Atlas Archive — 2024
An architecture archive that invites browsing
A public digital home for forty years of architectural drawings, photography, and correspondence.
Overview
Atlas held one of the largest private collections of mid-century architectural drawings in the region, and almost none of it was visible to the public.
The challenge
The catalog was structured for archivists, not readers. Searching required knowing an accession number, which meant the collection was effectively closed to anyone outside the field.
Approach
We designed browsing paths that start from what a visitor actually knows: a building, a decade, a material. Drawings are the interface, and metadata sits underneath rather than in front.
Outcome
Public sessions grew tenfold in the first quarter after launch, and the archive began receiving research requests from outside the architecture field for the first time.
- Items digitized
- 8,400
- Session growth
- 10x
- Timeline
- 14 weeks
