Douglas Kelbaugh fonds

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Part of

• Fonds: Douglas Kelbaugh fonds, 1970-2008

People

• Douglas Kelbaugh (architect)
• Douglas Kelbaugh (archive creator)

Title

Douglas Kelbaugh fonds

Dates of creation

1970-2008

Form

• archives

Level of archival description

Fonds

Extent and Medium

• 817 drawings (including 538 reprographic copies)
• 381 photographic materials
• 35 panels
• 2 serials
• 1.01 l.m. of textual records
• 1 book

Scope and Content

The fonds documents the professional practice of architect Douglas Kelbaugh, including the documents presented at the CCA for the exhibition "1973: Sorry, Out of Gas". The archive comprises over 20 projects of sustainable architecture in the United States using passive solar technologies undertaken during his partnership in the firm Kelbaugh + Lee Architects. The projects included in the fonds cover the period from the beginning of his career as an architect, in 1973, to his later projects in the 1990s. The archive is composed of documents produced between the early 1970s to the mid 1990s, but predominantly between the 1975 to 1985. The fonds contains architectural drawings, including conceptual, design development, presentation and working drawings. It also contains photographs, predominantly of the buildings and residences he designed. The fonds also contains textual records including Douglas Kelbaugh’s professional correspondence, promotional material and documents related to his architectural projects.

Reference Number

AP153

Arrangement

Fonds is arranged into two series, including : Douglas Kelbaugh's architectural projects and Douglas Kelbaugh's professional correspondence and documentation.

Biographical notes

Douglas Kelbaugh was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 25, 1945. He studied architecture at Princeton University, New Jersey and received his Master of Architecture in 1972 after which he worked as architect and urban designer for the City of Trenton, New Jersey. During his employment at the City of Trenton, he completed, in 1975, the Kelbaugh House, his solar house in Princeton. In 1978, he founded Kelbaugh + Lee Architects with the architect Sang Lee and completed most of his architectural projects for passive solar buildings, including residences, between the end of the 1970s to the mid 1980s: the Milford Solar Conservation Center (1981) in Milford, Pennsylvania, the Roosevelt Senior Citizen Housing Developement (1983) in Roosevelt, New Jersey or the PA Technology Headquarters (1984) in East Windsor, New Jersey. He also participated in many national and regional design competition, including the design competition for the Monroeville Civic Center in Monroeville, Pennsylvania (for which he obtained the first prize), and the Cultural Arts Pavilion in Newport News, Virginia (for which he obtained the third prize).

In the late 1990s, he moved to Seattle and founded the firm Kelbaugh & Calthorpe. Douglas Kelbaugh was also teaching as visiting professor in schools of architecture in the USA, as well as in Europe, Japan and Australia. He was chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington from 1985 to 1993 and was the dean ot the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan between 1998 and 2008. His projects of passive solar buildings were presented in many exhibitions between 1978 to 2008. His project of the Kelbaugh House, in Princeton, was presented at the Canadien Center for Architecture, in Montréal, for the exhibition "1973: Sorry, Out of Gas" (November 2007 to April 2008), an exhibition about the architectural innovation on the field of sustainable architecture during the 1973 oil crisis.

Douglas Kelbaugh died on February 23, 2023 at the age of 78.

Conditions governing access

• Access by appointment only.

Conditions governing reproduction

• Contact the CCA for copyright information and permission to reproduce (reproductions@cca.qc.ca).

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

• Gift of Douglas Kelbaugh in 2009.

Custodial history

The Douglas Kelbaugh's records remained in his custody until their transfer to the CCA in 2008 in the context of the exhibition "1973: Sorry, Out of Gas", to be formally donated in January 2009. At that time, the records and other related materials had been kept at Douglas Kelbaugh’s residence.

Archivist's note

• The fonds was processed by Catherine Jacob in 2015.

Credit line

Douglas Kelbaugh fonds
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal;
Don de Douglas Kelbaugh/
Gift of Douglas Kelbaugh

Language of material

The documents are in English, except for a few documents in French, in Japanese and in German.

Related units of description

• Documents related to the CCA exhibition "1973: Sorry, Out of Gas" (November 2007 to April 2008) are available in the CCA institutional archives.