Greg Lynn's Embryological House: case study in the preservation of digital architecture

Introduction     Background     Animate Form     Digital Life     Technical Challenges     Other Challenges     Discoveries     Future Steps

The case study has already begun to have an impact on the understanding of digital preservation at the CCA. We have begun to define a preservation strategy for the Embryological House. We will also outline more general proposals for the preservation of other new media archives at the CCA, including recently received digital materials from Peter Eisenman.

We anticipate that the research into the Embryological House will have an impact outside the scope of the CCA and DOCAM. The research has entailed consultation with prominent architectural archives and museums which are, like the CCA, developing their own approaches to digital preservation. As we and other institutions continue to develop strategies, we expect to continue this dialogue. This is a field under construction, and it can be said that the CCA's and DOCAM's efforts with this case study are likely to make a significant contribution to the development of standards and strategies for digital preservation of architectural archives.

As part of the next phase of research, we plan an interview with Greg Lynn to address questions about design process, file history, and design intentions; this should take place by the fall of 2007. The bulk of the Embryological House case study will be completed by the end of 2007. But we anticipate the research will find applications well into the future.