. have undergone a significant change It is known, for example, that draft- in recent decades. Teamwork and col- ing cloth (commonly called linen), usu- laboration are once again the key- ally a linen or cotton fabric which has stones of the success of contemporary been starched and calendared, on architectural firms.17 The large office which the permanent tracings were is today the rule rather than the ex- made, is extremely durable and can ception; and, just as in the late nine- withstand a great deal of abuse. One teenth-century firm, it is extremely should be warned, however, that mold difficult, if not impossible, for one per- will grow on it and vermin and insects son to oversee every operation or to will devour it. Also, because drafting possess sufficient depth of knowledge cloth is heavily starched (sized), ink will to handle all the complex tasks re- not soak into it; therefore, the sizing quired to design a contemporary and the ink are not permanent and building beyond the size and scale of may be washed off or smeared if a one-family house. In fact, difficulty moistened. Drafting cloth is seldom in achieving team effort for perfor- used today because of its high cost and mance of work is one of the disadvan- limited availability and because most tages of sole proprietorship, as the states have gradually dropped the re- AIA points out to architects in its Ar- quirement that permanent copies of

17 Contemporary architectural practice is a manifestation of the teachings and theories of Walter Gropius. German-born, Gropius became director of the Bauhaus School in Weimar in 1919, in which students embraced all of the fine arts and united them with industrial living and machine technology. Unlike the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (whose methods were despised by the Bauhaus) where students worked alone on design studies in intense competition with their colleagues, the Bauhaus emphasized teamwork. Collaboration with people with special skills was, for Gropius, the most practical way of solving design problems. In 1933, the Nazis closed the school and Gropius fled to England, later coming to the United States to head the architecture school at Harvard University. It was not long before his ideas took root in this country as his students went out into the world, and within his lifetime he not only saw his theories completely supplant the Beaux-Arts theories and become uni- versally accepted in architectural schools, but his concept of teamwork become the modus operandi in most contemporary firms as well. 18 "The Architect's Office," Chapter 6 in AIA Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice (Wash- ington: American Institute of Architects, 1971), p. 3. 330 The American Archivist/ Summer 1980 architects' and engineers' plans on cause the coating is only bonded to the drafting cloth be deposited with build- surface of the polyester stock and not ing inspection departments. infused into it, the permanence of the In its place architects have turned, base should remain unharmed by the in the past twenty-five years, to coated application of the coating. The whole Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 polyester drafting films, which are question of permanence of coated cheaper to manufacture than drafting polyester drafting films, however, is cloth and which appear to have good still in doubt and deserves more inten- stability, lasting for many years if given sive investigation. proper care. Drafting films range in Architects have been using vellum, thickness from 2 to 20 mil., are trans- also, since at least the 1920s. This is a lucent (and so can be readily copied or drafting paper of 100 percent rag printed), and have a surface coated stock base originally impregnated with with matte lacquer and a gelatin "sub" vegetable or mineral oil for creation of to accept drafting with a hard lead a tough, hard-surfaced but translucent pencil. The pencil image will smudge, finish. Oil treatment was abandoned however, and so should be protected, about twenty-five years ago after it was perhaps through encapsulation. The discovered that oil-treated paper dried most popular thicknesses in use by ar- out and became brittle within a few chitects are 3, 5, 4, and 7 mil., in that years.21 Older vellum, then, will not be order. The permanence of coated permanently durable. Newer vellum is drafting films remains somewhat in treated with plastic resin which gives doubt. The Library of Congress has the same quality of translucence to the found that uncoated polyester films in paper but which is likely to remain sta- general will deteriorate if exposed for ble with very slight yellowing and no long periods to strong alkaline solu- brittleness for at least twenty-five to tions, such as ammonia, and to ultra- fifty years.22 Stress standards estab- violet radiation. In aging tests equiva- lished by the federal government re- lent to several hundred years quire that vellum maintain 50 percent conducted on 3, 4, and 5 mil. uncoated of its fold characteristics after being polyester films, the Library found "lit- heated at 212 degrees F. for seventy- tle or no reduction in flexibility or two hours ( = 25 years), and most vel- brightness."19 The U.S. government lum manufactured today exceeds these specifies that the drafting films it pur- standards.23 chases must not incur an increase in The preservation of prints, which opacity (yellowing) of more than 5 per- are copies of drawings and other kinds cent after an accelerated aging test in of architectural records reproduced by which the material is heated at 212 de- photographic processes, is the most grees F. for ten hours.20 It appears that likely problem for archivists. Prints are this test is all that is required and is the almost always destroyed if the originals standard for most of the industry. Be- from which they were made still exist

19 "Polyester Film Encapsulation," Library of Congress Publications on Conservation of Library Materials, Conservation Workshop Notes on Evolving Procedures, Series 300, No. 5, p. 2. (Working Draft, Aug. 1977). 20 "Plastic Sheet Tracing, Glazed and Matte Finish," Federal Specification L-P-519C. 21 Information supplied by Chuck Heller, Marketing Division, Dietzgen Corp., Des Plaines, Illinois. 22 Information supplied by Research & Development Division, Dietzgen Corp, Des Plaines, Illinois. 23 "Paper, Tracing," Federal Specification UU-P-561. Architectural Records 331 or if the prints contain no additional factured in Germany and France; but information; but often prints are the in 1912 the U.S. Navy adopted rigid sole remaining record, or they bear in- specifications for stock, thereby en- formation not found on the original couraging the manufacture of high working drawings, such as pencilled quality American blueprint paper.26 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 notations by contractors (sometimes An early description of the new termed "as built annotations"). The "blue" copying process was given in archivist is then faced with the choice an issue of The American Architect and of either preserving the print or re- Building News in 1878: producing it in a less fragile, more per- manent format. The only apparatus needed are a drawing The blueprint process was adopted board, a piece of clear glass plate, say early on as the simplest and most tech- three-eighths of an inch thick of the same nologically feasible for almost all sizes size, and a piece of felt or blanket ... to of drawings. Because it was the first make the copy, the sensitized paper is widely-popular method of reproduc- placed upon the board with one or two tion, the word has erroneously ac- thicknesses of blanket under it. Over it is laid the tracing which is to be reproduced, quired a generic meaning among per- and this in turn is covered by the glass sons inside and outside the architecture plate, which may be brought to an even profession to apply to any kind of pho- bearing by joiners' screws if necessary. To tocopying process. The principles in- print the copy it is only necessary to expose volved in sensitizing blueprint paper the apparatus to the light, for half or three were discovered in France in about quarters of an hour if clear sunlight is to 1725 and perfected by Sir John Her- be had, or if the day is cloudy the exposure schel in England in 1842. In the sen- must continue for an hour and a half. sitizing process, the original drawing When the glass is removed the body of the was brought into contact with paper paper will be found to have changed its sensitized by a solution of potassium color to a deeper bronze, while the lines of the tracing are found to be darker still. As ferricyanide and ferric ammonium ci- 24 soon as the glass is removed the copy trate. The solution could be mixed in should be thoroughly washed for a minute the architect's office and the paper or two in clean water, the effect of which stock dampened with it on one side, is to turn the background blue, leaving the making the paper light-sensitive. One lines in white.27 who watched this process recalled that the blueprinter's hands became Early on, frames which held stained from applying the solution in the tracing, print paper, glass, and felt a darkroom, and chapped from wash- became a common fixture in archi- ing the prints in cold water.25 Many tects' offices. architects, however, preferred to buy This method of producing blue- their paper stock ready-made. For prints remained essentially unchanged many years the best paper was manu- until the introduction of blueprinting

24 F. B. Hays, "Blueprint Paper: Its Manufacture and Some of Its Characteristics," Scientific Amer- ican Supplement 75 (18 Jan. 1913): 45. 25 J. Norman Jensen, "The Early History of Blueprinting," Architectural Record 71 (May 1932): 335. 26 By 1930 at least twenty-four companies were producing sensitized paper stock. Donald K. Wal- lace, A Nation-Wide Survey of the Blue Print and Allied Industries (Washington: Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 1933). 27 "The 'Blue' Copying Process," The American Architect and Building News 4 (3 Aug. 1878): 44. 332 The American Archivist/ Summer 1980 machines near the turn of the century stand immersion in water and rough when the process was mechanized and handling, not all papers were made to artificial light was substituted for sun- this standard.30 A sample of blueprint light. Blueprinting machines featured paper from about 1920 was submitted a drum, at first made of wood and by the author to the New England Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 later of metal, around which the trac- Document Conservation Center in ing and the sensitized paper moved. North Andover, Massachusetts, for an An electric motor turned the drum accelerated aging test. It was found to and the motion fed the tracing and be stable, with only a slight acid con- print paper into the machine. A trav- tent.31 Because it came from the col- elling apron of transparent material lection of an architectural firm of replaced the glass of the old-fashioned moderate financial success in its day, printing frames. At a certain point on a firm that would not ordinarily be ex- the drum, the tracing, print stock, and pected to purchase the most expensive apron of transparent material were all stock, it is thought that the paper sam- brought together under pressure and ple is typical of average-priced stock exposed to a high-intensity light source available in 1920. (arc lamps), and the exposure was Tests carried out in 1917 concluded made on the blueprint stock. The trac- that paper coated by machine was ing and the exposed print dropped out more likely to be damaged and weak- into a box in front of the machine, the ened by faster speeds and higher tem- print having been exposed and washed peratures than that coated by hand. all in one operation. The blueprint pa- Similarly, blueprints made by machine per was kept on long rolls attached to were found to deteriorate faster be- the upper front of the machine and cause of the injurious effects of too could be cut to any length.28 Drawings much heat (to speed the drying pro- of enormous length and up to fifty- cess) and inadequate washing, usually four inches wide would be printed on the sensitized side only, that left conveniently and rapidly. A serious harmful chemical deposits on the pa- shortcoming of the blueprint is that, pers. Also, any paper improperly sized because it is a wet process, the paper before sensitization would suffer from stretches and so the scale of the fin- the absorption, if only in small ished print is distorted and therefore amounts, of the sensitizing solution unreliable.29 into the paper fibers, leading to break- The preservability of blueprint pa- down and weakness.32 pers may pose a preservation problem Although it is, of course, impossible because they vary widely in quality. to determine today whether a blue- Although it was once recommended print was produced by hand or ma- that such papers be 100 percent rag chine (most after 1900 are probably stock, free of chemical impurities, and machine-made), archivists should be have sufficient tensile strength to with- aware that inadequate washing during

28 George J. Jones, "Electric Blue-Print Making," Scientific American 89 (18 July 1903): 45-46. '" Spencer R. Griffith, "Reproduction Equipment," Machine Design 40 (10 Oct. 1968): 199. 30 Hays, "Blueprint Paper," p. 45; F. P. Veitch, C. Frank Sammet, and E. O. Reed, "Blue and Brown Print Paper: Characteristics, Tests and Specifications," The Journal of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 10 (March 1918): 222. 31 George Cunha to author, 21 February 1977. 32 Veitch et al., "Blue and Brown Print Paper," pp. 222-23. Architectural Records 333 exposure may cause images to fade Another process used for reproduc- more quickly in machine-made prints. tion of drawings was the Van Dyke or Fading can probably be slowed if ex- brownprint (also called a sepia), in- posure to light is minimized; but there vented by F. R. Van Dyke in 1901. The is no firm evidence of the effects of paper stock was sensitized with silver Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 light on blueprints, especially the ra- and developed in sodium thiosulphate. pidity of fading or loss of contrast. At Because the result was thin enough to least one source unequivocally states be translucent, it could then be run that "blueprints resist fading in direct through a blueprinting machine, per- sunlight," but offers no evidence for mitting blueprints to be made from it. this assertion.33 The Van Dyke therefore served as a For many years, spanning the turn reproducible intermediate. The pro- of the century, the was a cess, similar to the blueprint process, popular reproduction technique for resulted in either a positive or negative drawings and other written docu- print depending upon what the origi- ments. In a hectograph, documents nal was. A longer, first water-wash was written in a strong ink containing an required, as well as a much longer ex- aniline dye were placed face down on posure and hypo bath. Being a wet a layer of gelatin in a shallow tray. The copy, it, like the blueprint, was subject ink image formed on the gelatin sur- to stretching, causing unreliable scale.36 face was kept moist by the moisture- The Van Dyke cost three times as retaining properties of the gelatin, much as a blueprint, but had the ad- and numerous copies could be made vantage of being reproducible in a ma- from it "until the dye was exhausted chine, thereby reducing wear and tear and copies became too faint to on the original tracings. read."34 Copy-paper was placed on Because they deteriorate fairly rap- the image and then rollered flat on the idly, Van Dykes appear infrequently gelatine surface. Purple or dark blue today in collections of architectural dye was a characteristic feature of the records. Tests conducted in 1917 cau- process, showing up frequently in re- tioned that undeveloped Van Dyke pa- productions of maps, specifications, per would not last longer than three and contracts produced in the last half months because the nitrates used in of the nineteenth century. The term the coating released nitric acid which hectograph came from manufacturers' attacked paper fibers. Even careful claims that 100 copies could be made washing of the print would not remove from one image (after hekaton, the all harmful residual chemicals; deteri- Greek word for 100)?h Hectograph oration, although significantly slowed, copies were made on a wide range of would continue. Therefore, older Van paper stock from ground wood to 100 Dykes will probably not appear in percent rag; the variance in paper great numbers in architectural collec- quality, along with the fact that they tions today. Currently, sepias are made fade when given prolonged exposure by a dry diazotype process on either a to ultraviolet light, complicates the synthetic polymer or plastic-coated cel- problem of their preservation. lulose stock. A sample of such stock

33 Griffith, "Reproduction Equipment," p. 199. 34 W. B. Proudfoot, The Origin of Stencil Duplicating (London: Hutchinson & Co., Ltd., 1972), p. 34. 35 Ibid., p. 36. 36 Griffith, "Reproduction Equipment," p. 199. 334 The American Archivist/ Summer 1980 was subjected to an accelerated aging The next step is to make the print. test equivalent to twenty-five years at A piece of paper is laid over the pow- the New England Document Conser- dered plate and charged with the same vation Center and was found to break electronic device used to sensitize the down rapidly, becoming badly disco- plate. The particles of developing Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 lored and very brittle.37 Sepias are powder are attracted to the charged widely used as reproducibles by archi- paper, thus restoring the image to its tects however, and it will be difficult to proper left-right orientation. The avoid accessioning some of them in powder is fixed on the paper for one collections of architectural records. to two seconds by heat which melts the They should be transferred to stable powder granules and fuses them onto media if permanent retention is mer- the paper. The heating is done by in- ited. frared lamps or other devices. In 1948 the revolutionary xerogra- Today, large electrostatic reproduc- phy copying process appeared.38 It is tion copiers are available that will ac- a dry electrostatic process in which a cept original plans up to thirty-six plate is coated with a photo-conductive inches wide.39 The technology has been insulating material that conducts elec- perfected, of course, so that copying is tricity when exposed to visible light or much faster and more trouble-free. when sprayed with electrons. The sen- The same basic process is used for pro- sitized plate is then exposed. Light dis- ducing prints, although it dif- charges the electrostatic surface charge fers slightly in machines made by com- into the backing metal of the plate. On petitors.40 those places where the light does not Prints produced by electrostatic cop- fall, the surface charge remains. Thus iers should preserve well if dry-ink the image pattern of the original doc- toner was used with plain untreated ument being copied causes a latent paper stock of archival quality, such as electrical image to remain on the sen- bond.41 The large-plan copiers manu- sitized plate. Developing, performed factured by Xerox, for example, will by flowing a special powder over the reproduce an image on virtually any plate, makes the latent image visible to kind of material, including vellum; the eye. The powder adheres to the and so Xerox prints should be checked charged portions of the plate electro- with care to determine the type of statically, while it rolls off non-charged stock the image rests on, in order to portions. The result is a mirror image estimate its perishability. of the original document, correspond- Blueprinting has been almost en- ing to a developed negative in photog- tirely replaced by the diazotype pro- raphy. cess, which is universally employed to-

37 George Cunha to author, 21 February 1977. 38 See Editor &f Publisher 81 (23 Oct. 1948): 5-6;"Xerography, New Method of Reproduction," The Inland 122 (Dec. 1948): 49-52. 39 Philip M. Streit, "Reproduction Equipment," Machine Design 47 (11 Dec. 1975): 149. The Xerox 2080 Printer, the largest copier the company makes, was introduced in 1978 and accepts originals up to 36 inches wide and of any length, producing a 24-inch wide copy. (Xerox Sales Literature, Xerox Corp.) 40 See William Saffady,"New Developments in Electrostatic Copiers," American Archivist 38 (Jan. 1975): 67-75. 41 Ibid., pp. 73-74; see also, "The Inquiring Archivist: Heat-Sensitive Copy Paper," SAA Newsletter (March 1977): 15. Architectural Records 335 day. The nature of diazo compounds the paper is exposed to light, and the was discovered by Peter Griess, a exposed sheet is then moistened chemist at the University of Marburg through contact with a liquid contain- (Germany) about 1860. They were ing the coupler. Dye is formed as be- first widely used as the basis of new fore, and developing is effected by use Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 textile dyes before being utilized in the of a water and ammonia solution. The reproduction of drawings, a process intensity or darkness of the image is which began to be developed in the controlled by the speed of exposure, 1880s but which progressed more which varies from five to sixty feet per rapidly after methods were found be- minute. tween 1894 and 1915 to stabilize them Diazotype is the cheapest of all copy- in the dry state.42 In the beginning, ing processes, and, depending upon diazotype prints were negative (white the chemicals added to the diazonium line on dark background); progression salts, prints can be produced in several toward positive prints (dark line on colors, of which blue is the most pop- white background) originated in the ular (called bluelines). The diazo com- 1890s and matured between 1910 and pounds have a finite shelflife, and so 1915. the sensitized paper must be used Diazotype prints are made by a dry within a period of six to twelve months process and by a wet process. In the after manufacture.44 dry process, a sheet of sensitized paper Diazotype prints have long suffered coated with the diazonium salts, a cou- the problem of yellowing or browning pling agent, and an acid stabilizer (re- of the white background, caused by quired to keep the coating stable for phenyl coupling agents remaining after several months after manufacture) is developing. Upon exposure to air, placed under the tracing and both are these agents gradually oxidize, causing fed into a machine where they are the coloration. Even refinements in briefly exposed to a high-intensity ul- diazo copying methods during the past traviolet light. The light decomposes ten years have not solved the problem; the diazonium salts which are not yellowing will still occur, and it may be shadowed by the opaque lines on the aggravated if these prints are given drawing. In developing, the diazo prolonged exposure to light. Perma- compound couples with the phenyl nent preservation of the information coupling agent, after exposure to am- they contain can be effected only monia gas which neutralizes the acid through transfer to other media, such stabilizer, and forms an azo dye that as microfilm. corresponds to the opaque parts of the Microfilm offers the architectural drawing.43 archivist a means not only to preserve The wet process is basically the same deteriorating records but also to re- except that it uses paper coated only duce the bulk—and the bulkiness—of with the diazonium salts. Breakdown the records themselves and, in partic- of the diazo compound occurs when ular, drawings. Large-format material

42 W. H. Cliffe, "One Hundred Years of Diazo-Compounds," Chemistry and Industry (27 Sept. 1958): 1248, 1250; D. J. Brown, "The Basis and Practice of the Diazotype Process," Chemistry and Industry (15 April 1944): 147. 43 Ibid.; B. deGorter,"The Principles and Possibilities of Diazo-Copying Processes," The Journal of Documentation 5 (June 1949): 3. 44 A. H. Stuart, Bruning Division, Addressograph Multigraph, to author, 2 December 1976. 336 The American Archivist/ Summer 1980 can be microphotographed on 35 mm. supporting documents for one build- roll film, but 70 mm. or even 105 mm. ing project among all the work of a film is preferred because of lower re- firm and the holdings of an archives. duction ratios, superior resolution, and A complicating factor is the wide definition which facilitates enlarge- variation in size among architectural Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 ment ("blowback"), and because one records. While smaller-format mate- large drawing can be fitted in its en- rials such as specifications, correspon- tirety onto a single frame. While roll dence, and contracts may be conveni- microfilm is initially cheaper to pro- ently filmed in 16 mm. or 35 mm., duce, it is less convenient for single- drawings usually require 70 mm. or item retrieval than microfiche or ap- 105 mm., because of their larger di- erture cards. Microfiche is less expen- mensions, and thus must be micro- sive to reproduce, and aperture cards filmed separately.46 A retrieval aid must can have accompanying identifying be constructed that will lead searchers data keypunched or typewritten di- to all the documents they need. Very rectly on them, thus lending them- often, searchers are looking for the selves well to mechanization. Color records associated with a single build- microfilm is now available, at addi- ing rather than for the entire work of tional cost, for drawings such as pre- a firm. A coded system such as is de- sentation drawings and older tracings, scribed by Siegmund, or like that used in which structural details were some- at the Northwest Architectural Ar- times highlighted by watercolor or chives, are practical possibilities to con- washes. sider for any depository.47 The transfer of architectural rec- Microfilm frequently will not pick ords to any type of micrographic me- up all the lines in a drawing; it may dium holds some disadvantages. Like instead drop out the faintest ones, drawings, micrographics must be leaving users with an incomplete copy. stored in climate-controlled space, ide- Faint are among the most ally 40 percent RH and 70° F, in chem- difficult kinds of prints to photograph ically inert containers made of metal successfully.48 An archivist faced with or plastic.45 Preservation is also very the preservation of permanently valu- much dependent upon the care taken able but low-contrast, faded prints during the processing of the film. would do well to give serious consid- There is still no substitute for silver eration to these factors in choosing emulsion film for the master negative. whether to film or not. A viable alter- Micrographics may also require special native might be encapsulation of the retrieval aids that will enable searchers prints in polyester film, which can be to locate single items, i.e., drawings or accomplished by relatively inexperi-

45 "Cause and Prevention of Microfilm Blemishes," American Archivist 33 (July 1970): 352. 46 Jerry McDonald, "The Case Against Microfilming," American Archivist 20 (1957): 346. 47 Karl P. Siegmund,"A Unitized Drawing Microfilm System," Records Management Quarterly 7 (April 1973): 20-25. The Northwest Architectural Archives utilizes an index which was specially designed for its needs. Entries are only by building name, but each entry contains the name of the building, its geographic location, date of construction or design, name of architect, and an alpha- numeric code which identifies the type of documentation present in the archives for each particular building. The entry also includes a locator symbol by which the individual documentation may be found in the archives. 48 Department of the Army, "Microfilming of Records," Technical Manual 12-257 (Washington: Dept. of the Army, 1955), p. 25. Architectural Records 337 enced personnel, is less expensive than aid all three steps sequentially, and microreproduction in terms of mate- have been, in some instances, quite rials used and staff time needed to pre- successful in working out solutions or pare the documents for encapsulation, in providing designers with a number and protects the documents from dust of options. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 and direct handling, thus extending Computers have been used, for ex- the lives of fragile records somewhat ample, to calculate and analyze wind beyond that normally expected in their stresses in tall steel structures and the unprotected state.49 load-bearing capabilities of concrete Some significant new problems for frames. They have also assisted me- archivists may lie ahead as architects' chanical engineers in grappling with offices undergo radical and profound problems of air distribution through changes in their operational structure ventilation systems and in computing and in the way they evolve designs as sight lines in seating areas like audi- they attempt to respond to the de- toriums, where they help to determine mands of modern technology and the floor elevation of each row of modern business. In doing so, the seats.51 profession has adopted new materials The advantage to architects of these and devices by which it may more ef- systems is that perspectives of the new ficiently produce the records from designs may be produced on a com- which the complex buildings of today puter in far less time than it would take take shape. Many of these new prob- draftsmen to draw them, and they can lems will concern the preservation of be manipulated on a video screen to records generated by computers, to show the proposed building from all which architects are turning in increas- angles. The designs can be altered ing numbers. electronically and the computer can Computers were first introduced in store them for later retrieval on de- the mid-1950s to provide a faster mand. A great deal of information means of solving complicated engi- about the evolution of designs may be neering problems, but they were soon lost, however, if the firm wants to re- being applied to design problems as tain only the latest proposal. All inter- well. To be successful, computers are mediate steps between creation and fi- dependent upon the contemporary nal design would then be erased from design process, which is systematic and the computer's memory, and these therefore easily amenable to mecha- are often of much interest to historians nization. Systematic design consists of of architecture and others who are re- analysis (identifying criteria or require- searching the steps or methods archi- ments, or looking at the problem in tects use to arrive at their designs. pieces), synthesis (finding solutions to Although the data is stored in the problems in bringing the pieces or cri- memory, it can be made usable only if teria together), and evaluation (testing printed out, for example in the form the solutions against pre-determined of aperture cards (computer output criteria).50 Computers can be used to microfilm, or COM). Archivists should

49 "Polyester Film Encapsulation," p. 10. 50 Cross, The Automated Architect, pp. 13-14. 51 John Dawson and G. Nabi Hashmi, "At Ellerbe Associates," in Reflections on Computer Aids to Design and Architecture, Nicholas Negroponte, ed. (New York: Petrocelli/Charter, 1975), pp. 106-7, 111. 338 The American Archivist/ Summer 1980 be aware of the trend toward com- then possible to deal more knowledge- puters among architects and engineers ably with problems directly concerned and plan accordingly to receive com- with the conservation of the materials. puter-generated records in greater There is still a serious lack of infor- quantities in the years ahead. They mation about the permanency of cer- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/3/325/2746709/aarc_43_3_j5007v717253254l.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 may also wish to consider pressing, tain kinds of media and the best means within the architecture profession, for to preserve many kinds of architec- guidelines affecting the generation of tural documents. More impartial in- computer output to ensure that im- vestigation by independent testing lab- portant evidence of design formula- oratories is urgently needed, for tion will be saved as well. example into the life of polyester With the growing national interest drafting films and print stock, and of in preserving older buildings, it is be- the best methods to microfilm archi- coming increasingly incumbent upon tectural drawings, or, indeed, to de- archivists to confront the problems of cide if microfilming is the best alter- preserving the documents from which native.52 If they are to be expected to those buildings were erected. As with preserve larger numbers of architec- all types of archives, the effective pres- tural records, archivists must have ervation of architectural records is di- available to them reliable information rectly dependent upon an understand- and the techniques required to facili- ing of the historical activities and tate maximum preservation, and they processes which created them. Once should collectively press for resolution this understanding is achieved, it is of these problems very soon.

52 An alternative that should be seriously explored by every architectural archivist is the feasibility of using video disc (optical memory) systems for the storage of pictorial material, especially drawings and photographs. (See Sam Kula, "Optical Memories: Archival Storage System of the Future, or More Pie in the Sky," Archivaria [Summer 1977]: 43-48.)

ALAN K. LATHROP is the curator of the Northwest Architectural Archives, at the University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.