Building for Tomorrow

• “Digital Repository Service Policy Guide,” Harvard Library (2020)
• “DADE (Digital Architecture, Design, and Engineering) Strategic Directions and Priorities,” Building for Tomorrow (2019)
• “3D/VR in the Academic Library: Emerging Practices and Trends,” edited by Jennifer Grayburn, Zack Lischer-Katz, Kristina Golubiewski-Davis, and Veronica Ikeshoji-Orlati (2019)
• “Building for Tomorrow Forum Report,” by Ann Whiteside (2018)
• “Designing the Future Landscape: Digital Architecture, Design & Engineering Assets,” by Aliza Leventhal for the Library of Congress. (2017)
• “CAD BIM Taskforce Report,” by Aliza Leventhal and Inés Zalduendo. (2013)
• “Final Report for the MIT FACADE Project,” by MacKenzie Smith (2009)

Standards Organized Based on Implementer / Primary Audience:

This list includes some of the most important standards of interest to the various parties involved in the archiving process of born-digital design data.

All Standards

Custodial Institution: 

• Data Management and Sharing
• Digital Repositories

Information producers:

• Data Management and Sharing
• Management of Construction Processes
• Representation conventions
• Structuring and Naming Digital Architectural Data

Software vendors:

• Data Management and Sharing
• Drawings and Construction Documentation

The aim is to be as comprehensive as possible without being ineffectively encyclopedic. However, if you find the list missing any essential standards that you think should be included, please email us at [email protected]

The compilation of this list would not have been possible without the help of the Building for Tomorrow Standards Working Group that included experts and stakeholders from different fields. Special thanks to John Bacus; Leif Granholm, Nancy Hadley, Leslie Johnston, Marek Suchocki, and Dan Rossiter.

Last updated: May 2021

April 2021: What is the New Architectural Archive?
Paper Session at the 2021 Annual International Conference of the Society of Architectural. Historians to be held in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Session Chairs: Emily Pugh, Getty Research Institute, and Ann Baird Whiteside, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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November 2020: Building for Tomorrow Meeting
The focus of Building for Tomorrow in 2020-2021 is on preservation recommendations for design records, and intellectual property issues related to collecting repositories taking in digital archives. In view of your deep immersion in and concern for these issues, Building for Tomorrow team will hold a two-day online meeting on November 16^th and November 23rd, 2020 to review and help us assess preliminary preservation recommendations for digital design records.

Facilitator: Dr. Katherine Skinner, Executive Director, Educopia Institute

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April 2019: Roundtable: The Preservation of Digital Architectural Records
Roundtable at the 72nd Annual International Conference of the Society of Architectural. Historians held in Providence, Rhode Island.

Architects, archivists, preservationists, and historians joined together to discuss how members of SAH can contribute to Building for Tomorrow in 2019–2020 and how we can work with architects to help preserve their architectural

Moderator: Ann Whiteside, Harvard Graduate School of Design.

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April 2018: Digital Architectural Records and Our Future
Roundtable at the 71st Annual International Conference of the Society of Architectural. Historians held in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

This roundtable discussed work that is being done to assess the multi-layered issues, and approaches to managing our digital archival collections.

Moderator: Ann Whiteside, Harvard Graduate School of Design.

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April 2017: Building for Tomorrow Forum
In 2017, the Frances Loeb Library at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design received an IMLS grant (Whiteside 2017) to develop a shared infrastructure for preservation of digital design documents and data. Under the National Digital Platform priority, the grant supported the convening of a National Forum that brought architects, architectural historians, archivists, librarians, technologists, digital preservationists, and all those engaged in preservation of digital design data together, for a day and a half-long workshop. Thirty-five participants, invited to represent these areas of expertise were asked to work together in small and large groups to meet the desired outcomes of the Forum. The goals of the forum were: (i) to set priorities for long-term preservation of digital design documents; (ii) to think collaboratively about issues in preserving architectural design data; (iii) to find alignments of needs and challenges across communities; (iv) to identify a path of development for sustainable shared infrastructure for preservation of digital design documents and data, usable by a variety of types and sizes of architectural museums and archives, in the form of an action plan for the next 3-5 years. An infrastructure in this context includes human resources required to do this work, along with the technological tools, methodologies, and services needed to support institutions of varying types and sizes.

The forum was held immediately prior to the Society of Architectural Historians annual conference on April 17-18, 2018, in St. Paul, Minneapolis. It was led by Building for Tomorrow PI, Ann Whiteside, and facilitated by Christina Drummond with help from Aliza Leventhal, Jessica Meyerson, Kit Arrington, Kari Smith, and Kate Neptune to keep discussion on topic, to encourage all voices to be heard, and to prompt critical reflection within small groups. A copy of the agenda listing all presenters is included in the appendix. The following report comprises a summary of events and major findings; full notes from the Forum are included in the appendix.

The Forum Planning Advisory Group:

• Aliza Leventhal, Corporate Librarian/Archivist at Sasaki Associates
• Nancy McGovern, Lead/Digital Preservationist at MIT Libraries
• Jessica Meyerson, Educopia
• Pauline Saliga, FSAH/Executive Director at Society of Architectural Historians and Charnley-Persky House Museum Foundation
• Ann Whiteside, Librarian/Assistant Dean for Information Services at Harvard University Graduate School of Design
• Andrew Witt, Architect/Professor of Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design