About the Open Archive
Open to the public in 2024, the Architecture and Design Open Archive is a special collection, research room, and center for publishing based jointly in the schools of architecture and design at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). The Open Archive contextualizes and makes accessible materials in varying formats that embody disciplinary ways of thinking and making. It holds approximately three thousand books and periodicals, including rare titles, as well as collections of type specimens, models and prototypes, and faculty work, with a special focus on collaborations between UIC faculty and students. The Open Archive supports researchers within and outside of the university; its collection, programming, and publications also serve as immediate teaching resources for students and faculty.

Collection database
Our collection database is currently accessible on-site and by request only. Please email openarchive@uic.edu for a username, password, and instructions.

Archival collections
Archival descriptions and finding aids are in progress. For more information on any collection, please email openarchive@uic.edu.

• C1 / Rotating collection of student work
  A collection of work by students in the School of Architecture and School of Design, held on deposit.

• C2 / Books, serials, and print media
  Reference materials to support student and faculty research, with a focus on both content and print production or materiality.

• C3 / Artifacts, fragments, and prototypes
  Typically objects; includes work by Bertrand Goldberg, Louis Sullivan, and Andrew Zago.

• C4 / School of Architecture records
  Records of School of Architecture activity, particularly events and publications, that supplement materials in UIC Special Collections and University Archives.

• C5 / School of Design records
  Records of School of Design activity, particularly events and publications, that supplement materials in UIC Special Collections and University Archives.

• C6 / Design master’s thesis collection
  Documentation of master’s research conducted by students in the Graphic Design and Industrial Design programs from 1982 to the present.

• C7 / Course publications collection
  Publications produced in the context of coursework in the School of Architecture or the School of Design.

• C8 / Navy Pier competition collection
  Records related to a competition entry for Navy Pier by a team of architecture and design faculty, circa 2011.

• C9 / Garofalo Fellowship collection
  Records related to the School of Architecture’s Garofalo Fellowship, 2013–present.

• C10 / Barack Obama Presidential Library competition collection
  Records related to the finalist entry for the Barack Obama Presidential Library by a team of architecture and design faculty, circa 2014.

• C11 / Rooms for Books collection
  Approximately six hundred titles by exhibitors in the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial, shown as part of the installation Rooms for Books, organized by MG&Co. Includes many unique or rare publications.

• C12 / Doug Garofalo fonds
  The professional archives of the architect and UIC faculty member Douglas A. Garofalo, including realized and unbuilt work by his firm, Garofalo Architects.

• C13 / American Framing collection
  Models and one photograph produced as part of the research for and exhibition of American Framing, the 2021 United States Pavilion at the Venice architecture biennale, curated by School of Architecture faculty Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner.

• C14 / UIC Center for the Arts competition collection
  Records documenting multiple stages of the international design competition for a UIC Center for the Arts, circa 2017–19. Supplements the collection in UIC Special Collections and University Archives.

• C15 / Graphic standards collection
  A range of corporate graphic design and branding guidelines, circa 1960s–2010s.

• C16 / Type and letterform collection
  A collection of type specimens, circa 1930s–2010s.

• C17 / Design for Democracy collection
  Records related to Design for Democracy, a ballot-redesign initiative that involved UIC students, faculty, and the AIGA, 2001. The collaboration produced design work that became the basis of guidelines for federal elections distributed by the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission.