New Neighbors: Insights into the Archive

The Architekturmuseum der TUM has a unique archive comprising the estates of important architects and schools of architecture. With more than 500,000 planning drawings, 200,000 photographs, and 1,800 models, as well as numerous architectural engravings, building documentation, and—in recent years, increasingly—digital representations, it is one of the biggest and most important architecture collections in German-speaking countries. The holdings thus span an arc from the drawings of famous Baroque master builders to the designs of representatives of “modernism” to the planning records of contemporary architects today.

The archive continues to grow. The exhibition New Neighbors—Insights into the archive presents important new acquisitions of the last ten years. As new neighbors, they enter into a fascinating dialogue with the items already in the archive. New collection focuses that give expression to a newly defined spectrum of building tasks resulting from demographics, sustainability, and the social mandate have been added to the evolved collection profile. In addition, documentation by landscape architects now supplements the archive’s holdings for the first time. The richness and depth of the collection is communicated as a dynamically growing reservoir of knowledge, from which valuable insights into our built environments can be obtained.

The diversity of the media held in the archive is also reflected in the exhibition at the Architekturmuseum. Sketches masterfully drawn by hand alternate with CAD-generated planning materials, dramatically staged architecture photographs, matter-of-fact, documentary, handmade models, and realistic 3D-renderings.

The exhibition concept includes conventional and innovative methods of representation. The presentation of originals is supplemented by interviews with architects. They close gaps in the documentation as authentic testimonies of inestimable value, preserve objective knowledge including subjective memories, and thus contribute to gaining insights that can barely be obtained based solely on published sources. Film footage of important construction measures visualizes building processes and provides insights into the respective atmosphere of the time and place. QR-codes are found on the exhibits themselves and enable visitors to the exhibition to experience the backgrounds and the architecture-related media being presented.

More information about the exhibition on the A.M. website.

An exhibition by the Architekturmuseum der TUM.

Museum director: Andres Lepik
Curator: Mariann Juha together with Barbara Wolf
Graphic Designer: Studio Neue Museen
Exhibition Architecture: Studio Neue Museen
Assistants: Pia Nürnberger, Anastasiya Shalkevich
Sponsors: Förderverein Architekturmuseum TU München e.V., Stiftung Pinakothek der Moderne

Catalogue
A printed catalogue is being published to accompany the exhibition. Seminal essays explain the conception of the exhibition, along with the history, significance, and collection focuses of the archive, and discuss current and future archiving methods in the age of digitization. All of the projects presented are documented with pictures, descriptions, and relevant building data. The appendix contains brief biographies of the architects represented. The catalogue is thus not only a logical supplement to the exhibition, but also an important compendium that provides information about outstanding architects and their works.