Historical overview In 1841 the architect/broker J. van Straaten took the initiative to found the Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst (further referred to as the Society). On January 26, 1842, the regulations, drawn up by a committee to establish the Society, were approved by a group of architects and lovers of architecture convened in a meeting. Earlier, in 1819, Van Straaten had stood at the cradle of the Maatschappij tot Aanmoediging der Bouwkunde, which, however, had not been active since 1830. The documents relating to competitions organized by the Society for the Encouragement of Architecture were transferred to the Society by its former secretary (see inv. no. 102). Of these, one document may have survived, namely a drawing by T.F. Suys (see no. 103 of the appendix). However, this cannot be stated with certainty, since in 1852 D.D. Büchler also donated, unspecified, drawings by Suys to the Society. The aim of the Society for the Advancement of Architecture was: "to encourage and promote as much as possible civil architecture in all its subjects and subdivisions, by all means within its reach; while hydraulic engineering and fortification will not be excluded from its efforts" (see inv. no. 45). One tried to achieve this goal by: - issuing contests (several subjects per year), - organizing exhibitions, such as of the prize-winning competition designs, - publishing magazines and books, such as the Bouwkundige Bijdragen (1843 to 1880), continued as Bouwkunst (to 1914); the Bouwkundig Weekblad (1881 t/1969); the Afbeeldingen van Oude Bestaande Gebouwen (1854-ca. 1906) and the Verzameling van Bouwkundige Ontwerpen, bekroond en uitgegeven door de Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst (1844 to 1878), - establishing a library and collecting drawings, prints and photographs, - from 1854 to 1880, the holding of general meetings of members one day after the general meeting of members. These meetings were entirely devoted to subjects concerning architecture and engineering. In addition, the Society was concerned with living and working conditions and the education of people working in the building trade. Especially after 1880, the Society developed more and more in the direction of a trade association for architects. That the Society was also committed to monuments and urban beauty should not go unmentioned. The board, consisting of eight (after 1876 nine) people, was based in Amsterdam and until 1881 consisted entirely of Amsterdam residents. This board met once a month on average. Contact with the members in the country from 1842 to 1850 was mainly through correspondents. From 1850 onwards, in a number of places, so-called sections arose, consisting of members and non-members of the Society. They had their own board of directors and developed their own activities, such as issuing contests. From 1877 an extraordinary board meeting was held once a year, i.e. a meeting of the main board with delegates from the sections. In 1915 the departments were transformed into local committees. Membership in the Society was open to anyone who was at least 16 years old until 1881. In 1881, members were divided into several categories: ordinary members, extraordinary members (16-23 years old), art-loving members and honorary members. In 1908 and 1914, the number of categories was expanded. A general members' meeting was held once a year, in Amsterdam until 1871, then in other places. In the first years of the Society's existence, the secretariat and editorial staff were housed in rented rooms and large halls were rented for the general meetings and general assemblies. In 1867, the secretariat and library were housed in a house on Wijde Kapelsteeg, which became the property of the Society in 1878. The desire to bring meeting space, exhibition space, library and archives under one roof led to the creation of a building of our own, at 402 Marnixstraat (now gone), which was moved into in 1885. In 1881, to the original objective of the Society, the promotion of architecture, was added: "and to promote the general interests of its practitioners". With this, the Society turned into an interest group for architects. However, the membership remained of the same varied composition as before. In 1908, in addition to the Society, the Bond van Nederlandsche Architecten (BNA) was founded, of which only private architects could become members. Because there were now two associations dedicated to the interests of the architect, a merger attempt was made in 1913-1914. However, this failed. However, in 1915 the Society amended its statutes and was henceforth called Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst Vakvereenigigng van Nederlandsche Architecten (MBVA). Membership since then was open only to private individuals and official architects. In addition, there were aspirant members and honorary members. Architects who were also brokers or building trade patrons could henceforth become donors only. A second merger attempt in 1917 led to the merger of the BNA and the Maatschappij in 1918 into the "Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst Bond van Nederlandsche architecten BNA", or BNA for short (here further referred to as Maatschappij/BNA, to avoid confusion with the BNA 1908-1918). In January 1919, the first meeting of the new association took place.