The Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania collects and preserves the works of over 200 designers from the 18th century to the present. The research collections in the Archives are available to faculty, students and scholars for independent study as well as to support teaching in the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions. The new archival facility in the lower level of the Fisher Fine Arts Library (formerly the Furness Building) houses a specialized library, reading room, exhibition gallery and seminar room, as well as storage and processing facilities.
The Architectural Archives gained its international reputation initially through the Louis I. Kahn Collection whose resources include all drawings, models, photographs, correspondence, and project files from Kahn's office. Purchased by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from the Kahn estate, the Collection was placed on permanent loan to the University by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1978. The Kahn Collection attracts a steady stream of international visitors and has served as the basis for innumerable publications and exhibitions.
Other major collections represented in the Architectural Archives include the work of Alfred Bendiner, Cope and Stewardson, Paul Philippe Cret, Frank Miles Day, Wilson Eyre, Frank Furness, Horace Trumbauer, Edmund Gilchrist, Lawrence Halprin, Warren Powers Laird, Mitchell/Giurgola, John Nolan, and Zantzinger Borie and Medary, In addition to these 19th and 20th century American architects, the Architectural Archives collects the work of several significant European architects.