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More than 120 architects from the United States and abroad contributed original drawings to this collection. Most are hand-drawn; some are printed through traditional etching or lithography techniques; a few others are computer-generated prints. Images are primarily related to the architects' projects, although some drawings are travel sketches of other structures. Drawings in this archive were exhibited at the Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery and the Arthur Ross Gallery at Columbia University, Apr. 3-May 4, 1991. At least one drawing from each contributor was published in the accompanying exhibition catalog, CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS (San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1991).

The materials that comprise the Vertical File have been collected and added to from a variety of sources by former Avery Librarians. The vertical file contains clippings, pamphlets, reprints, and other miscellaneous materials relating to persons, places, organizations, and topical subjects relating to architecture, housing, and city planning. The purpose of the vertical file was to arrange and store small items, memorabilia, and ephemeral material on a variety of topics to facilitate access by researchers. For the most part, the vertical file contains printed items only. Manuscript material and other unique items were, generally, not placed in the vertical file. In some cases, manuscript material has been removed from the Vertical File and placed in its corresponding collection.