Architect Lucia Bosso on the Urgency of Digital Archive Management

Architect Lucia Bosso, co-author of the Using Archives program with archivist Chiara Quaranta, discusses the critical state of architectural archives in the digital age. The study day 'Using Archives. Questioni sull’archiviazione contemporanea dell’architettura' takes place on Tuesday, May 23 at Politecnico di Torino – Castello del Valentino. Initiated by Based Architecture in collaboration with the Ordine Architetti di Torino, Politecnico di Torino, and Anai Piemonte, the event gathers specialists to address preservation and accessibility of digital project materials. Bosso highlights that digital production blurs the line between creation and archiving, requiring designers to be the first authors of their archives. Risks include file irretrievability and software obsolescence. She recommends professionals adopt a manual of practices for digital tools, while institutions must continuously update their knowledge. As a best practice, she cites Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, which acquired part of MVRDV's digital archive—the first non-paper acquisition by HNI. In Italy, she mentions Mario Cucinella's participation in the AAA – ARCHIVI 2.0 forum, emphasizing pragmatic archive management.