In the past few years, the notion of fine art has been expanded to include works of commercial illustration, advertising and graphic design, turning pieces once thought attractive but worthless into priceless treasures. Vintage architectural drawings are one type of illustration that has become highly prized. Before the advent of computer aided design, architectural firms often employed extremely gifted illustrators, and many of the designs and renderings from architecture firms are beautiful to look at and fun to collect.

Professional treasure hunter Norman Brosterman is the curator of Brosterman Fine Art, a gallery that specializes in Americana, folk art and 20th century objects. He is also the preeminent scholar on the history of Kindergarten and is the author of the book Inventing Kindergarten. Here he offers his insights into collecting architectural drawings as works of art.

• Visualizing buildings.
  In the 19th and early 20th centuries, firms made architectural renderings to show their clients what their buildings would end up looking like.
  
• Architectural portraits.
  To make these drawings and paintings as impressive as possible, firms would hire talented artists who would render the building concepts with style and detail, and today, these images can be seen as windows into the past.
  
• Bygone eras.
  The styles of architectural drawings often mirror the times in which they were made, and details often show people wearing the clothing of the era, and streets filled with the dominant car designs of the day. At a time when many fine artists were concentrating on abstract images, the illustrators at architecture firms were creating stylized but realistic views of contemporary life.
  
• Varied sources.
  Drawings like this show up all over the place, from flea market sales and Internet auctions to collections in the library of Congress and in museums. They are fun to collect as they look great on the wall and are fascinating representations of history.

For more information about vintage architectural renderings, check out the following organizations or websites:

Achitech Gallery
www.architechgallery.com

Architectural Art
www.architecturalart.com

The Getty: Architectural Drawings
www.getty.edu

Library of Congress Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering
http://lcweb.loc.gov

The American Architectural Foundation
www.archfoundation.org

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