SAH & UVA Press launch Open Access Archipedia

Author

Michele Racioppi

Affiliation

51¸£Àû staff

Tags

Web resource
Image details

A newly designed, open-access edition of SAH Archipedia is now freely available to the public.

The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and University of Virginia Press (UVA Press) have launched a new open-access, mobile-friendly edition of , an authoritative online encyclopedia of the built environment of the United States. The newly redesigned site brings peer-reviewed scholarship to a worldwide audience of researchers, students, teachers, preservation advocates, cultural tourists, and anyone interested in learning more about the architectural history of the U.S. (and there are plenty of Modern sites for our Docomomo followers).

SAH Archipedia contains histories, photographs and maps for over 20,000 structures and places, and showcases the richness and diversity of architecture and landscapes throughout the U.S. “This isn’t just a powerful content management system, it is a true authoring platform that has the potential to foster new forms of scholarly collaboration and makes it easier to create curated collections of entries, such as the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright or automobile service stations or showrooms,” said SAH Editor Gabrielle Esperdy. 

SAH Archipedia originally launched in 2012 with 8,500 building entries and content drawn from the Society’s , an award-winning series of volumes on U.S. architecture compiled and written on a state-by-state basis. Histories and thematic essays from all the published BUS print volumes have been included in SAH Archipedia, which continues to grow with the addition of new peer-reviewed born-digital content and as new BUS volumes are completed. SAH Archipedia reached a milestone in 2017 with content representing all 50 states. In addition to building entries, SAH Archipedia includes place-based and thematic essays, comprised of peer-reviewed scholarship contributed by architectural historians nationwide, and lesson plans designed for K-12 educators. In the coming years, SAH plans to expand the scope of the project to include global content.