In the early 1990s, the NCSU Libraries embarked on a program
to develop architectural holdings for its Special Collections
Research Center that would match the reputation of the university's
College of Design, already renowned for the depth and breadth
of its programs. In the years since, the Special Collections
Research Center has acquired an impressive archive of significant
North Carolina architectural collections.
The School of Design (now College of Design) was established
in 1948, when existing programs in architecture and landscape
architecture were pulled from other programs in the university.
During the next decades, Dean Henry Leveke Kamphoefner appointed
to the faculty several outstanding architects with national and
international reputations, including George Matsumoto, G. Milton
Small, Matthew Nowicki, Eduardo Catalano, Edward Waugh, James
Fitzgibbons, and Harwell Hamilton Harris. He also brought a number
of internationally prominent design figures--Buckminster Fuller,
Lewis Mumford, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Walter
Gropius, Louis I. Kahn, Pier Luigi Nervi, Charles Eames, and
Marcel Breuer--to lecture, conduct design experiments, and inspire
a new generation of designers. North Carolina State's Department
of Architecture (it became a school in 2000) quickly developed
a reputation for innovation and experimentation, and during the
1950s and 1960s it experienced a remarkable period of creative
and intellectual development.
The quality of the College of Design programs can be measured
by the caliber of its graduates, who have won Fulbright scholarships,
the Prix de Rome, and other prizes. Two winners of the prestigious
Paris Prize include Robert "Bob" Burns, who later headed
the architecture department, and Edwin F. "Abie" Harris,
who served as NC State's first university architect. Early design
students initiated an outstanding publication reflecting the
school’s experimental approach. Many have attended the
nation's leading graduate schools and assumed important positions
in architectural practice and education.
The legacy of imagination, diversity, and excellence set by
this first generation continues. After Kamphoefner stepped down
as dean in 1972, strong leadership guided the College of Design.
Claude E. McKinney served as dean until 1988 and later provided
important direction for the physical development of Centennial
Campus during its earliest stages. Since 1994 Marvin J. Malecha
has led the college. He is the winner of numerous awards for
architectural education, including the Topaz Medallion from the
American Institute of Architects and Association of Collegiate
Schools of Architecture.
Today, the Special Collections Research Center holds more than
a dozen collections on architecture, landscape architecture,
and other design-related topics. These include many collections
from former College of Design faculty. Collectively, the holdings
contain thousands of drawings and photographs that document several
historically significant buildings in North Carolina.
They are also are rich resources for the study of twentieth-century
architecture in North Carolina and the southeastern United States
and are especially useful in studying the development of modernism
in the area. These holdings include:
Henry L. Kamphoefner Papers (1924-1990)
George Matsumoto Papers (1945-1991)
Matthew Nowicki Papers (1949-1956)
Willard Byrd Golf Course Design Drawings and Other Papers (1950-2004)
Guy E. Crampton and William Henley Deitrick Papers and Drawings
(1928-1977)
Northup & O'Brien Records (1926-1980)
Milton Small Papers (1950-1988)
Ballard, McCredie Associates, P.A., Architects Records (1955-1998)
Leslie Norwood Boney Jr. Papers (1901-1982)
Archie Royal Davis Papers (1930-1980)
Edgar H. and Margaret K. Hunter Architectural Job Files, Drawings,
and Photographs (1945-1989)
North Carolina Buildings Collection (1893-1990)
Edwin Gilbert Thurlow Papers (1930-1974)
Edwin F. "Abie" Harris Jr. Architectural Drawings
and Files (1952-1998)
Ronald L. Mace Papers (1974-1998)
Historic Architecture Research Project Records (1951-1976)
Centennial Campus Records (1974-2005)
Office of the University Architect Records (1966-1992)
Office of Campus Planning Records (1887-1989)
University Buildings, Sites, and Landmarks, part of University
Archives Reference Collection (1888-2006)
Campus Facilities and Views, part of University Archives Photograph
Collection (1889-1990)
The Charlotte V. Brown Papers (1980-1990) contain a wealth of
information on architects who practiced in North Carolina. The
University Archives also maintains copies of the College of Design
student publication. The Libraries and its Special Collections
Research Center are dedicated to the continued growth of the
architectural collections--including the addition of papers and
designs of prominent architects from the state, region, and nation;
seminal publications documenting the history of North Carolina
and regional architecture; and the papers of prominent faculty
from the College of Design. More information about these holdings
can be found online at <URL> http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/find/architecture.html and
at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/find/artarchitectureanddesign.html.
Architectural and environmental design holdings can attract
the support of large, national granting agencies, especially
in the area of digitization and building digital collections.
Special Collections is drawing upon successes in implementing
Luna Insight© content management software to
develop a two-pronged strategy to leverage collection and digitization
strengths. An initial project will target drawings and photographs
with local interest from the Historic Architecture Research Project
Records, which document 250 North Carolina structures from the
1700s to the early 1900s. The procedures and techniques developed
from this effort can be carried over to a second, larger project
with greater national focus, concentrating on architectural modernism
in the Byrd, Matsumoto, Small, and similar collections.
The NCSU Libraries is dedicated to documenting the built heritage
of North Carolina and the university's contributions to architectural
and design history. The Libraries welcomes support for this important
collecting initiative and encourages other donors to expand the
research center's collections. Those who would like to support
the processing, growth, and digitization of these resources should
contact Suzanne Weiner, associate vice provost for library advancement
at suzanne_weiner@ncsu.edu,
or Greg Raschke, associate director for collections and scholarly
communication at greg_raschke@ncsu.edu or
(919) 515-7188.
