Environmental Design Archives

William W. Wurster founded the Environmental Design Archives (then the Architectural Archives) in 1953 as a teaching collection, following the recommendation of eminent architectural historian Henry Russell Hitchcock. The personal papers and project records of Bernard Maybeck comprised the inaugural donation. In 1973 the Department of Landscape Architecture combined its collections with the Architectural Archives prompting the College of Environmental Design to adopt the name "Documents Collection." The collection became the Environmental Design Archives in 1999 in response to the establishment of a formal archival program. The Archives has become Northern California's premier collection of historic architecture and landscape architecture records.

Since its founding, the Archives has been directed or supported by faculty members. Architect Kenneth Cardwell (1953-1972) was initially responsible for managing the archives followed by Architectural Historian Stephen Tobriner (1973-2003). Designer/ author Marc Treib (2004-2014) served as the Faculty Curator following the establishment of the EDA by Curator Waverly B. Lowell (1998-2018) the first professional archivist.