In this edition of Archive Explorations, we look at blueprint experiments past and present, focusing on interdisciplinary connections between design, art and photography. With contributions by Susanna Brown, Carolin Lange, Harm te Velde and Hetty Berens. The evening will be moderated by Ellen Smit.

The blueprint was once a widely used reproduction technique in architectural design. It made its appearance around 1870 in military engineering and water management, but was soon adopted by architecture offices. Its introduction into architectural design processes was not without struggles, as illustrated in the early blueprint experiments now kept in the archives at Het Nieuwe Instituut. These experiments illustrate an exciting search for new ways to visualise and communicate.

Today, the blueprint is an inspiring technique in artistic practices and visual design culture. Artists, for example, have investigated how to use the blueprint process to visualise invisible qualities of architectural space, while designers use white lines on a blue background to visualise both the past and the future. Others have looked at how the blueprint process could be used to investigate invisible processes in nature, such as botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871).

This evening explores blueprint experiments then and now, focusing on interdisciplinary connections between design, art and photography, based on examples from the institute's archive. What new visualisation and communication possibilities did the blueprint offer? What did blueprints provide that was not possible before? We look for examples in Het Nieuwe Instituut's archive and place them in the context of contemporary artistic and visual practices.