The Ryerson and Burnham Archives of the Art Institute of Chicago announce the digitization of another major image collection: 5,000 plates from the venerable Chicago-based periodical Inland Architect and News Record. This exceedingly rich visual record from a seminal period in American architecture can now be accessed by the public through the Digital Collections Database (DCD) on the Libraries’ website. The multi-year project makes another important architectural archive available for use by scholars and the public, further enhancing what is already one of the richest online resources for art and architecture, built with the goal of providing access to the many rare images and texts in the Art Institute’s Ryerson and Burnham Archives.
“The Digital Collections Database was launched in 2008 and has been growing steadily ever since,” said Jack Perry Brown, Director of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries. “But the completion of the digitization of the Inland Architect plates represents a significant milestone for the database, which is among the largest such digital collections in the United States. These images not only recorded but also shaped architectural practice in the United States during an explosive period of growth. For scholars and the public, the Inland Architect images will prove a fascinating and incredible resource.”
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The Inland Architect and News Record database of more than 5,000 images can now be easily searched by architect, project name, location, date, or other key words–including any combination of such terms–through the DCD website. With the addition of the Inland Architect images, the DCD now includes more than 25,000 digital images and PDF files of photographs, slides, architectural drawings and prints, correspondence, manuscripts, pencil sketches, books, postcards, three-dimensional objects, and printed materials such as newspaper clippings and brochures.
Additional Background About the Database
Direct to the Database
A search box is located in left column or limit your browse to the Inland Architect Collection by selecting it from the drop down menu at the bottom of the page.
Hat Tip and Thanks: Steven Cohen
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