Through selected objects from the CCA Collection and by using the case study of South African township Bophelong, Bongisa Msutu explores globally applicable strategies of building an “unarchivable” architectural archive as a decolonial project.
23 July 2026, 6pm to 7:30pm
Archiving "Unarchivable" Architectures
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Description:
Through selected objects from the CCA Collection and by using the case study of South African township Bophelong, Bongisa Msutu explores globally applicable strategies of building an “unarchivable” architectural archive as a decolonial project.
2016 Visiting Scholar Cara Rachele presents her research: This lecture investigates the explosion of detail drawings in the Renaissance. It connects the emergence of the detail in the sixteenth century as a canonical drawing type with the evocation of the material antique. The organic evolution of the detail drawing method can be seen in the sketchbooks of everyday(...)
11 August 2016, 6pm
Visiting Scholar Seminar: Cara Rachele
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2016 Visiting Scholar Cara Rachele presents her research: This lecture investigates the explosion of detail drawings in the Renaissance. It connects the emergence of the detail in the sixteenth century as a canonical drawing type with the evocation of the material antique. The organic evolution of the detail drawing method can be seen in the sketchbooks of everyday(...)
Detail for the plasterwork between the fluting of the columns for Electric House, Battersea Borough
DR1988:0395
Description:
- This reprographic copy shows a design for plaster ornament consisting of a frieze of lightbulbs with electrical cords and swags. - This work is part of an incomplete group of possibly working reprographic copies for Electric House, Battersea Borough, designed by the borough architect, Henry Hyams. The group also includes some reprographic copies which may have been used for publication purposes. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be directly linked to an article published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
architecture, interior design
printed November 1926
Detail for the plasterwork between the fluting of the columns for Electric House, Battersea Borough
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DR1988:0395
Description:
- This reprographic copy shows a design for plaster ornament consisting of a frieze of lightbulbs with electrical cords and swags. - This work is part of an incomplete group of possibly working reprographic copies for Electric House, Battersea Borough, designed by the borough architect, Henry Hyams. The group also includes some reprographic copies which may have been used for publication purposes. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be directly linked to an article published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
architecture, interior design
DR1988:0358
Description:
- Comparison with DR1988:0359, 'Plans and Elevations for Electric House ...', identifies these projections as sections and plans for Electric House. - This work is part of an incomplete group of possibly working reprographic copies for Electric House, Battersea Borough, designed by the borough architect, Henry Hyams. The group also includes some reprographic copies which may have been used for publication purposes. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be directly linked to an article published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
architecture
printed late 1926 or 1927
Sections and floor plans for Electric House, Battersea Borough
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DR1988:0358
Description:
- Comparison with DR1988:0359, 'Plans and Elevations for Electric House ...', identifies these projections as sections and plans for Electric House. - This work is part of an incomplete group of possibly working reprographic copies for Electric House, Battersea Borough, designed by the borough architect, Henry Hyams. The group also includes some reprographic copies which may have been used for publication purposes. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be directly linked to an article published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
architecture
DR1988:0410
Description:
- This reprographic copy shows two elevations for onyx mosaics designed to be backlit. The onyx landscapes are rendered in coloured pencil. - This work is part of an incomplete group of possibly working reprographic copies for Electric House, Battersea Borough, designed by the borough architect, Henry Hyams. The group also includes some reprographic copies which may have been used for publication purposes. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be directly linked to an article published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
interior design
printed March 1927
Elevations for onyx niches for showrooms, Electric House, Battersea Borough
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DR1988:0410
Description:
- This reprographic copy shows two elevations for onyx mosaics designed to be backlit. The onyx landscapes are rendered in coloured pencil. - This work is part of an incomplete group of possibly working reprographic copies for Electric House, Battersea Borough, designed by the borough architect, Henry Hyams. The group also includes some reprographic copies which may have been used for publication purposes. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be directly linked to an article published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
interior design
DR1988:0411
Description:
- This reprographic copy shows the interior of a room with two rows of columns supporting a barrel vaulted arch over the central aisle. The rest of the ceiling is coffered. The room is identified as a furniture showroom because the walls of the room are lined with furniture and there are several groups of people standing around a few chairs and rugs in the centre of the room. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be linked to the article "Music in Stone" published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
architecture, interior design
printed in the 1920s or 1930s
Perspective showing the interior of a room, probably a furniture showroom
Actions:
DR1988:0411
Description:
- This reprographic copy shows the interior of a room with two rows of columns supporting a barrel vaulted arch over the central aisle. The rest of the ceiling is coffered. The room is identified as a furniture showroom because the walls of the room are lined with furniture and there are several groups of people standing around a few chairs and rugs in the centre of the room. - The style of many of these drawings and reprographic copies by Henry Hyams (DR1988:0332 - DR1988:0414) suggests that they were possibly for periodical illustrations. Hyams contributed articles to the periodicals 'The Builder' and 'The Architect'. Two objects in the CCA collections can be linked to the article "Music in Stone" published prior to 1926 in 'The Architect'; a reprographic copy (DR1988:0357) and a drawing (DR1988:0364) (Who's Who in Architecture, 161).
architecture, interior design
Parables and Other Allegories: The Work of Melvin Charney 1975–1990 comprises approximately 100 drawings, including many large-scale, sketches, photographs, and three large constructions. By assembling works from various public and private collections, including the CCA, the exhibition permits a comprehensive analysis of Charney’s artistic process to reveal the dialogue(...)
Main galleries
9 October 1991 to 12 January 1992
Parables and Other Allegories: The Work of Melvin Charney, 1975-1990
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Parables and Other Allegories: The Work of Melvin Charney 1975–1990 comprises approximately 100 drawings, including many large-scale, sketches, photographs, and three large constructions. By assembling works from various public and private collections, including the CCA, the exhibition permits a comprehensive analysis of Charney’s artistic process to reveal the dialogue(...)
Main galleries
Coined in the early twentieth century to designate progressive literary journals, the term “little magazine” was remobilized during the 1960s to grapple with the contemporary proliferation of independent architectural periodicals that appeared in response to the political, social, and artistic changes of the period. Clip/Stamp/Fold 2 investigates how a diverse group of(...)
Octagonal gallery and library rotunda
12 April 2007 to 9 September 2007
Clip/Stamp/Fold 2: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X - 197X
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Coined in the early twentieth century to designate progressive literary journals, the term “little magazine” was remobilized during the 1960s to grapple with the contemporary proliferation of independent architectural periodicals that appeared in response to the political, social, and artistic changes of the period. Clip/Stamp/Fold 2 investigates how a diverse group of(...)
Octagonal gallery and library rotunda
Mies in America
A profound thinker, painstaking artist, and one of the greatest architects in history, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1938, when he was already in his fifties and one of the recognized masters of his profession. Transplanted from the Bauhaus (of which he was the last director) to a technical institute in Chicago, from the European(...)
Main galleries
17 October 2001 to 20 January 2002
Mies in America
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A profound thinker, painstaking artist, and one of the greatest architects in history, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1938, when he was already in his fifties and one of the recognized masters of his profession. Transplanted from the Bauhaus (of which he was the last director) to a technical institute in Chicago, from the European(...)
Main galleries
Mirrors / Miroirs
Mirrors/ Miroirs is conceived through an indirect dialogue with the exhibition Besides, History: Go Hasegawa, Kersten Geers, David Van Severen, a project rooted in the shared references and resonances between the work of two contemporary practices in the presence of history. If Besides, History is premised on impressions of one office’s work registered through(...)
Hall cases
22 June 2017 to 14 January 2018
Mirrors / Miroirs
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Description:
Mirrors/ Miroirs is conceived through an indirect dialogue with the exhibition Besides, History: Go Hasegawa, Kersten Geers, David Van Severen, a project rooted in the shared references and resonances between the work of two contemporary practices in the presence of history. If Besides, History is premised on impressions of one office’s work registered through(...)
Hall cases