The archive of American architectural historian Thomas S. Hines (b. 1936) features the research files, site photographs, correspondence, and published articles of a professor and scholar widely known for his detailed investigations of key figures from the architecture world. His significant academic career, publications, and expertise on the development of Southern California architecture have had a profound impact, particularly on discourse related to the evolution of Los Angeles's built environment.

(left) Thomas S. Hines. (right) Hollyhock House, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1919–1921. The Getty Research Institute, 2015.M.16. Photo: Thomas S. Hines, ca. 1970

Among the most unique elements of the archive are Hines's personal photographs of each building he visited for his book Richard Neutra and the Search for Modern Architecture. The collection also features 18 files of Hines's personal correspondence with a range of influential figures, including architects such as Ray Kappe, Richard Meier, Frank Gehry, and Philip Johnson, as well as renowned critics, historians, and writers.

In addition to the archival material, the Research Institute has acquired the Thomas S. Hines Autograph Album, containing the sketches, personal notes, and signatures of important figures from the architecture and art world who were dinner guests at Hines's home from 1979 to 2001. All of the new inscriptions were added to an existing guest book containing notes dating from 1907 to 1927. Hines purchased it at a bookstore in the United States after he recognized it as a Roycroft book, which he and his wife had been collecting for years. Included in the autograph album are intriguing entries by Hitoshi Abe, J. Carter Brown, Jean-Louis Cohen, Ron Davis, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Charles Gwathmey, Gisue Hariri, Wes Jones, Pierre Koenig, Mark Mack, Charles Moore, Wolf Prix, and Álvaro Siza.

Hines's archive is a strong complement to the Research Institute's archives of other major architectural scholars and critics including Reyner Banham, Ada Louise Huxtable, and Herbert Muschamp. His work is also intimately connected to the Institute's pivotal collections of Franklin Israel, Ray Kappe, Pierre Koenig, William Krisel, Julius Shulman, and Welton Becket, as Hines has widely written or lectured about all of these innovative architectural figures throughout his career.