Lord Palumbo has given Mies van der Rohe's Mansion House Square archive—which includes models, photographs, and films—to the RIBA Collections. Considered one of the most important collections of architectural materials in the world, the donation to RIBA is an important step in preserving the design records and more broadly, for "documenting the stories behind architecture," says RIBA President, Ben Derbyshire.
The seminal gift from the property developer and architecture connoisseur contains three large-scale models: one of the city of London; one of Mies van der Rohe's unrealized proposal for the Mansion House Square; and another of the building's underground shopping concourse. It also includes original feasibility drawings, bronze door handles and hinges, photomontages by architectural photographer John Donat and historical documents and objects related to the hotly-debated development.
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