Architecture Archives
The Centre for Contemporary Architecture Archives
Since its founding in 1986, the Centre for Contemporary Architecture Archives has collected the archives of French architects, town planners, engineers and decorators active from the end of the 19th century. Safeguarding, processing, communication to the public and valorisation complete this mission.
The Centre for Contemporary Architecture Archives
The Centre for Contemporary Architecture Archives is located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It is the main centre for architectural archives in France. It collects the archives of French architects, town planners, engineers and decorators active since the end of the 19th century. The archives it holds are, for the most part, owned by the State (Ministry of Culture); some are deposits of the Académie d’architecture or of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.
The Centre for Contemporary Architecture Archives preserves approximately 420 archives representative of numerous periods and trends in French architecture, from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 21st century. Let’s mention the archives of the first masters of reinforced concrete (the Hennebique firm, Auguste Perret), major Art Deco architects (Louis Bonnier, Henri Sauvage, Jean-Charles Moreux) or representatives of the Modern Movement (André Lurçat, Georges-Henri Pingusson), prominent architects of the post-war (Georges Candilis, Émile Aillaud, Bernard Zehrfuss, Jean Dubuisson, Guillaume Gillet, Louis Arretche), representatives of the changes in architecture at the end of the 20th century (Adrien Fainsilber, Bernard Huet, Renée Gailhoustet), or singular figures (Roger Le Flanchec, André Bruyère). The recent collection is oriented towards the main trends in architecture from the 1980s to the first decades of the 21st century: renewal of domestic architecture, connections with the visual arts, environmental issues, etc. (Jean-Pierre Buffi, Roland Schweitzer, Christian Hauvette, François Seigneur, Rémy Butler).
Architects who received official awards (Grand Prix de Rome, national prizes for architecture and town planning) are numerous in the collection.
The archives include hundreds of thousands of plans, drawings, photographs, models (around 900), written project files and countless personal documents, covering in total some 9 linear km.
Presentation of the archives, biographies of the architects as well as illustrated inventories are available online in ArchiWebture, the internet version of the Archive Centre database. The Archive Centre has developed its own description tools and methods.
The Centre for Contemporary Architecture Archives publishes the magazine Colonnes.
ArchiWebture
The ArchiWebture website presents all the archives held by the Centre for Contemporary Architecture Archives. Each collection presented through a biography, bibliographic references, information on the collection and often a selection of images of archival documents. Succinct directories of the funds are available in PDF format, while detailed inventories of approximately 200 archives can be queried using simple or in-depth search modules.
ArchiWebture also offers various modules (thematic galleries, focus on documents, interactive map, etc.) to explore the archives without carrying out research.
Digital exhibitions (french only), too, present bodies of documents by themes or personalities.
Raffinerie parisienne, Saint-Ouen, 1894, Bétons armés Hennebique, ing.
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris 8e, 1910-1913, Auguste Perret
Globe terrestre Elisée-Reclus, Exposition universelle de Paris, 1900, Louis Bonnier
Village de vacances CIL et CAF, Barcarès-Leucate, 1965-1975, Georges Candilis
Palais de l’Unesco, place de Fontenoy, Paris, 1952-1958, Bernard Zehrfuss, Marcel Breuer, arch, et Pier Luigi Nervi, ing.
Musée des Arts et traditions populaires, Paris 16e, 1957-1983, Jean Dubuisson
Rénovation urbaine Le Colombier, Rennes, 1963-1987, Louis Arretche
Ville universitaire, plaine de Villetaneuse, Deuil et Montmagny, 1966-1969, Adrien Fainsilber
Parc de Bercy, Paris 12e, 1993-1997, Bernard Huet, Marylène Ferrand, Jean-Pierre Feugas, Bernard Le Roy, Philippe Raguin, arch., Ian Le Caisne, paysagiste et Jean-Max Llorca, fontainier
Maison pour Roger Beauvir, Larmor-Plage, 1954-1955, Roger Le Flanchec
Projet de tour Œuf, New York, 1978, André Bruyère
Information
ACCESS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
3 boulevard Ney - 75018 Paris
1st floor (level M0 by elevator)
Tél : +33 1 58 51 52 00
Email : centredarchives@citedelarchitecture.fr
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
The reading room is open by appointment only.
Monday: 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Tuesday: 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Wednesday: 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Thursday: 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Friday: closed
Saturday: closed
Sunday: closed
To enable the effective closure of the Archives Centre at 5:00 p.m., staff will evacuate their spaces from 4:45 p.m.
Closures outside public holidays may occur depending on the needs of the service (summer holidays, etc.).
ACCESS CONDITIONS
The reading room is open by appointment. Reservations can be made by email (centredarchives@citedelarchitecture.fr), by telephone (+33 1 58 51 52 00), or from the staff present in the reading room. Access to public spaces, registration and communication of documents are free.
The Archives Centre can provide remote digital reproductions only if the documents are already digitised.
