A Living Open Architecture Archive

Abstract

In an era of rapid architectural evolution, the preservation of architectural heritage, particularly that of the Modern Movement, stands as a paramount challenge. This contribution aims to showcase the collaboration between Architectuul, an open data architecture community, and Docomomo International, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement, which is present with national working parties in 79 countries. Since 1990, Docomomo International has been collecting, researching, and documenting information of over a thousand Modern Movement buildings in systematic ‘building fiches’, part of which have been published in the Docomomo Journal, biannual international conference proceedings, and several book publications in English and other languages. Consequently, Docomomo has established itself nationally and internationally as a point of reference and partner for organisations like ICOMOS, UIA or the Getty Conservation Institute. Nevertheless, only a fraction of this rich material is readily accessible in digital form, and over the years, Docomomo has recognised the critical and challenging task of building a sustainable, continually updated, cost-efficient, and openly accessible archive to disseminate this architectural knowledge further across geographies and cultures, beyond the printed versions and local digital repositories.