AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

Paul Rudolph (1918-1997) was an American architect and former dean of the school of architecture at Yale. After his passing in 1997, the Library of Congress acquired a significant amount of the Rudolph's archive, including several architectural models. The models were made across a range of dates and from a wide variety of materials, including foamcore, blotter, plywood, acrylic sheeting, thick veneer, coated wire, cast aluminum, dried moss, and basswood. Several pieces have been stored in their original shipping crates in off-site storage, and not accessed for some time.

Four of the models were selected for loan as part of a retrospective on Rudolph's work slated to open in September of 2024. Two of the large models were in poor condition, and had been on open display in the archive before coming to the Library. They had accumulated a significant amount of dust and grime on their surfaces, some of which had become concreted after a water event prior to acquisition. The wet wooden elements had severely curled, loosening some of the joins. Insufficient support during shipping also caused significant damage, particularly on the model of the Colonnade. The Colonnade is made of four floating modules which slide over a central tower. Each module is supported by two metal pins which are not fixed in place. Jostling during shipment caused some of these pins to shake loose, which led to the partial collapse of the modules. Because of its extensive damage, the Colonnade tower model was selected for this talk. It had sustained both water and physical damage, requiring cleaning, humidification, consolidation, and recreation of both plastic and wooden elements. Treatment of the tower, standing at 68 inches when fully assembled, was a collaborative effort between the lead conservator and several technicians, and included training on wet- and dry-cleaning methods, stain reduction using gels, cleaning and reattaching plastic elements, and recreation of missing pieces.