The School of Architecture (SoA) Image Collection includes approximately 64,000 35mm slides, a thousand or so lantern slides, and at least 45,000 digital images. A collection used for teaching, it has developed through faculty bequests, faculty requests, and several dedicated curators.
SoA image collections are complimented by the Department of Art & Archaeology’s Visual Resources Collection in McCormick Hall, which covers prehistoric to contemporary art and architecture of the West and East. The two collections have jointly licensed the Archivision collection. Art and Archaeology also licensed the entire Saskia collection.
Digital images from both VRC databases are increasingly available to search and download for research and class presentations in Almagest, Princeton’s online media catalog, and ARTstor, a digital library containing approximately one million images.
Images from the VRC may be used for educational purposes only. For copyright information pertaining to Almagest and ARTstor, visit the SOA-VRC Copyright information page.
About the SoA Image Collection
Established in 1980 to serve the expanding image needs of the School, the collection focuses mainly on American and western European architecture from the 19th and 20th centuries. It represents more than 3,500 architects, and contains iconic views, maps, aerial photographs, cityscapes, and images related to building science and construction. Included are works by landscape architects, painters, sculptors, photographers, and designers, many of whom shaped or defined architectural movements.
In recent years, the VRC has been digitizing (and cataloging) this core collection of slides while also collecting new digital images in response to faculty requests, curriculum-based research, and the availability of new commercial sources. These digital images will increasingly be available online, via ARTstor and Almagest.
The VRC also collects and archives images of Student Work. The SoA website shows recent examples. For more information about student work, email the VR Curator.
