The Architects' Collaborative

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The Architects' Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm founded by Walter Gropius and seven younger architects in 1945 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The original partners were Norman C. Fletcher (b. December 8, 1917), Jean B. Fletcher (June 23, 1915–September 13, 1965), John C. Harkness (b. November 30, 1916), Sarah P. Harkness (b. July 8, 1914), Robert S. McMillan (April 3, 1916–March 14, 2001), Louis A. McMillen (October 21, 1916–May 18, 1998) and Benjamin C. Thompson (July 3, 1918–August 21, 2002). TAC have created many successful projects, and have been well-respected for its broad range of designs. One of TAC's specialties was designing public school buildings.

TAC's philosophy reflected Gropius' central preoccupation with the social responsibilities of architecture. This lead to the idea of "collaboration", which was the basis of TAC. This unique design method was carried out in that an entire group of architects have their input on a project, rather than putting an emphasis on individualism. There would be a "partner-in-charge", who would meet with clients and have the final decision of what goes into the design. This method had been practiced by Gropius when he was an instructor at the Bauhaus school years before.

Financial problems resulting in over-extension of what were many unbuilt projects caused TAC to go bankrupt in 1995. In response, many archives and architectural libraries worked fast to retrieve TAC's drawings and records. They are now stored in the Rotch Library at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.