Collections : [Avery Drawings & Archives]

This large collection documents in great detail the architectural projects of Abraham Geller and his colleagues throughout the United States and abroad, spanning the 1940s through the 1990s. Types of projects represented include retirement homes, recreational facilities, medical centers, private residences and prototype dwellings for large residential developments, urban renewal projects, and offices.

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.

Collection of letters and telegrams centered around the remodeling of a house called "Dunlora" aka Merry Hill, located at 8605 Park Heights Avenue in Pikesville Maryland. The house was built for Robert Brent Keyser in 1899 by the firm Hoppin and Koen of New York. The remodeling was done by American architect Grosvenor Atterbury. The vast majority of the letters are between Atterbury (and his firm) and Robert Brent Keyser. They describe various plans and issues surrounding the remodeling of the house. A few letters discuss construction at the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University. Some of the other names mentioned in the letters are J.L. Marshall & Son (the builders), Mr. Sperry, Judge Harlan, Morgan-Harjes, Mr. Manly, and Charles E. Reeder.

This small collection consists of 3 letters between Herbert Jacobs and Frank Lloyd Wright concerning Jacobs' upcoming book We Chose the Country. The letters document a strained relationship between the architect and his former client, with the architect expressing disastifaction with how he is portrayed in Jacobs' publication.

This collection contains materials related to a full range of Blake's personal, professional, and academic lives. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1980s through the early 2000s. His professional and faculty papers document many of his interests, and primarily include published and unpublished lectures and articles. Although Blake delivered his lectures at various architectural schools in the United States and abroad, the specific locations of the lectures are not usually recorded on the documents. In addition, many articles he wrote for publication appear as annotated typescripts. There are also significant papers related to publication of his memoir No Place Like Utopia (Knopf, 1993), including correspondence and some production records. Throughout the professional and faculty papers are also found a large number of reference files relating to modern architecture, art, design, urbanism, technology, and current events, compiled over many decades. The collection also contains correspondence with personal friends, clients, and professional and academic colleagues. There is an especially significant amount of correspondence and clippings related to Patwant Singh, a Sikh writer, commentator, journalist, editor, and publisher, with whom Blake was a close friend. There are also many materials including correspondence, typescripts, and book production records related to Philip Johnson and Paul Rudolph, with whom Blake was also close. Architectural project records include original and reprographic drawings and photographs for 40 residential and institutional designs, located primarily in New York City and the surrounding region. Of particular note are drawings and papers related to Blake's important Pin Wheel House (1954) in Water Mill, New York. In addition, there are drawings related to the American National Exhibition in Moscow (1959). Finally, there is a significant number of drawings, photographs, and correspondence related to the Benjamin Gerson Residence (1999-2003) in Johnsonburg, New Jersey, one of Blake's last architectural projects.

The collection documents the design development and construction of the Randolph and Amalie Rothschild Residence in Baltimore, MD. The papers, collected by the owners, Randolph and Amalie Rothschild, consist primarily of correspondence, specifications, and floor plans and sketches by architect Percival Goodman. There is a significant amount of correspondence between the Rothschild's and Goodman regarding alterations to the design. This correspondence underscores the larger theme of client-architect relationships and its influence on the design process.

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.