Alfred Neumann (1900-1968) was a Czech architect with an international career. Most of his major projects were executed in Israel; his earlier work consisted mainly of private residences for Czech clients, as well as commercial and residential architecture undertaken with various firms or government bodies in Paris, Berlin, Algiers, and South Africa. Neumann devoted a substantial portion of his career to teaching and to research into architectural morphology, theories of proportion, polyhedral structures, and architectural space as pattern. He taught at both the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) in Haifa, and the Université Laval in Quebec. He participated in CIAM (Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne), Groupe Espace, and other architectural groups throughout his career. This collection consists mainly of project drawings and photographs, personal and professional correspondence, Neumann's writings and research, papers related to Neumann's membership in CIAM, and publications related to his projects. The bulk of the material dates from Neumann's later career and concerns projects and research undertaken while Neumann was in Israel.
An American architect and urban planner, Shadrach Woods was a student of Le Corbusier and worked extensively throughout North Africa, France, Germany and New York City on projects ranging from low-cost housing developments to university campuses. Also highly regarded as a critic and theorist, Woods taught at Harvard and Yale and lectured and published widely. The collection represents the span of Woods' life and career through papers, photographs, architectural drawings, writings, and published materials. A small group of materials documents his childhood and education through personal papers and photographs. However, the bulk of the collections relates to his professional work and collaborations.