SAH Archipedia is an authoritative online encyclopedia of the U.S. built environment organized by the Society of Architectural Historians and the University of Virginia Press. It contains histories, photographs, and maps for over 20,000 structures and places. These are mostly buildings, but as you explore SAH Archipedia you will also find landscapes, infrastructure, monuments, artwork, and more.
This cross-section of the country demonstrates the richness and diversity of architecture and building practice across many centuries, from mud brick to steel, from ancient cliff dwellings to contemporary office towers—a history that unfolds in individual building entries and thematic essays written by leading architectural historians who survey and explain styles and typologies, materials and techniques, and social and political contexts, from local to state to national levels.
The content of SAH Archipedia was originally drawn from the award-winning book series, Buildings of the United States (BUS), and includes histories and thematic essays from all of the published BUS print volumes. SAH Archipedia has continued to grow with the addition of peer-reviewed born-digital content and as new BUS volumes are completed. In 2017 we reached our goal of representing all fifty states in SAH Archipedia. U.S. content is only the beginning, however, as we plan to expand to include global content in the coming years.
SAH Archipedia is truly a collaborative project, resulting from the hard work and expertise of writers, researchers, peer reviewers, editors, programmers, and staffers. Development of SAH Archipedia has been made possible by major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional foundation and institutional support came from the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, the Americana Foundation, the Atherton Family Foundation, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Individual support came from Brent Harris, Diane Kane, Maya Manny in memory of Carter Manny, Gretchen Redden, and Howard Brainen at Two Cat Digital. Initial and ongoing support is provided by the Society of Architectural Historians, its members, and University of Virginia Press.
Members of the Society of Architectural Historians have supported this project in myriad additional ways, beginning, most obviously, with the intellectual contributions of past and present authors, whose scholarship has made SAH Archipedia a reality. The editors also extend their thanks to those who helped enrich the media content of SAH Archipedia by contributing historical and contemporary images of buildings in the collection. Finally, the editors acknowledge the teams of knowledgeable and dedicated volunteers who spent countless hours reviewing metadata and subject tags for building entries in SAH Archipedia.