Louis Laybourne Smith School Architecture Museum

The Architecture Museum is a facility for the acquisition, preservation and management of South Australian produced architectural and related records, and for promoting intellectual enquiry into, and producing scholarly information about, the state's built heritage.

The extensive and unique collection of over 200,000 items is housed in archival conditions in a purpose-designed space in the Kaurna building, Fenn Place, Adelaide. The Museum is publicly accessible and is open Monday to Wednesday, 9am-5pm. Intending visitors should arrange an appointment through the Collections Manager, Dr Julie Collins (email: julie.collins@unisa.edu.au; ph. 08 8302 9235)

Architecture Museum News

Moving to the Modern: Art Deco in South Australian Architecture Monograph

Desmond Tan Scholarship in Architectural History

Architects of South Australia
Architects of South Australia is an online database of material about the professional lives and contributions of a selection of the state's architects from 1836 to the present day. In addition to providing scholarly biographical information, the database also identifies the architects' principal South Australian built works. The database is the public face of the 'South Australian architects and their Works' project being undertaken by a team of academic researchers from the Architecture Museum with funding from the SA Department for Environment and Heritage.
Architects of South Australia launched 29 September  2008                       (Media Release)

History

In the mid-1970s, in the absence of a local repository to preserve documents related to the history and practice of architecture and the related professions in South Australia, architectural historian Donald Leslie Johnson initiated a private collection. In 1990 he donated it to the School of the Built Environment of the South Australian Institute of Technology (a predecessor institution of the University of South Australia). The acquisition included drawings, practice records, personal papers, photos, slides, books and periodicals. It was originally known as the Architecture Archive and formed the basis for the present-day collections of the Architecture Museum which opened in 2005.

Holdings

The Architecture Museum holds more than 200,000 items including approximately 20,000 drawings and a 2000-volume library. The holdings relate to the work of private practitioners (State Records of South Australia holds Government architects records). The focus is on materials produced in the 20th century and particularly in the period c.1910-1980. The University of South Australias Collections and Museums Policy and the Architecture Museums General Policy and Collection Policy documents guide decisions regarding acquisitions.

The collection includes:

Drawings

Drawings plans, sections, elevations and perspectives by architects, engineers, and consultants including both built and unbuilt works primarily of the twentieth century.

Specifications

Specifications relating directly to the architectural drawings and providing written documentation stipulating materials, quality of finishes, and the manner of construction.

Correspondence

Professional and personal correspondence relating to specific buildings, professional affairs and architects overseas travels.

Photographs

Photographic items including slides and photographic prints of architects built works and overseas travels.

Notebooks and Diaries

Business and personal notebooks and diaries containing sketches and newspaper clippings as well as notes relating to built projects.

Library

Books, monographs, periodicals, trade catalogues and brochures donated from architects personal collections.

Special Holdings

Chamberlain collection
Predominantly 18th and 19th century British and European architectural prints and engravings.

Crocker collection

Predominantly books on South Australian history and Italian architecture.

Artefacts

Artefacts of a limited range, including drawing equipment, awards and nameplates.

Ephemera

Pamphlets, brochures and posters relating to architecture, interior design and planning.