Collections : [Avery Drawings & Archives]

This collection contains architectural photographs, drawings and records related to the architectural projects and designs of Warren and Wetmore, principally in the United States, but also representing commissions in Canada, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, the bulk of architectural drawings produced by the firm are no longer extant. Additionally, it holds a variety of photographs and other records used as reference materials in the course of Warren and Wetmore's professional work. Lastly, a small group of student and personal papers and photographs from Whitney Warren completes the collection.

This collection contains materials related to Chermayeff's personal, professional, and academic lives, the bulk originating during his residency in the United States, beginning in the late 1930s. Project records document the full range of his work, including many records from his British period. The collection also contains extensive correspondence with personal friends, clients, and professional and academic colleagues.

This collection contains architectural drawings, photographs, business records and reference materials related to the projects and designs of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and his successor firm, Mayers, Murray & Philips, primarily in the New York City region. A large portion of the collection consists of personal and professional correspondence to and from Goodhue from the early 1900s until his death in 1926. Relatively few architectural drawings from his professional practice survive.

This collection primarily contains architectural drawings, photographs, business records and reference materials related to the projects and designs of architectural and engineering firm Abbott, Merkt and Company. A subsidiary portion of the collection includes drawings, photographs and papers related to the life and career of Richard H. Tatlow, III, president of Abbott Merkt, as well as the firms and agencies for which he also worked.

This collection contains architectural records, student work, correspondence and professional writings related to the academic and architectural practice of Walter Sobotka. The largest portion of the collection, Series 1, relates to his architectural practice and contains drawings, files, and a scrapbook of photographs and articles pertaining to his work in Europe and America. The majority of his projects consisted of residential buildings and interiors in Austria along with furniture designs. However, there is also a selection of theater interiors that Sobotka designed for RKO across the United States. Series 2 contains a limited selection of Sobotka's lectures and writings, as well as correspondence. This series also contains material relating to two of his unpublished writings, The Prefabricated House and Principles of Design, including copies of the manuscripts, correspondence with publishers, and research materials. A bound version of Principles of Design is catalogued separately and contains an appendix in which Sobotka translated into English excerpts of his correspondence with the Viennese architect Josef Frank. Series 3 contains some artwork and student drawings, as well as a few personal letters.

This collection contains lectures, notes, photographs, correspondence, and architectural drawings documenting the work of Russell Sturgis, and, secondarily, his son, Lyman Sturgis. The materials were created between 1874 and 1932.

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.