Edward A. Duckett (b.1920) Collection, 1931-1978

Edward Austin Duckett (b.1920) began undergraduate study with Bauhaus-émigré architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago in 1944. As early as 1945, Duckett was teaching architectural courses at IIT and working in Mies's office. Duckett functioned in many capacities, including leading the program for furniture redevelopment, drafting, delineating, and serving as job captain. One of his most important functions was supervising the creation of study and presentation models for almost all Mies's projects, including some of Mies's best known buildings. He opened Mies's New York City office after Mies received the commission for the Seagram Building (1954-1958). Duckett left the office in 1966 due to Mies's failing health and the public's waning interest in his designs. Duckett returned to Chicago to work at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill as a senior architect until his retirement in 1984.

The items in the collection span the time of Mies's career in the United States. Duckett assembled a collection of photographs, slides, color transparencies, articles, correspondence and office records documenting several projects on which he worked: 860-880 and 900-910 N. Lake Shore Drive apartments and the 2400 Lakeview Apartments, all in Chicago; the Edith Farnsworth house in Plano, IL; Lafayette Park in Detroit; and others. The collection also includes photographs of Mies, his colleagues, students and employees, as well as documents and images of several exhibitions of Mies's work.

SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, BUSINESS DOCUMENTS, AND PRINTED MATTER. These materials are organized under the following headings: project papers, arranged alphabetically by project, with related project materials listed at the end of this section; furniture design; exhibitions; general correspondence; writings by or about Mies van der Rohe; and miscellany. All materials are organized chronologically within each section--unless otherwise noted--with undated material following at the end of each section.

SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS, SLIDES, AND TRANSPARENCIES. All three media are filed together and are arranged alphabetically within the following subjects: projects, exhibitions, and miscellaneous views of people and Mies's offices. All items are black and white photographic prints, unless otherwise noted.

SERIES III: NEGATIVES Negatives are restricted from patron use.

• Names
  • Duckett, Edward A.
  • Duckett, Edward A.--Archives.
  • Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969--Archives.
• Subject
  • 860 and 880 North Lake Shore Drive (Chicago, Ill.)
  • 900-910 North Lake Shore Drive (Chicago, Ill.)
  • 2400 Lakeview Apartments (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Illinois Institute of Technology.
  • Lafayette Park (Detroit, Mich.)
  • Architecture--Illinois--Chicago--20th century--Sources.
  • Architecture--Michigan--Detroit--20th century--Sources.
  • Architects--Illinois--Chicago--Archives.

ALS

BOX.FF

c.

Flatf.

N.B.

n.d.

RT

TC

TLS

Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer Papers, 070383.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1984.2.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe/Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1986.3.

Thomas R. Burleigh Collection, 1986.1.

William E. Dunlap Collection, 2000.6.

Portions of this collection are restricted; wherever possible, surrogate copies are provided for patron use, as noted in the series listings. The remainder of collection may be accessed by users in the Reading Room of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago. Collections maintained on-site are available for patron use without prior arrangement or appointment. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance notification; please consult the Archivist for the current retrieval schedule. For further information, consult https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/contact-usage-and-faq.

The Art Institute of Chicago is providing access to the materials in the Archives’ collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of the Art Institute is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Art Institute of Chicago Archives. In addition to permission from the Art Institute, permission of the copyright owner (if not the Art Institute) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distribution, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. The Art Institute makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.

Edward Duckett Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

This collection was donated to the Ryerson and Burnham Archives by Edward A. Duckett in 1986. A gift of Mrs. Ben Rose was added to the collection in 2005.

The collection was initially processed by staff of the Ryerson and Burnham Archives. The collection was partially reprocessed by Natasha Derrickson in 2001. This finding aid was revised and expanded by Annemarie van Roessel, with assistance from Amy Babinec, in 2002 and 2003, and Nathaniel Parks in 2004 and 2005.