Working with archival sources anchors architectural analysis in concrete, verifiable, and historically situated materials. Plans, reports, correspondence, technical documents, and photographs are traces produced by the actors of a project—each to be examined in its context of production. Primary sources offer a solid foundation for building critical thinking. Combining primary and secondary sources, developing a contextual reading, citing precisely, and questioning the intentions or biases of documents are essential practices for a scientific approach that is attentive to the material, political, and cultural stakes of the built environment.
Services for teachers
The Acm provides pedagogical support to EPFL teachers, including presentations, workshops, and personalized consultations to help effectively integrate archival sources into their teaching projects.
Services for students
The Acm supports EPFL students by offering personalized research services, methodological advice, and guidance for working with archival sources.
Research resources
A wide range of research resources: online journals and periodicals, digitized sources, archives, libraries, images, catalogs, etc., to enrich academic projects.
Working with sources
Identify the nature of sources, combine direct readings and interpretations, develop a critical stance and a contextual understanding of documents