Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)
Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - BUCHMANN, Wolf: Planning an Archive Building. The Cooperation between Architect and Archivist
Planning an Archive Building 211 the character of a research institute with the important task for the long-term storage of the sources for German history. At a very basic level there are three aspects or criteria the architect and the archivist have to keep in mind: a) the architectural quality of an archive building b) the costs of the building especially after it has been completed (e. g. for maintenance, air-conditioning) c) the quality of a building to meet the needs of archivists and researchers. These three criteria for a building are not necessarily contrary to one another, they have to be balanced: a) An archive building might be a milestone in the history of architecture, but in some respects it might not be really appropriate for the daily work of an archivist. The architect might for example concentrate his interest on the parts of the building open to the public, especially emphasizing its most representative character by planning a large entrance hall. This is of course acceptable for the archivist, if it does not lead to solutions which might neglect other necessary areas e. g. the laboratories. The repositories comprise a large proportion of the volume of an archive building. I believe it is a special challenge for the architect to ensure that a large and massive block for this area does not dominate the whole appearance of the building. On the other hand, this area should be easily accessible from other parts of the building. The repositories should therefore not be hidden close to the back part of the site, but be integrated in the other areas of the building. The archivist in most cases is not a specialist in architecture, he has to rely on the advice and the judgement of the architect, especially because it might be difficult for him to get an idea of the final building by only looking at the plans. The archivist should therefore insist on the availability of a model. For a person not trained in understanding a plan for a building, a model of the final construction gives a much better impression than the plans (see plate 2). As mentioned before, the aims of the architect and the archivist should not be regarded as contrary: the aim of achieving an optimum of architectural quality must include all aspects of the internal needs. In reality the architect and the archivist will be limited in carrying out their ideas by the political authorities deciding on the budget. Thus, the final building will always be a kind of compromise, balancing the intentions and interest of all parties involved. b) It is obvious that for the construction of an archive building economic aspects have to be taken into account. In my view even more important are the later costs for the maintenance of the building and the costs for energy. Before the construction of the Bundesarchiv building began, the architect calculated these costs to be up to 2,650.000 DM a year. This would mean that about 12% of the present budget of the Bundesarchiv would be needed every year to cover these expenses. This rate was not acceptable and had to 14'
