[1] Since its establishment in 1995, the IAA has become a unique database on planning and building in Palestine and Israel from the late 19th century to the present.

[2] The IAA is located in the basement of the Shalom Mayer Tower, as a symbolic statement, as the tower was built on the site of the first Hebrew public building in Tel Aviv, the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (established 1909).

The demolition of the latter in 1959 was a landmark event in Hebrew culture, that drew awareness to the need for preservation and documentation of the recent past.

As such, the IAA functions as a primary address for historical and rare materials which otherwise would have been lost and entirely disappeared.

Since most other attempts to establish a central archive for building and architecture in Israel have failed, the IAA has become a storage place for documentary materials for architects and demolished and existing buildings, which not only enfold chapters in the history of Israeli architecture, but also in its nation-building.