Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

Includes an archive library and a history of architecture. The history of architecture covers all aspects of the built environment, from progress in construction methods and use of materials, to the emergence of popular styles and fashions and the historic contribution of individual architects to the advancement of architecture. Many of the documents that are now classed as historical items were written as contemporary texts. Essays, reports and articles, particularly in the RIBA's own archive, often refer to the latest theories and innovations, and over time these come to serve a different purpose from that for which they were originally written. The fact that they were written as contemporary texts makes them particularly valuable as aids to historical research.