Fonds consists primarily of architectural drawings, project-related photographs and textual records, and business and administrative records documenting the architectural career of Bernard Rasch.
These records date back to Rasch's student days in the late 1960s and the establishment of his own firm in 1973. They also include the projects in which Rasch was the lead when he was a partner in the firms Rasch & Au Architects and Rasch, Au & Habash Architects.
Fonds also includes architectural records created by other firms where Rasch was an employee before launching his own practice, mainly Ryan & Lee Architects and Venchiarutti & Venchiarutti. There are also miscellaneous other architectural records that were acquired by Rasch and likely used by him for reference purposes.
The project-related records document the design and construction of buildings that were built, but also consist of plans for structures that were never realized. Major built projects include offices for the City of Toronto, various branches of the Sterling Trust and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and stores for Canadian Tire affiliates. The majority of the projects, however, relate to the construction or alteration of houses, apartment projects and commercial buildings; also represented are industrial, recreational and institutional buildings. While almost all of the projects were located in the Greater Toronto Area, projects in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, the United States and Costa Rica were also undertaken.
Drawings comprising this fonds document various stages of individual projects, mainly preliminary and construction stages. They include original sketches, tracings, photomechanical reproductions and CAD printouts.
Other project-related records may include specifications, contracts, notes, maps, topographical plans and photographs.
Non-project records in this fonds include business and administrative records documenting the operations of Rasch's practice, information about other architects, and records documenting Rasch's professional activities and community involvement outside his practice.
For a more detailed description, use this link to the Archives of Ontario's descriptive database:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/PROV/PROV/REFD+F+4447?SESSIONSEARCH