This paper describes an application framework, called Vamp, which supports Interactive Compound Documents and applications as collections of Interactive Objects. Aldus developed Vamp as a practical experiment in solving several software engineering and project management problems including software reusability, portability, and management of large program teams. Vamp is written in C ++ to run on the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. This paper discusses the decisions that led to the architecture of Vamp and what Aldus stands to gain by its use.