Van Alen Institute has spent more than 130 years at the intersection of design ambition, education, and civic life. Today, we are a driving force behind community-led urban design, which believes that local knowledge and care enrich the design process. Our archive—comprising thousands of competition boards, jury records, photographs, and correspondences—is one of the most significant collections of American architectural history in existence. Much of it has never been seen by the public.
For the Fall 2026 exhibition Open Access: Exploring 130 Years of American Design, Van Alen invites emerging designers and creatives to delve into the accessible portions of our archive and respond to its material through the lens of open and fair access.We seek proposals that provoke reflection on the progression of design access, and position the archive as living material—something to be questioned, reinterpreted, and held accountable to the present. Projects may respond to specific archival materials or engage more thematically, and may use a wide range of creative approaches and mediums.