The Colonial Architecture & Town Planning Repository was developed in 2011-2015 by TU Delft Library in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment and funding from NWO and DutchCulture.
As of January 2025 the repository has been taken offline due to an outdated software stack that is no longer supported and related security issues.
TU Delft Library plans to publish a static archive of the Repository's content early 2025 containing all its metadata but without restoring its full functionality (i.e. without the digitised documents and full-text search). The reasons for this approach are explained below.
The material in the Repository was originally brought together from the following institutions: TU Delft Library, Leiden University Libraries, New Institute and the Wereldmuseum. In addition it contained a dataset from Simon Kemper and a set of metadata-only records.
A significant part of the Repository's contents can already be found online in the digital collections of the original content providers, linked above. We're working with these institutions to match identifiers, provide original master copies if needed and link to their respective holdings from the archive to be published. Content that was digitised from TU Delft's own holdings will be added to the recently renewed TU Delft Repository.
Returning the Repository's contents to the original content providers follows the current recommendation of the Dutch Digital Heritage Network to "share from the source", making each institution responsible for publishing its own digital collections using open standards.
Please contact us for more information, ideas and suggestions or intermediate access to the collections of the Repository.