Archival processing of architect Marcos Konder Netto’s collection

Abstract

Archives created organically by individuals during their professional practice can serve as valuable research sources. When such records outlive their creator’s period of activity and are incorporated into custodial institutions for purposes of preservation and access, they acquire historical and scientific significance. The collection of architect Marcos Konder Netto (Blumenau, 1927 – Rio de Janeiro, 2021), now housed at the Research and Documentation Center of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (NPD FAU UFRJ), provides a representative example of the value of personal archives as academic research sources, underscoring the importance of their institutionalization. As an architect responsible for notable works in Rio de Janeiro, Marcos Konder Netto also became both civil servant and professor during the second half of the twentieth century, achieving a collection of records that document his professional and intellectual trajectory and contribute to the construction of the collective memory of a period and a region. This article seeks to present the stages and the methodology employed in the technical and academic treatment of this collection, highlighting its significance for the history of architecture as well as for studies of preservation and access to information.