The Department of Architecture at the University of Pretoria (UP) has been collecting and curating unique and valuable architectural materials for over half a century. These archival collections contain the work of many renowned South African architects, and include a variety of objects such as drawings, diaries, photographs, manuscripts, maps, correspondence, watercolours and scale models.

Architectural watercolour rendering from the John Fassler Collection

Formalised as the Architecture Archives at the University of Pretoria (AAUP), this archival programme forms part of international research collaborations, plays a key role in teaching programmes, serves our professional community and promotes best practices in the conservation of architectural documents.

The activities of the AAUP are also situated within University-wide initiatives such as GLAM UP, a multidisciplinary heritage forum that is responsible for a range of gallery spaces, botanical programmes, literary collections, archival projects and museum activities.

Here are a few projects that are being carried out by the AAUP, all of which serve as examples of the value that can be gained from UP’s heritage collections.

Conservation discussions

In partnership with the UP Archives and the UP Arts programme for Tangible Heritage Conservation, methods for handling, storing and indexing architectural drawings have been explored. Through the Shared Heritage Programme of the Netherlands Embassy in Pretoria, this quest has also taken AAUP curators on study visits to Europe to investigate the protocols used at flagship architectural archives. These lessons have been implemented at the AAUP and shared with local partners through a series of archival workshops and lectures.

Storage systems within the AAUP drawing archive

Design studios

The archives are used within the postgraduate heritage studios in the Department of Architecture as a source of information for the study of local heritage buildings and as inspiration for the design of archival spaces and exhibitions. Design studios have also been presented in collaboration with colleagues at the UP Museums, where architectural students engage with museum curators and collections to design installations, exhibitions and events that could be implemented in the University campus environment.

An AAUP exhibition at the AZA ’18 architectural conference

International research

In addition to sharing digitised information from our collections with a variety of international researchers for use in their own projects, we have also been drivers of and partners in funded research. The AAUP has been a partner to book projects such as the recent Common Ground: Dutch-South African Architectural Exchanges, among others, and our collections serve as the basis for master’s and PhD studies, not only in architecture but also in disciplines such as town planning, art history and conservation science.

Pages from the recent Common Ground publication

Architectural education

Representing the work of numerous South African architects and containing vast information sets on local urban histories, the AAUP collections serve as the cornerstone of the architectural history curriculum at the Department of Architecture, with images from our own collections often used in the lecture room or consulted by students in search of precedent studies or project site information. In addition to this, architectural students who participate as volunteers or interns gain not only architectural knowledge, but also skills in heritage preservation, information management and curatorship.

An architecture student doing conservation work on a scale model

Practice partnerships

The professional community of architectural practitioners who have close ties to our department also play a crucial role in AAUP activities. Information is shared with practitioners who require historical data as the basis for the restoration of local buildings and urban renewal processes. Many practitioners also donate new material to the archives and share their knowledge of local architectural histories to enrich our understanding of existing collections.

Local architect Mira Fassler works with an AAUP intern

Through the efforts of staff and students at the Department of Architecture, but also in collaboration with various stakeholders that give our work credibility and reach, the AAUP hopes to develop as a key player in the broader heritage and academic environment. This also allows us to contribute to the ongoing efforts of UP to conserve and promote cultural heritage.