In the 1950s and 1960s, Twin Cities leaders had visions of freeways and monorails. The Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce seal featured a rocket ship blasting off. Hundreds of Minnesota buildings and houses were destroyed and their pieces dispersed to landfills.

For many, the wake-up call came in 1961 with the demolition of the great Metropolitan Building, once the city’s pride. The Northwest Architectural Archives (NAA) was founded at the University of Minnesota in 1970 in response to the sweeping erasure.

From its beginnings under founding curator Alan K. Lathrop, NAA has grown to include more than 300 collections focused on individual architects and designers, architecture firms, contractors, suppliers, and developers in the five-state area. Together, the collections capture the full array of trades, professions, and industries that make buildings possible. Today, NAA is recognized as one of the top regional design and building archives in the country.