Description

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Architectural collections are warehouses of knowledge: they are resources for historical plans and buildings, and they offer insight and ideas for the designs of tomorrow. However, in the age of computer-aided design, the sketches, plans and models that were once available for research and exhibitions are being replaced by bits and bytes on a variety of storage media whose lifetimes have no guaranteed length. How will that change the profile of a classic architectural collection in the time to come? How will the history of architecture be written in the future, and how will exhibitions be presented? The Architekturmuseum at the Technical University in Munich has one of the largest special collections of architecture in Europe. This publication presents its complex history while placing it in the context of other prominent international collections. Selected examples are used to discuss questions about collecting, research and the exhibition of architecture in the future.