ABSTRACT
Over the last decades, architecture has became an issue of wide public interest both in Western countries and beyond, displayed and discussed in countless initiatives promoted by specialised institutions, with the aim of bringing this discipline to a general audience. More recently, in 2001, the European Union Prize has been established for contemporary architecture award, in the frame of the European Heritage Day, dedicated to twentieth-century architecture and town planning, a joint action by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, with the goal of stimulating both national, regional and local authorities, and the private sector, in the cultural relevance of contemporary architecture and planning and its social impact. This chapter illustrates a few main museums, institutions and associations, both public and private, devoted to the divulgation of contemporary architectural culture. From the 1980s, universities have played a very keen role in the preservation of primary architectural research sources, such as architects' archives and collections.
