Canadian Architectural Archives

The Canadian Architectural Archives (CAA) at the University of Calgary is one of the largest and most comprehensive architectural archives in Canada. The archives houses the collections of more than 80 Canadian architects, landscape architects, and architectural photographers spanning the early twentieth century to the present.

Established in 1974 as a collaboration of the University of Calgary’s Library and the School of Architecture, the CAA collects the work of Canadian architects to support scholarly study, to enrich the education of architectural students, and to increase public awareness of Canadian architecture through exhibitions and publications. Distinguished professor Michael McMordie was instrumental to the growth and development of the CAA into a collection of national significance. The records of the Toronto firm John B. Parkin Associates were the inaugural collection acquired by the archives in 1975. Additional donations to the archives have expanded the holdings to represent many of the major figures in Canadian modern and contemporary architecture.

The architecture archives collects and preserves the comprehensive work of an architectural practice, including preliminary sketches, construction drawings, correspondence, contracts, publicity, photographs, and presentation drawings, as well as office files, architects’ student records, and professional records such as articles, teaching, and guest lectures. The archives are available to scholars, students, faculty, and the public for study and to support teaching at the University of Calgary, as well as to serve the needs of practicing architects, architectural historians, curators, heritage planners, and others interested in the documentation of the built environment.