Nor / API
The Nor Collection archive is available as a GraphQL API — the same data that powers this site, queryable by anyone building something worth building. It exists because a living archive should be accessible to researchers, designers, and developers who want to work with Canadian design history directly, on their own terms.
API access is currently by invitation. This is not a gate for its own sake — the archive is early in its public API life, and we want to grow that use carefully and in conversation with the people doing the work. If you have a project in mind, write to us and tell us about it.
Request access →A single endpoint, a self-documenting schema, and the ability to ask for exactly what you need — no more, no less. That last part matters: over-fetching is a form of waste, and the archive has always been built around precision and intentionality. GraphQL lets you compose queries that fit your use case without us having to anticipate every possible one in advance.
Every entry in the archive — over 14,000 going back to 1996 — is organized around a central Archive type, with typed relationships to Designers, Categories, Tags, and Clients. All list queries return a consistent pagination shape: items alongside an aggregate count, so you always know where you are in the data.
The query below fetches the first ten archive entries with their titles, slugs, and associated designer names — a starting point for understanding the shape of the data.
query RecentWorks {
archives(
limit: 10
orderBy: { field: createdAt, direction: desc }
) {
items {
id
Title
Slug
StartDate
Designers { Name }
Categories { category }
}
aggregate {
count
}
}
}