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Archive Hub at annual conference Architecture Institute of Japan

After a working visit to the Flanders Architecture Institute (VAi) in 2022, researcher Takuya Miyake of the Kyoto Institute of Technology brought attention to the VAi Archive Hub at the annual conference of the Architecture Institute of Japan in September. The presentation zoomed in on the value of our Archive Hub as a research tool and connecting database between records and the built environment.

© Rie Maki

Making pre-1945 paper inventories accessible online

VAi Archive Hub had its launch not long ago but the timing with Takuya Miyake's visit came perfectly. After an inspiring visit in which he witnessed the workings of the VAi, he used the knowledge and insights gained to contribute to the session "The past and present of databases of historical buildings".

In Japan, a specific sub-committee of the Architecture Institute of Japan has been working on an online database of historic buildings (General List of Historical Buildings, GLoHB-AIJ) since 2000. The original intent was to make the paper inventories of pre-1945 buildings accessible online, and work has been diligently pursued for more than 2 decades. The database became the main source for information to restore buildings after natural disasters and over the years the database also gained new functions to meet research demands.

© Hiroyuki Tamada

VAi Archive Hub as an inspiring example

There are also archival documents that provide valuable information about buildings. Institutes such as, for example, the museum and archives at the Kyoto Institute of Technology and the National Archives of Modern Architecture (NAMA) are engaged in caring for those documents. But the link between the lists of historic buildings and the records about the buildings themselves is still often missing, and opportunities for this need to be further explored.

In the search for inspiring examples, VAi Archive Hub was highlighted at the conference. More specifically, our map view of projects and the links to the Immovable Heritage Inventory stood out because they link the effective buildings with the archival materials. Also discussed was VAi Archive Hub as a research tool and

The session on Archiefhub was attended partly online, partly live. The live participants enjoyed a beautiful architectural setting, as it took place in "the House at Kinugasayama" in Kyoto, a 1962 design by Japanese architect Tomoya Masuda.

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