On Friday, July 18, the Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) circulated a proposal that would fundamentally alter—and, in many respects, dismantle—the federal Section 106 review process as it has existed for decades. The ACHP is expected to vote on the proposal this Friday. If approved by a majority of Council members, it will be released for a 30-day public comment period.

When Docomomo US was created more than 30 years ago, we set out to build a network of like-minded individuals to offer leadership, knowledge, and enthusiasm for the modern movement, which was little and little appreciated. We could not have envisioned the remarkable change in public attitude toward modernism we see today. Every year we thank and acknowledge our longstanding members in a formal way and recognized them during the Docomomo US Modernism in America Awards Ceremony. 

Docomomo US Executive Director reflects on the selection of this year's annual theme and how sites of recreation and play are not simply backdrops to our memories, but help shape who we become and the dreams we have along the way.

In the 1960s, landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg designed two comparable playground schemes for public housing: Jacob Riis Plaza in New York and Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis. Both drew on the same design vocabulary, yet their afterlives diverged sharply. Riis became a canonical example of postwar playground design, while the Pruitt-Igoe playgrounds are largely absent from the architectural record. Their contrasting fates reveal how race, philanthropy, public visibility, and federal housing policy have shaped the preservation and remembrance of modern recreational landscapes.

This essay examines how the Silver Springs and Paradise Park attractions in Ocala, Florida, reflect the changing beliefs of the time within the cultural landscape. It focuses on three different managers and the themes of segregation, progress, and modernity. The authors look at the parks in parallel as thriving attractions and the various changes they go through. The essay highlights Silver Springs and the visions of progress seen in the construction of the Tourist Center by architect Victor Lundy and the slow shift away from his modern vision for the spring.  At the same time, the authors showcase Paradise Park’s importance in the community and its closure and erasure. The essay concludes with recent preservation and interpretation efforts that have begun to acknowledge these histories.

In 1948, a new kind of recreational landscape opened on San Antonio's South Side. The Mission Drive-In Theatre brought automobiles, neon, Hollywood movies, and family entertainment to the edge of Mission San José, one of the city's historic Spanish colonial missions. Rather than enclosing its audience within a conventional theater, the drive-in transformed a large tract of land into an outdoor auditorium: here, cars became seats and the building became the screen. The Mission Drive-In Theatre, now nown as the Mission Marquee Plaza, placed a distinctly modern, commercial form of leisure alongside a historic landscape increasingly shaped by preservation and tourism. Its history offers a window into the ways that mid-century San Antonio negotiated modern recreation, cultural heritage, and racial access.

Over the past sixty years, the plaza at the heart of the West Los Angeles Civic Center has experienced an unexpected and thrilling evolution. Confronted with ongoing redevelopment pressures, negative public perceptions, and limited resources, diverse community coalitions have effectively defended and enhanced a treasured global destination that allows people of all backgrounds, interests, and abilities to connect, create, and thrive.

By the end of the nineteenth century, children were beginning to acquire places of their own within the city. Playgrounds were among them, providing an alternative to streets increasingly considered dangerous for play. But they soon became something more complex: carefully bounded spaces where freedom was promised but only granted on adult terms. Across a century of design experiments—from picturesque parks to radical landscapes—a question persists: can a space protect children without prescribing how they should play? This essay traces how landscape thinking has offered alternatives to the standardized playground, and what that history reveals about childhood, public space, and design.

La Laguna de San Gabriel is an otherworldly playscape in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, built in 1965 by master concrete artist Benjamin Dominguez. One of the last surviving midcentury fantasy playgrounds, it was saved from demolition by local historians and grassroots advocacy. Six decades on, it demonstrates that artist-designed playscapes, rooted in the land and surrounding culture, can anchor public life, uplift intergenerational community, and nurture belonging tied to place.

In 1969, American artist Paul Selinger unveiled Shek Lei Playground, a sculptural landscape of cast concrete forms, painted rock faces, and abstract play settings — Hong Kong's first playground conceived as a work of art. Though erased by later renovations, its influence has quietly resurfaced in recent play spaces across the city. Fan Lok-Yi revisits Selinger's lost masterpiece and its unexpected afterlife in contemporary Hong Kong play design.

Update: New protections for Kennedy Center issued by judge.

A coalition of eight leading cultural heritage and architectural organizations jointly represented by three law firms today filed suit [GW1] in federal district court in Washington, DC seeking to require the Trump administration to comply with historic preservation laws and secure Congressional authorization before implementing the President’s plans to further alter the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

An introduction and conversation with Alexandra Lange.

Tracing the journey of the adventure playground from its start in Europe to its positive reception in the counterculture of Northern California’s Bay Area.

Explore the figurative play-sculptures of Mexican-born sculptor and playground designer Benjamín Domínguez (1894-1974).

For a generation of South Florida children, Don Seiler's monumental Sunbather was more than public art. It was a place to climb, imagine, fall down, and grow up.

Throughout New England, town greens historically functioned as places where communities assembled for militia training, markets, public debate, and celebration. The Alfred E. Burr Memorial Mall, known to most Hartford residents simply as ‘Burr Mall,’ occupies a significant urban position and carries the town green tradition into the twenty-first century through modernist design.

Located in the heart of Chicago’s Loop, Chase Tower opened in 1969 as the First National Bank of Chicago. The building and its plaza, now known as Exelon Plaza, occupy the entire downtown block bounded by Clark, Dearborn, Madison, and Monroe Streets. The building’s plaza held its own significance as a vibrant public space. Completed in 1972, Exelon Plaza gained its own reputation as a cornerstone of Chicago skateboarding culture.

Recent news stories and dramatic AI renderings depicting a proposed $22 billion transformation of Washington Dulles International Airport have generated significant concern within the preservation community. Saarinen's 1962 terminal is recognized nationally and internationally as an icon of twentieth-century design and engineering, and the airport remains one of the country's most important Modern cultural resources.

Conference proceedings are now available for the 19th International Docomomo Conference, which took place in Los Angeles, California from March 17-22, 2026.

The following remarks by Paul Goldberger were presented during the roundtable session, "Advocating for the ‘-isms’: Late-Modernism, Postmodernism, and Brutalism," during the 19th International Docomomo Conference in Los Angeles.

In mid-October 2025, the architecture community was surprised by an article in the Dallas Morning News that Dallas officials are considering demolishing I.M. Pei's iconic Brutalist Dallas City Hall. This follows a Feburary 2025 approval by the Dallas Landmark Commission, who voted to initiate historic designation. A community group Save Dallas City Hall is now working to preserve the building.

Grab a book, find a shady spot, and dive into summer with our 2026 Summer Reads book list. There is something for every modernism enthusiast—from Dallas/Fort Worth titles to get you ready for the 2027 National Symposium to inspiring reads on architecture, design, and preservation from the around the world—these selections will keep your curiosity engaged all season long.

Last month, when the Connecticut Department of Transportation announced proposed improvements to Union Station in New Haven, we heard from many Docomomo US members who deeply appreciate the late-1980s addition and pedestrian tunnels designed by Herbert S. Newman.

In recent months, Docomomo US has been made aware that a growing number of significant midcentury corporate office buildings across Maryland and Virginia are being demolished despite their architectural and historical importance. These losses reflect broader pressures reshaping suburban office campuses throughout the Washington region, where redevelopment economics increasingly outweigh preservation concerns. Particularly troubling are the recent demolitions or redevelopment plans involving the former COMSAT Laboratories in Clarksburg, Maryland, the historic GEICO Headquarters campus in Chevy Chase, and the Best Products headquarters in Henrico County, Virginia.

Docomomo US invites submissions for a 2026 special edition focused on Recreation and Play – the mid-twentieth-century sites where communities gathered for leisure, movement, social life, and joy.

Docomomo US is pleased to welcome new leadership and members to its Board of Directors.

In 2026, Docomomo US shifts its attention from religious sites to the rituals of Recreation and Play, highlighting the places where communities gather for recreation, activity, leisure, and joy. 

Each holiday season, we select an image for our member holiday card that inspires and draws attention to the work of an architect, artist, or designer important to the Modern movement. This year, we highlight the work of Elaine Lustig Cohen (1927–2016).

Los Angeles has always been a laboratory for modernism – a place where climate, material experimentation, cultural diversity, and cinematic myth-making merge. As we prepare for the 19th International Docomomo Conference (March 17–22, 2026), we’re celebrating five extraordinary reasons why this IDC could only happen in LA …

Docomomo US chapters, friend groups, and partners organized tours across the country for Tour Day 2025, many of which focused on the annual theme of Places of Worship. We would especially like to thank the many sacred spaces that opened their doors for Tour Day participants, include St. Peter's in New York City, Fish Church in Stamford, CT, Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, PA, and the Cedar Lane Universal Unitarian Church in Bethesda, MD. 

For her final President's Column Katie Horak reflects on a productive year for the organization, her excitement about the upcoming International Docomomo Conference, and the recent passing of architect Frank Gehry.

Our annual list of must-read titles on architecture and design.

Our gift-giving guide for the Modernist in your life packs a design-y punch across price points, with finds for all ages, iconic originals, and a selection of goods designed and made in or inspired by Los Angeles – where we hope to see you March 17–22, at the International Docomomo Conference. Cheers!

When Docomomo US was created more than 30 years ago, we set out to build a network of like-minded individuals to offer leadership, knowledge, and enthusiasm for the modern movement, which was little and little appreciated. We could not have envisioned the remarkable change in public attitude toward modernism we see today. Every year we thank and acknowledge our longstanding members in a formal way and recognized them during the Docomomo US Modernism in America Awards Ceremony. 

Special Edition Vol. 2 of Docomomo US’s 2025 Annual Theme on “Places of Worship” focuses on the adaptive reuse of Modernist sacred places. As the issue’s guest editor, Partners for Sacred Places approaches the topic of adaptive reuse from a “both-and” perspective.

At its height, the Norwegian Seamen’s Church consisted of 31 churches across the globe, serving as a home away from home for over 900,000 seafaring and expatriate Norwegians. Today, as Spyre Center, the building has found new life through adaptive reuse for a contemporary audience seeking a holistic health community rather than organized religion. 

Two Mid-Century Modernist chapels in New Orleans, the Episcopal Chapel of the Holy Spirit and the Methodist NOLA Wesley Center, built within three blocks and ten years of each other, demonstrate what it looks like for a religious building to stay and adapt.

Crosses of Chicago is a series of photographs by Kim E. Lovely that documents 30 storefront churches that were located throughout the South and West sides of Chicago between 2005 and 2007. The series captures the bold graphic aesthetic of storefront churches, including hand-painted Latin crosses, signage, and graphic facades.

A case study for other postwar synagogue designers, Park Synagogue is now becoming an important precedent in the preservation and adaptive reuse of Modernist sacred places.

North Christian Church and its site are in transition from a house of worship to a secular purpose, as part of a public library system. This presents an intriguing opportunity and challenge for creative solutions highlighting the unique design by Eero Saarinen and his colleagues, while devising appropriate designs for the new use.  

Docomomo US is currently seeking qualified applicants to contribute to the ongoing leadership of the organization as a one year student board member – starting on January 1, 2026, and ending on December 31, 2026 – the term is potentially renewable for one year at the discretion of the board.

San Francisco aims to demolish Embarcadero Plaza and Vaillancourt Fountain as part of the Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park Renovation Project, an initiative kickstarted by private interests.

A coalition of advocates have come together to urge the new owners of Victor Lundy's home and studio in Bellaire, Texas to abandon plans to deconstruct the house.

Docomomo US recent response to the Trump Executive Order to make ‘Federal Architecture Beautiful Again’.

It’s our annual survey of the Modern real estate marketplace, where in we hope to connect modern homes with new stewards who will uphold each property's original integrity.

The Nuclear Ship Savannah is not only the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship but also served as a floating showcase of mid-century American art and design. Now, not only can visitors experience the restored modern passenger areas like the dining room, staterooms, veranda and main lobby, but they can also walk inside the former reactor space, which has been outfitted with interpretive displays to aid in understanding how a nuclear reactor works. 

The Docomomo US Annual Theme “Places of Worship” profiles and explores the rich array of postwar Modern religious buildings that can be found in almost every community across the nation. It’s worth noting from the start that these buildings house worship, yes, but often much more.

Architect Walter Netsch was only 34 when handed the monumental task of designing the Cadet Chapel – a centerpiece in the bold new vision for the United States Air Force Academy. The commission was unprecedented in scale: a Cold War-era project involving cadet quarters for 8,000, a hospital, an airfield, academic and administrative complexes, a court of honor, and more. Over 340 firms competed for the honor, but it was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) that won the contract on July 23, 1954.

In 2023, the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee launched a project to survey Milwaukee’s 20th-century houses of worship. The survey had one unexpected outcome, however – the discovery of a relatively unknown architect whose work extended beyond the geographic boundaries of Milwaukee: Henry R. Slaby, AIA. Slaby (1906-1995) was born in Milwaukee and apprenticed in the local architectural office of Herbst & Kuenzli. 

On Halloween night in 1939, the Community Christian Church – at the time known as the Linwood Boulevard Christian Church – suffered a fire that destroyed the church’s second building, and forced them to relocate for a fourth time since the congregation’s inception in 1888.

From an adapted barn in Locust Valley, Richard Lippold spun wire into gossamer threads to create other worldly compositions. He eschewed organized religion but was deeply connected to the natural world and communed with the metals that composed his sculptures.

Tucked into the quiet hills of Montecito, California, the Vedanta Temple emerges like a secret sanctuary for both visitors and spiritual seekers. Designed by Lutah Maria Riggs in 1956, it is a rare example of sacred architecture that blends philosophical depth, environmental sensitivity, and architectural restraint.

Tucked away on a quiet side street in the low-rise Queens neighborhood of Maspeth sits a little known modernist masterpiece of Lithuanian architecture, the Church of the Transfiguration.

Wallace Harrison, the architect best known for such projects as the United Nations Headquarters, Lincoln Center, and Albany’s Empire State Plaza, designed only one church, First Presbyterian Church in Stamford, CT, 1952–1958.

Sonya Sehgal is an emerging conservation professional and graduate student, pursuing a Master of Science in Historic Preservation at the University of Texas. She is the first recipient of the Theodore Prudon Education Fund Grant, and we recently spoke with her about receiving the grant and how she plans to utilize the funding to further her educational pursuits.

Expand your horizons and escape into our annual summer reads list, featuring new and on-theme architecture and design titles. And a reminder that when you purchase any of the books below through our Bookshop.org storefront, Docomomo US receives a portion of the proceeds. 

Docomomo US and Docomomo US/New York Tri-State Chapter are thrilled to announce the New York City individual and interior landmark designation of the former Whitney Museum of American Art at 945 Madison Avenue, designed by Marcel Breuer and Associates.

Docomomo US announces the return of its online auction Be:Cause Modern – the Auction for Modernism, supporting the preservation of modern architecture, landscapes, and design through principled advocacy, collaboration, and celebration. Bidding opens at 12pm EST on Friday, May 16, and runs through 9pm EST on Sunday, May 25.

Docomomo US is proud to introduce our guest editor for the Places of Worship Annual Theme: Partners for Sacred Places. We spoke with Bob Jaeger about the organization and it’s work. 

Susan Horowitz, director of preservation projects at Hamptons20Century Modern, reflects on the legacy of architect and advocate Barbara Goldberg Neski, who in 1952, became one of the first female graduates of the Bauhaus-oriented Harvard GSD program. As Neski Associates, she and her husband Julian designed 35 homes (many of which were located in the Hamptons). Throughout her decades long career, Neski was outspoken about the challenges for women in architecture.

Docomomo US is steadfast in its mission to protect our Modern heritage. We counter the recent executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” with a renewed commitment to telling the full and diverse stories of Modernism in America.

Howard Mumford Jones Research Professor Lizabeth Cohen adapts her Keynote Address from Preserving the Recent Past 4. "Revitalizing the Post-Covid City: What We Can Learn from the Past," was presented at the conference in Boston on March 20, 2025.

It’s March! Nominations are now open for the 2025 Modernism in America Awards, and it’s also Women's History Month, which inspired us to take a look back at the award-winning initiatives where women played a central role in commissioning, designing, restoring, documenting, educating, and advocating for our built environment. Their contributions emphasize the importance of partnerships between owners, architects and the community and the interconnectedness that originates from the lifecycle of a project.

In this month's column, Docomomo US President Katie Horak acknowledges the emotional toll of 2025's early months, marked by natural disasters, political unrest, and uncertainty. Yet hope abounds, as recovery from the Eaton and Palisades fires continues in Los Angeles, and Docomomo US looks forward to the Preserving the Recent Past (PRP) 4 conference in Boston, celebrating progress and reflecting on the ongoing preservation efforts over the last 30 years.

Take virtual tour through the recent past of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. As part of the Preserving the Recent Past 4 conference happening in Boston this March, participants have a chance to tour the diverse Roxbury neighborhood. If you aren’t attending the conference but are local to Boston, tours are now open to the public for registration. Here is a sneak peek of some of the significant midcentury and recent past sites featured on the tour. 

The Docomomo US Board of Directors has added Nina Chmura of New Jersey as a new director, while Zoe Detweiler and Tyler Jones – both based in Los Angeles – join as student directors for 2025.

In honor of Black History Month we have compiled a list of some Black Modernist architects and designers you should know and some of the important projects they worked on. 

Docomomo US is thrilled to announce student scholarship applications are officially open for the first time through the Theodore Prudon Fund for Preservation Education Grant Program.

At a time when the effects of climate change are everywhere, we believe that our resources would be better directed by promoting the preservation of our existing historic architecture and reducing building emissions and the environmental impacts of demolition and sourcing new materials.

Our recent field trip to Boston gave us so many reasons to be excited to PRP4. Here are five reasons to bundle up and join us in Boston this March!

Docomomo US President Katie Horak addresses the heartbreaking devastation and loss of homes as well as modern heritage sites resulting from the fires that broke out in Los Angeles on January 7. At Docomomo US we stand together with our Los Angeles family.

We’re dedicating the July special edition newsletter to articles addressing the Docomomo US 2025 theme: Places of Worship. We invite article proposals that seek to explore and understand the multitude of religious, spiritual and faith-based sites across the country – illuminating their distinct styles, development, and community impact – and represent a diversity of communities, historic resources, and the individuals associated with them.

As Docomomo US closes out its third decade of education and advocacy work in the United States, Executive Director Liz Waytkus shares her thoughts on the significant issues the preservation community must confront to continue making meaningful progress.

Each holiday season, we select an image for our member holiday card that inspires and draws attention to the work of an architect, artist, or designer important to the Modern movement. This year, we highlight the work of Jane Slater Marquis (1922-2021), an American artist who worked predominantly in stained glass, completing major commissions throughout the American West.

As we conclude this year’s exploration of suburban corporate campuses, our thematic focus for 2025 shifts to the multitude of religious, spiritual and faith-based sites across the country – illuminating their distinct styles, development, and community impact. A deeper examination of this common typology furthers our understanding of Modern architecture and design in the United States.

Docomomo US and its New York Tri-State Chapter continue to successfully work to designate and protect Marcel Breuer’s iconic inverted Brutalist ziggurat, the former Whitney Museum of American Art at 945 Madison, as a New York City Individual and Interior Landmark.

Docomomo US is thrilled to announce its selection as the nonprofit beneficiary of the 21st annual DWR Champagne Chair Contest. Now through January 7, craft a mini modern chair from champagne corks and enter for your chance to win up to $1,000 in prizes from DWR. For every entry, MillerKnoll Foundation will donate $50 (up to $20,000 total) to Docomomo US.

The National Park Service has formally listed the Louis Kahn-designed Arts United Center on the National Register of Historic Places with National Significance.

It's not quite official yet (still needs approval of the Mayor and City Council), but this has been a long time coming and we are thrilled to report that Boston City Hall was approved as a City of Boston landmark by the Landmarks Commission this past Tuesday.

Wondering what to read in the new year? We've compiled 60 must-read titles on architecture and design, as well as recommended reading to get you thinking about on-theme topics for 2025 and beyond. Our Annual Theme for next year focuses on Places of Worship (more on that soon), and we're looking forward to the PRP4 conference, March 19-22, in Boston. Further afield, check out recommended reads about Los Angeles, our host city for the 2026 International Docomomo Conference.

As I write this, I join Docomomo US Executive Director Liz Waytkus and President-Elect Meredith Bzdak in Santiago, Chile, for the 18th Annual International Docomomo Conference. Convening with our friends from across the globe reminds us of the international impact of Docomomo and our place in this incredible community of scholars, practitioners, and lovers of modernism. There is already a little buzz in the air about the 19th Annual IDC, which will take place in Los Angeles in March of 2026. As an Angeleno, I can’t wait for the opportunity to welcome the international Docomomo community and all of you to this city that I love so much.

Docomomo US chapters, friend groups, and partners organized tours across the country for Tour Day 2024. Many tours explored the annual theme of Corporate Campuses, visiting sites such as Bell Labs, GM Technical Center, the Formica Headquarters, while other tours featured iconic Modern sites of different typologies, from residential to educational and beyond.

Our gift guide for modernists packs a designy punch across price points with finds for all ages, iconic originals, and a few items inspired by our 2025 visit to Boston for PRP4 (March 19-22). 

When Docomomo US was created over 30 years ago, we set out to build a network of like-minded individuals to offer leadership, knowledge, and enthusiasm for the Modern Movement, which was little understood and little appreciated. We could not have envisioned the remarkable change in public attitude toward modernism we see today. That enthusiasm is due in large part to the dedication, interest, and support of our longstanding members in advancing the understanding of modern architecture and design.

Welcome to the second installment of the 2024 Special Edition! We are excited to share the following articles and photo essay, which highlight Eero Saarinen’s outsize influence on corporate modern architecture; the impact of Formica on Cincinnati and other businesses; and how American corporate campuses influenced similar developments in Canada.

I spent an entire day wandering the atrium and manicured outdoor walkways feeling, thinking, and seeing what I imagined Eero Saarinen wanted (or didn’t want!) the inhabitants of this building to see and feel and think, my camera searching for compositions and forms that I hoped would reveal a version of the building that wasn’t the current and familiar depiction of the place. Saarinen’s design impresses as much as it provokes; the otherworldly reflections off the facade; the blissfully smooth curves of the sunken granite lobby and stairways; the linear walkways that seem to float along the perimeter of the atrium like walkways on a ship’s deck. You can’t help but feel transported – time moves differently within the space – and I wanted to try and capture this essence.

In 1949, General Motors officially announced its intention to construct a centralized product development campus, called the “General Motors Technical Center;” the site would finally co-locate all the disparate research, engineering, design and manufacturing activities that had outgrown its previous homes into one cohesive site. The press release read: “Architecturally, the buildings will be of unique design, both modern and functional in concept,” – now an enormous understatement given the legacy of the Eero Saarinen-designed campus and its influence on industrial architecture.

Whether it’s big box chain stores or anonymous manufacturing facilities, wide, flat-faced buildings are a common sight on the route into Rochester, Minnesota, from the north. About five miles from downtown, the IBM Manufacturing & Training Facility has a similar boxy massing to other buildings on the street but has a distinctive blue facade pattern. From the air, the vast scale of this building can start to be understood – in fact, when viewed from above, it resembles a computer chip. IBM Rochester is still the largest IBM facility under one roof, enclosing 3.6 million square-feet on 400 acres. In this city, IBM’s frequent moniker “Big Blue” applies to both the company and the building. Commissioned in 1956 and designed by Eero Saarinen & Associates, the opening of the building in 1958 marks a key moment in IBM’s design legacy and Minnesota’s computing industry.  

Founded in 1913, the Formica Company boasts a rich history intricately linked with the development of Cincinnati. As the company expanded, its manufacturing campus gradually moved northward from the Ohio River, mirroring the city’s own growth. The Formica® brand has made a significant impact on corporate campuses not only through its own unique architectural expansion but also by manufacturing laminate products that have furnished corporate buildings since the 1930s.

The Golden Mile can be found fifteen kilometers to the northeast of downtown Toronto, Canada and was one of the nation’s first industrial complexes that transition to commercial in the post-war area. The Golden Mile was once a place where iconic corporate campuses and companies like IBM. and others served as catalysts for economic development while supporting the growth and expansion eastwards alongside iconic planned residential subdivisions, which sprang up to house the new industrial workforce and support their modern lives. 

Docomomo US is currently seeking qualified applicants to contribute to the ongoing leadership of the organization as a one year student board member – starting on January 1, 2025, and ending on December 31, 2025 – the term is potentially renewable for one year at the discretion of the board.

A selection of recorded sessions from the 2024 National Symposium in Miami, Florida are now available to view on Vimeo.

The 80,000 square foot headquarters of Timex, the iconic American Watch company, designed by Fletcher Thompson, Inc., and opened in 2001, is under threat of demolition. The multiple award-winning building combines modern design, open floor plan democratization, and blends into the natural landscape.

The overwhelming share of responsibility in the preservation field concerns the innumerable everyday local treasures that make up the greater wealth of any community’s architectural fabric. However, in a field of advocacy where the public often remains unfamiliar with the urgency or value of conserving our Modern heritage, there is an extraordinary amount to gain from focus on exceptional monuments and their uniquely accessible interest to the public. With the potential to catalyze a broader awareness and understanding of the modernist legacy, as the outsized example of Penn Station, among others, did for our 19th- and early 20th-century inheritance, such ambassadorial sites are a tremendous asset to the modern built environment.

Next week, Wednesday, September 25, we’re gathering at Saint Peter’s Church in midtown Manhattan for A Tribute to Theo (our first-ever gala) to celebrate Theo Prudon and kick off the new Theo Prudon Fund for Preservation Education. It's going to be a memorable evening in a gorgeous, modern space. As we look forward to the event, I’d like to focus my President’s Column this month on Theo, and my appreciation for his steadfast leadership and his dedication to preservation, education, Modernism, and Docomomo US.

All of these homes have a story to tell, but with architecturally-significant home ownership comes great responsibility. The moment one of these properties hits the market, there's always a risk that it'll get stripped of original details or become a development opportunity. It takes the proper steward, someone with curiosity and passion, to preserve their narrative and architectural integrity. So tighten your purse strings, and let's make some new homeowner matches in the name of Modernism.

After months of discussions with our Finnish colleagues, the Alvar Aalto Foundation along with the Consulate General of Finland in New York, Finnish Cultural Institute in New York and managing firm Office of Tangible Space have released a press release regarding the future of the interior. While we are disappointed the interior could not have remained in situ, Docomomo US is grateful to our colleagues for mobilizing and protecting this very important piece of our legacy.

The Goldman House, a unique remnant of the Stelton Colony in Piscataway, New Jersey, is at risk. Notable for its artistic touches including bas reliefs, sculptural elements and interior details, it embodies the aspirations of a community that sought to challenge societal norms and experiment with new ways of living and thinking.

In 1970, then Herman Miller CEO Max De Pree began a poetic brief for a Herman Miller manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom by stating, “Our goal is to make a contribution to the landscape of aesthetic and human value.” The building that resulted from what became titled A Statement of Expectations was a pioneering High-Tech project by Nicholas Grimshaw that recently saw its own award-winning adaptive reuse into, very fittingly, an art and design school. We are happy to share a story originally published by Herman Miller’s WHY Magazine in 2014 that tells the story of The Bath Brief, and Herman Miller’s collaboration with Grimshaw.

It's been way too long since our last commercial real estate round up, and this year's annual theme, Corporate Campuses, provides the perfect opportunity for a revisit. We hope you enjoy perusing some of our finds, including: a Pomo headquarters that's instantly recognizable as a Michael Graves design; an elegant Yamasaki in Michigan; a former church looking for a new use designed by Elizabeth Wright Ingraham; and if you've ever dreamed of an office space in "The Pyramids," now is your chance.

The Texas Instruments Semiconductor Building and headquarters in Dallas, Texas, is an example of a much lesser explored, yet no less historically relevant, corporate research facility from the same era as the well-publicized industrial complexes by Eero Saarinen. In 1958, Texan architects O’Neil Ford with Richard Colley, Arch Swank and Sam Zisman conceived of the massive complex (Fig 1), which typified Ford's daring creativity and stands as what has been considered the most technologically innovative design of his career. The Semiconductor Building serves as a larger artifact of twentieth-century technology, showcasing both advancements in concrete structural design and pioneering breakthroughs in the field of digital electronics.

The Ford Motor Company corporate campus is located in Southeast Michigan, about 10 miles west of Detroit in the city of Dearborn. Ford first began purchasing property here along the Rouge River in 1915, but it was not until 1917, with the impetus of World War I, that they completed the first structure to produce eagle boats for the war effort. Countless additions later, the Rouge complex, now referred to as the Ford Rouge Center, is still operational and is itself a hallmark of adaptive reuse. The expansion of production at the Rouge anchored Ford in Dearborn, where the company would continue to expand its campus, especially after World War II.

Postwar corporate campuses were an important proving ground for architects to demonstrate the core principles of modernist design: that form should follow function, and that the honest expression of building materials should put their inherent qualities on display. Because corporate campuses in this era were also seen as rural oases, set apart from their urban high-rise counterparts on large plots of land, landscape design played an essential role in the expression of place. In many cases, the architectural expression of a modernist corporate campus required that it borrow some drama from its surrounding landscape. And, in some cases, this meant bringing the outside in.

This year’s Docomomo US theme “Corporate Campus” has sought to “explore and understand the influence of suburban corporate architecture and corporate campuses on the edge of more urban cores, their peaks, and now their valleys.” In a post-pandemic world, and in the past year in particular, the evolving role of the corporate campus, and the office in general, has proven to be on trend across culture.

Escape into our annual Summer Reads list, and take a modern architecture and design trip around the world. Like any good travel companion, these titles are up for anything (read them on the beach or a shady bench in the park), and they keep the drama contained (to their pages). 

Docomomo US Chapters Chicago, New York/Tri-State, and Northern California announce the recipients of their 2024 National Symposium scholoarships. 

Docomomo US is pleased to announce two scholarship recipients for the 2022 National Symposium taking place in Miami: Arièle Dionne-Krosnick and Angela Fernandes.

The seven-acre Modern corporate campus once home to Sunset magazine is under threat of demolition. The site captures the essence of “California Modernism” in both its physical design and cultural significance.

It's our first-ever spring shopping guide and we've rounded up a seasonally-inspired assortment of goodies that'll put a smile on your face and refresh your home from the inside out.  

The National Symposium in Miami is just weeks away. Docomomo US President Katie Horak reflects on Symposia past where visiting amazing Modern sites, gathering with friends, and holding challenging discussions all combine to create lasting memories.

Sometimes we all need a little extra push. We get it, so we’ve expanded upon our initial list of why you absolutely, positively cannot miss the 11th annual Docomomo US National Symposium, taking place May 29–June 1, in Miami and Coral Gables, Florida. Plus, there are some important updates about the Miami Marine Boat Tour and the Alfred Browning Parker Tours that we thought you’d want to know about it.

Amy Auscherman’s work spans conservation and collections management, archival product development, and communications – she’s authored a couple of books, digitized the collection of the Miller House & Garden, and currently runs the corporate archives of MillerKnoll brands (there are 15 of them, now, including Herman Miller, Knoll, and Design Within Reach). We’re super excited to have her join us as the guest editor of July’s Special Edition Newsletter and recently took the opportunity to chat with her about cubicles and corporate campuses.

In 1967, two young developers, Ray Graham III and Didier Raven, chose an equally young Antoine Predock to plan and design the residential community of La Luz (The Light) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Predock’s first independent commission received national acclaim for its skilled application of contemporary theories of urban planning and for its convincing synthesis of modern and regional forms of architecture.

The 11th annual Docomomo US National Symposium takes place May 29–June 1, in Miami and Coral Gables, Florida. It is THE primary event in the United States for professionals and enthusiasts to discuss and share efforts to preserve Modern architecture, but just in case you still need some additional persuasion, here are five great reasons why Miami is not to be missed!

The Docomomo US Study Grant program provides financial support for qualified individuals whose work or educational focus demonstrates a continued interest and commitment in the area or subject of exploration for which the particular study grants are being offered. The Study Grant program has been made possible with the generous support of an anonymous Docomomo US supporter. 

Docomomo US kicked off its 2024 Suburban Office Campus theme with a special tour of the former General Foods building in Rye Brook, New York, designed by Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo Associates and opened in 1984.

In her first column of the year, Docomomo US President Katie Horak welcomes new members of the board and reflects on 20 years of membership and why it’s a great time to be a member.

The Docomomo US Board of Directors welcomed its new President Katie Horak and designated Meredith Bzdak as president elect at its January meeting. The Board also added three new members: Tonia Moy of Hawaii; Bob Thomas from New England; and Jingyi Luo, who is a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania.

Docomomo US is pleased to announce that Rosa Lowinger and Uta Pottgiesser, internationally recognized experts in the realm of Modern preservation, will present the opening and closing keynote addresses at the 2024 Docomomo US National Symposium.

Docomomo US accepts article submissions on an ongoing basis for publication on our website and in our monthly newsletter on a wide range of issues concerning Modernism. In particular, this year we invite submissions on the annual thematic focus of "Corporate Campuses."

After thoughtful consideration, Docomomo US will be holding the next National Symposium in Miami and Coral Gables, Florida. Recently, the state has introduced and passed many bills and laws that threaten already vulnerable sectors of the population. These policies do not align with the core values of Docomomo US or any of its chapters.

When considering what’s at stake for the coming year, I always reflect on what challenges we have faced and what we should celebrate. Like nearly every year prior to this one, the highs and lows were unique and involved multitudes of resilient partners and preservation organizations joining coalitions and speaking out on behalf of Modern sites and our built heritage.

Every year, Docomomo US selects a historical image for its member holiday card, something that pertains to the culture of Modernist architecture and design. This year, on the occasion of the Cooper Hewitt exhibition A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes, one of Ms. Liebes few known annotated design drawings graces the front of the card. 

Docomomo US is pleased to welcome one of the masterworks of architect Vladimir Ossipoff, the Liljestrand House, to the Explore Modern Partnership.

Last year we explored suburban development’s impact on our communities as a component of our Revisiting Urban Renewal theme. The conversations we had were often challenging and many touched on highway development and how car culture impacted communities and radically changed our built environment. In 2024 we will continue that exploration by following where some of those highways lead – to suburban corporate campuses – and examine their impact on the style, development, and furthering of Modern architecture in the United States. 

Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman shared their creative way of life with the world. As pioneers of California modernism, their expansive body of work embodies the optimistic spirit of the movement. It's warm and colorful. It's innovation applied to craft. They created pieces that were affordable and meant to be lived with and enjoyed.

Consider your holiday fully booked. 

Tour Day is a great way to get out and see some amazing Modern resources across the country. This year's tours covered a variety of resources, from large-scale urban renewal projects to Brutalist college campuses to well-preserved Modern residences and beyond.

This year's gift guide is a roundup tour de force for the aesthetes and design lovers on your list. It's got it all: recommendations from stylish Doco friends, travel-inspired picks by our executive director, variations on two themes for the new year – Miami and the Suburban Office Park – and finally, curated picks that'll woo, ahh, and wow! We hope you enjoy!

Last month, the city government of Boston, led by Mayor Michele Wu, took steps to put decades of architectural drama at its back, when it announced its support of landmarking Brutalist beaut Boston City Hall.

Docomomo US is currently seeking qualified applicants to contribute to the ongoing leadership of the organization as a one year student board member starting on 01 January 2024 and ending on 31 December 2024 – the term is potentially renewable for one year at the discretion of the board.

Docomomo US is pleased to share the following selection of articles and recorded presentations that explore an extensive range and breadth of topics under the subject of this year's thematic focus, Revisiting Urban Renewal. 

I have lived in Southwest DC for the past seven years in a 1963 cooperative housing “campus” that was built as part of the 1945 Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Considered to be the first formal urban renewal project in the United States, the RLA dislocated thousands of residents and their intact community of mainly Black Americans. The photograph that I was most familiar with that depicted the “before” community was the 1939 image (image #1) that shows the proximity of Southwest, District of Columbia, to the U.S. Capitol Building. Many residences in the foreground were built in “alley ways” and did not have electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. 

Taking measure of a life’s work as complex as Ed Logue’s raises challenges. He described his career to an oral historian from the Library of Congress in 1995 as “a helluva ride.”

Rushed design processes, poor construction quality, post-occupancy mismanagement and a general lack of maintenance characterize the typical modernist public housing estate; their decline symbolic of the cycle of neighborhood obsolescence and redevelopment that once enabled these projects. While originally conceived as alternatives to blighted post-war urban neighborhoods, these stigma-prone estates throughout Europe and the Americas have ironically become convenient targets for demolition. It is no surprise that proponents for their preservation are first confronted with poor public perception and ideological conflicts – fundamental issues that are often more inhibiting than the physical viability of preservation.

When Docomomo US was created over 25 years ago, we set out to build a network of like-minded individuals to offer leadership, knowledge, and enthusiasm for the Modern Movement, which was little understood and little appreciated. We could not have envisioned the remarkable change in public attitude toward modernism we see today. That enthusiasm is due in large part to the dedication, interest, and support of our longstanding members in advancing the understanding of modern architecture and design.

2024 will mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What You Can Do About It. The book explores the long-term consequences of urban renewal in Black neighborhoods and has many lessons to help us understand the complex problems we face today. Root Shock was written by Dr. Mindy Fullilove with support from the research team she co-founded, the Community Research (now known as the Cities Research Group).

In an article entitled "Pragmatic Preservationist: Docomomo's Liz Waytkus on Modern Architecture, Advocacy, and Natalie DeBlois," Julia Gamolina profiles Docomomo US Executive Director Liz Waytkus for Madame Architect, a digital magazine and media start-up celebrating the extraordinary women that shape our world.

During the 1950s and 1960s, architectural models, maps, and renderings helped local boosters justify and build support for urban renewal in communities across the nation. New York City’s master planner Robert Moses helped pioneer this practice. Urban historian Themis Chronopoulos has analyzed how brochures produced by Moses’ Committee on Slum Clearance juxtaposed images of actual (if outdated) places – tenements, corner stores, back alleys – against illustrations depicting the sleek, modern residential and commercial structures that might be built in their stead.

A selection of recorded sessions from the 2023 National Symposium in New Haven, CT, are now available to view on Vimeo.

The Louis I. Kahn designed Margaret Esherick house, located in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior. The private residence was listed on the Register on August 21 due to its architectural significance as an iconic modernist building, universally recognized as a premier example of Kahn’s design principles.

Docomomo US seeks a full-time Communications and Membership Coordinator.

Citing concerns about condition and repair costs, leadership of the Church of Saint Mary in Alma, Michigan is seeking to demolish the town's "most architecturally significant building," as described by William Scott Jr., biographer of William Wesley Peters, the church architect and long-time Frank Lloyd Wright associate. Local groups including Docomomo US/Michigan are advocating to save it.

In Coral Gables, an ongoing conversation concerns the beauty of our architectural heritage. Does our design sensibility begin and end in the 1920s, when the city was founded as part of the City Beautiful Movement? Or do we view our built environment as a dynamic work in progress – a “moveable feast” of diverse building styles that reflect changing standards of beauty, utility, and sustainability.

It's officially summer and one of the ways we mark the start of the season is with our Summer Reads book list. Whether you are headed on vacation or just to the backyard hammock, make sure to take one of these modern architecture and design titles with you.

Every year, the Symposium goes by faster than we think. As the dust settles, we finally have some time to reflect on the many wonderful moments that we experienced with our friends, colleagues, teachers and mentors. By no means a complete account, here are some of our favorite images that we captured this year. We hope you'll enjoy them as much as we did!  

The 18th Docomomo International Conference in Chile 2024 will have a call for sessions first, then a call for papers. The submission of session proposals in a comparative and interdisciplinary way will be greatly encouraged.

The innovative convergence of modern architecture with 19th century styles, mid-century design innovations and cutting edge modern art were all represented in the interests of the architects Gordon Chadwick and George Nelson and their industrialist/art collecting clients Otto and Eloise Spaeth.

The moment a private home goes on the market is a precarious one - there is always the chance it could be sold to a developer, or to a homeowner who plans to make big changes. The goal of our real estate round ups is to connect modern properties with the right stewards and to show real estate agents the value in these historic homes.

With close to a month left to our National Symposium in New Haven, Docomomo US President Robert Meckfessel admits an embarrassing secret; he has never been to New Haven. In this month’s President’s Column, read about what Bob is most excited to see when he visits this “architectural cornucopia” for the first time next month.

The elegant Historical Studies and Social Sciences Library at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, built in the early 1960s by Wallace K. Harrison, is under threat. Resulting from an exemplary collaboration between the architect of the United Nations and the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the Institute, this graceful building is a well-kept secret, deeply ensconced in the recesses of the campus, invisible from the road and known only to its users. The minimalist vocabulary of the interior is striking, but the library's most salient feature is its inventive roof structure, which is at the core of the current crisis. 

Docomomo US/Chicago and coalition rally to stop a major threat posed to a Chicagoland modern campus.

Interested in hearing more about Modern Travel: Finland? Docomomo US President Robert Meckfessel shares his own Finnish travel experience, a Modernist pilgrimage sure to “affirm one’s life as an architect.” Read more in this month’s President’s Column.

After a precipitous, seven-year rollercoaster of preservation initiatives, the National Park Service has rejected a nomination of the James R. Thompson Center to the National Register of Historic Places. The rejection was primarily due to objections by the site owner, Prime Group.

The Italian-born photographer and, of course, long-time Docomomo member, Andrea Brizzi has been capturing the built environment for 40 years. His most recent photography features a series of forgotten Modernist works in northern Italy and Sardinia. 

The Modern architecture movement in the United States has a rich but complicated history, one that Docomomo US is committed to explore, even as we advocate for its preservation. This history is closely intertwined with that of Modernism in Europe, but the post-war American version has its own flavor and context, driven by our own unique demographics, economics, cultures and politics. Out of that complex mix arose countless examples of innovative, thought-provoking architecture and landscape, both by transplanted Europeans and by our own home-grown American practitioners. Several aspects of that, however, are less admirable and merit further examination to understand the true and complete story of Modernism.

The Alfred Noble Library is located in Livonia, Michigan just outside the City of Detroit. This Late Modern structure was designed by world-renowned architect Gunnar Birkerts. Although the previous administration promised that the local community would have input into the future of the building, the current mayor's office plans to request demolition in early 2023.

Docomomo US seeks a guest editor for its July 2023 newsletter which will focus on the annual theme of "Revisiting Urban Renewal." A stipend of $500 is available for the position.

Docomomo US accepts article submissions on an ongoing basis for publication on our website and in our monthly newsletter on a wide range of issues concerning Modernism. In particular, this year we invite submissions on 2023 thematic focus of "Revisiting Urban Renewal" as well as explorations of Modernism in set design for TV and movies. 

Tour Day 2022 featured over 30 tours across the country, many of them to sold out crowds. Docomomo US chapters, partners, and friend organizations embraced this year's theme of Shopping Malls, taking participants on tours of historic shopping centers both thriving and struggling, and hosting both virtual and in person lectures and book talks to explore the history and future of the classic American mall.  Aside from malls, tours also features iconic modern sites and crowd-pleasing favorites.

Urban and suburban development led to radical changes in the way we live, work, and gather. Docomomo US will explore the multifaceted theme of urban renewal as the 2023 annual theme seeking to revisit and better understand the complexity of the projects that were built, their positive and negative significance, and their impact today.

Take a look at this year's holiday book list for recommended reading before our National Symposium in June, Complexities of the Modern American City. This year's list is packed with titles to contemplate our current urban environments, the issues they face, as well as the architects, planners and theororists who created them. As an added bonus, check out some of the titles that we've included to educate our future urbanists on what it means to design and construct thoughtful spaces.   

How the producers of Star Trek The Original Series employed an existing design genre to provide us the World of the Future.

As we take in the cultural epicenter of New Haven, CT, for the 2023 National Symposium, we will consider the triumphs and complexities surrounding the design and building of the Modern American city and the impacts on our collective communities. Researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts involved in the process of preservation, conservation, renovation or transformation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement are invited to submit abstracts of papers or full sessions that align with the stated thematic goals.

This October, Docomomo US founding president Dr. Theodore Prudon, FAIA, FAPT was recognized by the country of the Netherlands and the Connecticut Architecture Foundation for his lifelong work and accomplishments.

With local finds from New Haven, and our favorite tributes to the classic American mall, the 2022 Modern Holiday Gift Guide is packed with diverse recommendations for gifts both big and small.  

When Docomomo US was created over 25 years ago, we set out to build a network of like-minded individuals to offer leadership, knowledge, and enthusiasm for the Modern Movement, which was little understood and little appreciated. We could not have envisioned the remarkable change in public attitude toward modernism we see today. That enthusiasm is due in large part to the dedication, interest, and support of our longstanding members in advancing the understanding of modern architecture and design.

How did Milwaukee, in the middle of the country, in the middle of the 20th-century, come to have some of the nation’s most inspiring and monumental mosaic murals? How is it that many churches, libraries, schools, government buildings and public spaces across Wisconsin have mural-sized mosaics fully integrated into the architectural surroundings? A close look at four mosaics commissioned in Milwaukee, at a time when modern art and architecture were capturing a new spirit of innovation and civic pride, reveals different approaches to using mosaic as an architectural art form and presents a unique perspective on the history of arts in Wisconsin.

Last April, the Docomomo US Board of Directors and staff assembled in Milwaukee for our first long-range planning retreat in five years, to consider the future of Docomomo US — our goals, aspirations, challenges, opportunities, and role in the future of preservation. This was sorely needed, especially since the context we work in has dramatically changed in the past five years, as we have dealt with COVID, a leadership transition, a dynamic political landscape, our own growth and expansion, and more.

On behalf of Docomomo US we would like to offer our sincere condolences for the loss of our friend and collaborator Pauline Saliga. During the many productive years of her distinguished tenure as executive director of the Society of Architectural Historians, Pauline was a passionate advocate for the preservation of the built environment.

Docomomo US is pleased to announce the twelve recipients of the 2022 Modernism in America Awards. These projects highlight the best in preservation practice by today’s architects, designers, preservation professionals and advocates. This year’s awards recognize preservation efforts ranging from the transformation of large-scale projects into beacons of sustainability to modest home revitalizations, many of which have been years, or even decades, in the making. The results are a testament to the dedication and foresight of those who recognize the value of preserving our modern heritage for everyone.

Some Docomomo US membership rates will increase beginning September 1, 2022. 

After a four year process by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the state announced its plans to partner with Leggat McCall Properties (LMP) to redevelop the Charles F. Hurley Building. This announcement came after years of discussions over the future of the Boston Government Services Center and how to improve circulation, engagement with the community while being respectful to the building as a historic resource.

 Jessica Anshutz, aka the "Rust Belt Mallwalker" shares a visual essay of malls she has documented since 2016.

With high design and high art, NorthPark Center made shopping glamorous for everyone.

In this excerpt from The American Department Store Transformed, 1920-1960, Richard Longstreth explores the influential role of department stores in the rise of the regional shopping mall.

This excerpt from Alexandra Lange's new book, Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall (Bloomsbury USA), tracks architect Victor Gruen and designer Elsie Krummeck's early attempts at improving on the traditional shopping center, resulting in the Northland Mall in Southfield, Michigan. 

Docomomo US Board President Robert Meckfessel, FAIA, will be sharing his thoughts on current issues in the field of modern preservation as well as the latest updates on the organization in a new monthly President's Column. In this first installment, he reflects on the National Symposium in Philadelphia and the ongoing modern/postmodern divide.

Motivated by the proposed demolition of the Docking State Office Building, in Topeka, Kansas, preservation advocates have organized to preserve the state’s rich modern architectural resources. A modernist gem neighboring the Kansas State Capitol, the 1957 Docking Building has been threatened with partial or complete demolition for over a decade.

This Docomomo US Regional Spotlight article offers some historic background and insight on a key contribution by Hawaiian modern architect Vladimir Ossipoff (1907-1998). In general, Ossipoff’s architecture consistently fused the climate, topography and culture of Hawai‘i like no other over his over 6 decades of practice solely in the islands. His design sensibility was timeless, elegant and usually understated.

In the 1960s, the partnership of the Hawaii architecture firm Lemmon, Freeth, Haines and Jones, their joint venture of Belt, Lemmon and Lo, and San Francisco’s John Carl Warnecke and Associates were selected to design the new Hawaii State Capitol Building.  The resulting building in the Hawaiian International Architecture style was devoid of the classic rotunda featured in most capitol buildings, instead utilizing an open-air rotunda that invites the sun, trade winds, and the occasional rainbow into the lofty, emblematic space.  The design symbolized natural beauty while breaking many boundaries of architectural design both in Hawaiʻi and across the United States.

Parking at Ala Moana Center can be a nightmare. Even for those of us that have been going there for decades, finding a store can be almost as challenging. As kids, we all knew where all the important things were: the sculptures to play on, the deli with the tasty sandwiches, the koi ponds, the hippie store with the imports from India, and the book/record store. It was a adventure to go into “town” to shop at the mall. Even after changes to Ala Moana in the early 80s, finding the cute shop with the funky international jewelry, or familiar “local” drug store or any of the three department stores was not tricky. Navigation was easy. On the lower level, almost all the shops (HOPACO and its glorious pens!) were located on the outer perimeter of the mall building. On the upper level, shops were all along the main open passageway, with a few accessible from the parking side, easy! The mall’s appearance now - muddled and confusing from all the years of updates, is an unfortunate result of its more than sixty years of success.

Shopping centers built between the 1950s through the 1970s on the island of Oahu are unique examples of Modernist architecture in Hawaii. They comprise the majority of large-scale commercial buildings on Oahu and amongst the other islands, which experienced a different level of commercial impact from tourism during the post-war era.

In the decades immediately following World War II Hawaii exploded into the modern era. This remote island chain in the north Pacific suddenly found itself in the midst of global activity with the advent of passenger jet service to Honolulu and the laying of the trans-Pacific telephone cable, both of which contributed to more closely linking the United States with its newest state. The architecture of the islands, keeping pace with its society, assumed an increasingly modern flair, while continuing to embrace the Islands’ strong regional design tradition. 

The 2022 National Symposium in Philadelphia featured over 45 speakers and 12 sessions presentations. If you were not able to join us, or if you would like to watch sessions you were not able to attend, you can now access the Symposium session recordings through Vimeo.

Docomomo US, the leading national organization dedicated to the preservation of Modern architecture, landscapes, and design, announces that its long-standing President and Founder, Theodore H.M. Prudon, FAIA has stepped down and Robert Meckfessel, FAIA has become the organization’s President.

It's officially summer and one of the ways we mark the start of the season is with our Summer Reads book list. Whether you are headed on vacation or just to the backyard hammock, make sure to take one of these modern architecture and design titles with you.

The moment a private home goes on the market is a precarious one - there is always the chance it could be sold to a developer, or to a homeowner who plans to make big changes. The goal of our real estate round ups is to connect modern properties with the right stewards and to show real estate agents the value in these historic homes. 

A proposed renovation to the exterior facade, lobby, and atrium of KRJDA's 60 Wall Street would turn this unique postmodern resource into another bland and generic space. 

Seattle's Brutalist Freeway Park design has been unanimously approved to become a city landmark.

The Docomomo US Northern California (NOCA) Chapter is pleased to announce Shelby Kendrick as the recipient of the 2022 Docomomo US/NOCA Symposium Travel Grant. 

Docomomo US is pleased to announce three scholarship recipients for the 2022 National Symposium: Jacob Faust, Nicolas DelCastillo, and Shelby Schrank.

Prompted by the recent demolition of Geller I, Docomomo US has selected 11 of of the most significant examples of Modern architecture from across the country that are at risk of being lost.

When the Terrace Plaza Hotel was originally built, designed by Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it was a visionary project - one of the first International Style hotels in the United States. Now, the long vacant hotel is up for auction. Is there a preservation-minded developer out there who can recapture some of the vision of its original designers?

Dedicated in 1972, plans are underway to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Paul Rudolph’s design for the First Church in Boston.

Throughout much of the 20th century the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company was known by its moniker "Behind Your Independence ... Stands the Penn Mutual." Located just south of Independence Hall, the slogan reflected both corporate branding and the physical reality of its corporate headquarters as backdrop to Independence Hall.

Are you interested in helping to preserve and share the significant heritage of modernism in New England? The New England chapter of Docomomo US is reaching out to those who might want to become involved in extending the group’s reach throughout the region and in participating in activities and leadership.

Come join our team!

As part of its 2022 advocacy theme, Docomomo US is launching Mallitecture & Memories, a crowdsourcing campaign to document midcentury shopping malls.

The Stephen F. Austin School (SFA), constructed under the Public Works Administration building program in 1935, enrolled its first Mexican-American student in 1946, and was one of nine original sites for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)-backed “Little School of the 400.” The now-vacant building is under threat of development for much needed housing.

An excerpt from the book Reglazing Modernism - Intervention Strategies for 20th Century Icons, by Angel Ayón, Uta Pottgiesser and Nathaniel Richards, which was awarded the 2021 Lee Nelson Book Award from the Association for Preservation Technology International (APT).

Docomomo US is thrilled to welcome our 19th regional chapter, Docomomo US/Wisconsin. Docomomo US/Wisconsin is a regional chapter of Docomomo US that promotes awareness, appreciation and protection of Modern architecture and design across the state of Wisconsin through documentation, engagement, and advocacy efforts.

We are pleased to announce Jesús (Chuy) Barba Bonilla and Rachel Leibowitz will join the Docomomo US Board of Directors. 

Marcel Breuer's first binuclear house, Geller I in Lawrence, New York has been demolished this week in the dead of night. Geller I is largely considered the project that propelled Breuer to private practice in New York and prompted the Museum of Modern Art to commission Breuer to design an exhibition house in the museum’s courtyard entitled The House in the Museum Garden in 1949. 

On December 15 the preservation world received some unexpected good news about the long-threatened James R. Thompson Center: Governor Pritzker had chosen a developer whose proposal for the site includes retaining the structure as a mixed-use property with office, retail and hotel space. There is still a long road ahead but this is a huge step in the right direction.

Architect Fred Guirey and his associates received the commission in 1961 to be the architect for the Arizona Public Service (APS) administrative building. Over the next 60 years, several panels over the walkway developed hairline cracks, making them a safety hazard. Alison King of Modern Phoenix and the firm 180 Degrees Design + Build stepped in to save them from the landfill.

Two significant modern homes in the Tucson, AZ region have recently received official recognition as historic landmarks. Due to an increase in population growth in the mid twentieth 20th century, Tucson saw a correlated rise in construction during that time. Now, thanks to organizations such as Tucson Preservation Foundation, they are beginning to receive the attention and recognition that they deserve. In 2021, both the Beck House, designed by John H. Beck, and Viewpoint/Johnson House, designed by Judith Chafee, were designated as local landmarks.

As the population shift stretched out into the suburbs, it transformed the idea of commerce. Shopping malls became a staple of American society after the Second World War, providing convenient access to domestic needs while offering social and cultural components. Early malls were small, open-air groupings of commercial enterprises with a small parking lot out front. But the idea rapidly expanded with the creation of the fully enclosed malls. This new take on suburban commercial structures began the trend for these sprawling structures that became ubiquitous within our built fabric and only continued to morph and change over the course of the 20th century. Today, shopping malls are in a critical point of flux.

Docomomo US is pleased to welcome cf3 (Cincinnati Form Follows Function) as an official Friend Organization. 

2021 has been a long year, with preservation challenges to match. Docomomo US continues to put our resources and platform to positive use by engaging in intensive, multi-year efforts to save some of our country’s most significant modern heritage.

Docomomo US is participating in the Section 106 process for the Smithsonian Institutions's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Restaurant Addition Replacement. This is a separate process than that for museum itself, for which work is currently underway. 

Holiday cheer in the air, and a modern book in your hand. While searching for books worthy of this year's list, we encountered a pleasant surprise - an exciting number of publications focused on the contributions of female designers - we love to see it. We also have a few more travel & leisure themed titles to round out our 2021 annual theme, and here's a hint: pre-order Alexandra Lange's book on shopping malls if you want to be ready for next year's theme. Gift a book to the modernist in your life or add them to your own "to-read" list for 2022!

For Tour Day 2021 we were thrilled to have a number of tours return to in-person formats, as well as many tours that offered a hybrid option, allowing attendees from both near and far to participate. This year's events explored the ways that midcentury travel and leisure trends influenced the modern landscape, from residential homes to roadside structures to infrastructre and beyond. 

In August of 2020, an unexpected sight debuted along interstate I-40 in Albuquerque, New Mexico: a sign for the BLVD2500 Luxury Apartments. Since 1971, 2500 Carlisle Boulevard NE has been the address of a modern architectural curiosity, a story that begins in the 1960s.

Identifying a project by its architect is a common occurrence; it's easy to associate a building with a single name. But a project is rarely the result of a singular vision. It's the result of a collaboration between the client, architects, engineers, and contractors for a specific site and defined problem. Among those unsung engineers is Sergio Acosta.

Founded in 1889, the University of New Mexico (UNM) is known for the balance and adherence to a Southwestern design identity that’s persisted throughout its 130+ years of architectural development. Upon first impression, the UNM main campus does not invoke the sense of architectural design variation that many campuses do; the modernist elements of the campus may not be initially apparent.

Don P. Schlegel, FAIA, is remembered by many as a mentor and credited with teaching a significant number of the practicing architects in Albuquerque. Schlegel spent the majority of his architectural career teaching on the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) Albuquerque campus and was a key figure in the establishment of the university's School of Architecture and Planning.

Albuquerque's modernist architecture, spanning the pre-war period into today, has only recently begun to be recognized and contextualized for the roles it has played in the city's development. The city government commissioned its first survey of mid-century modern architectural resources in 2013, followed closely thereafter by the study of select structures by a University of New Mexico architecture class. As interest has grown, new resources and research have emerged from a growing group of enthusiasts, preservationists, architects, and historians. This Regional Spotlight aims to contribute to this expanding pool of resources documenting Modern ABQ. 

The former Westinghouse Research and Development Center sited on 150 carefully curated acres in Churchill Borough, Pennsylvania, 10 miles from Pittsburgh's Point, holds a noteworthy place in the history of architecture, design, industry and science and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, maintaining significant integrity. The multiplex modernist corporate campus and landscape, designed through the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and exemplary of midcentury suburban R&D facilities with parklike surrounds, is at risk for complete demolition with an impending redevelopment plan void of reuse.

The 2021 Modern Holiday Gift Guide will inspire your next getaway with midcentury travel and leisure-themed gift ideas.

In celebration of its 70th anniversary, Farnsworth House, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will be renamed the Edith Farnsworth House, in recognition of the multi-talented woman who commissioned the Building from architect Mies van der Rohe.

Bidding is now open for be:cause modern, the auction for Modernism. We had a blast last year and can not wait to share the amazing items in this year's lineup, including one-of-a-kind pieces of art, drawings, books, modern experiences, and home stays generously donated by our friends, colleagues and members.

When Docomomo US was created over 25 years ago, we set out to build a network of like-minded individuals to offer leadership, knowledge, and enthusiasm for the modern movement, which was little and little appreciated. We could not have envisioned the remarkable change in public attitude toward modernism we see today. That enthusiasm is due in large part to our long-standing members' dedication, interest and support in advancing the understanding of modern architecture and design.

Jennifer Baughn's new book, Buildings of Mississippi, is the first volume in the newly redesigned Buildings of the United States series. With a more reader-friendly guidebook format and color illustrations throughout, Buildings of Mississippi is also the most substantive, up-to-date history of the state’s built environment. Crafted specifically for the Docomomo US audience, the following excerpt highlights the state's modern travel and leisure resources of the midcentury and recent past.

The sign beckons you, the building interests you, and the office welcomes you, but the room itself defines most of your motel lodging experience. It is here that the traveler sheds the stress of the road, seeking relaxation and slumber. The success, or lack thereof, of this effort determines the enjoyment of your stay.

Modeled after roadside parks, safety rest areas (SRAs) were constructed as part of the Interstate Highway System to provide minimal comfort amenities for the traveling public. Early in their developmental history, however, design aesthetics moved in the tradition of roadside architecture that defined American highways in previous decades. Thus safety rest area sites emerged as unique and colorful expressions of regional flavor and modern architectural design.

Before neon signs with trendy sayings were popping up in hipster mac n’ cheese bars, before old motels were being revamped into $300/night luxury experiences, before ruin porn proliferated on Instagram, there was the Society for Commercial Archeology (SCA). As “America’s Roadside Heritage Advocate,” SCA is thrilled to participate in Docomomo’s “Travel & Leisure” annual theme. What follows are three articles: an introduction to SCA and roadside architecture by Jeremy Ebersole, Joanna Dowling’s 2008 study of Interstate rest areas, and Lyle Miller’s 2020 look at the evolution of motel rooms. "Drive" with us into this exploration of the bewildering, evocative, and always fascinating world of commercial archeology.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s there was an efflorescence of ski resorts across the USA. In Vermont the pastime was in its heyday with 81 ski areas operating in 1966. Not the least of which were the Sugarbush, Glen Ellen, and Mad River Glen resorts in the Mad River Valley. Nestled between the two ranges of the Green Mountains, it was a groovy place to ski and be seen. Young professionals and hip suburbanites were drawn to the area for its low-key charms and great skiing. It was this atmosphere that drew a group of adventurous young graduates of the Yale School of Architecture to the area to try their hand at design, building and developing weekend houses for the ski set.

The town of Norwich, Vermont has a deep and rich developmental history dating back to the mid-18th century. As the town grew over the next century, its residents built houses in the Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival styles. There was little new construction in Norwich during the period of population loss in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and as a result there are few examples of Victorian, Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, or bungalow-style buildings in the town. Between 1944 and 1974, however, development began again, and low-slung homes of the style now known as Midcentury Modern were built on the hillsides in Norwich.

The Gutterson Fieldhouse at the University of Vermont. St. Mark Catholic Parish on North Avenue. The Given Medical Building of the UVM College of Medicine. The NBT Bank on Bank Street. The Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes. Ohavi Zedek Synagogue. Rice Memorial High School. What do all these greater Burlington buildings from the 1940s, '50s and '60s have in common? All of them — and hundreds more around Vermont — were designed by one architect: Ruth Reynolds Freeman.

Think of Vermont, and what comes to mind? Most likely a decidedly nostalgic vision of quaint villages, white churches with tall steeples, picturesque farmsteads with red barns and cows grazing in green fields, and covered bridges crossing meandering rivers. This is all true, but it’s not the complete story. Believe it or not, the 20th century did happen in Vermont and left its own unique imprint on our built environment.

Was it to be a missing person’s report, or more of a personal ad? Middle-aged female architect ISO a goddess she recollects from her youth: about seven feet tall; long, flowing locks; triumphant pose. Last seen: Battle Creek, Michigan, sometime in the late 1980s, in the food-court of a mall. I see now that it’s starting to read a bit like an episode of Stranger Things, but pour yourself a bowl of corn flakes and settle in.

Hot Spring’s downtown core and Park Avenue (Highway 70) approach road hosts several elegant modernist hotels sprinkled throughout an urban fabric typically touted for its historic Bathhouse Row, Arlington Hotel, and assortment of prewar buildings dating back to the 1880s, tightly hemmed into a picturesque valley of the Ouachita Mountains. This group of hotels, some undervalued and threatened, represent the final phase of the dynamic, almost century-long trajectory of the Arkansas settlement which was once considered a top resort destination in the United States.

The former Ministry of Education and Health Building in Rio de Janeiro, also known as Gustavo Capanema Palace, one of the earliest modern public buildings in all of the Americas and a highly significant site in the global history of Modernism, could be auctioned off by the Brazilian Government. 

In her definitive biography of Walter Gropius, Fiona MacCarthy posed the question about the last years of Gropius’s life: “Why was it that the Bauhaus and its history continued to be his great preoccupation and why did he cling to the little group of friends—Bayer and Breuer and Schawinsky—who had been with him at the Bauhaus, and who sometimes treated him with singular disloyalty, for the rest of his long life?” To answer this question, one need simply look to the Wellfleet community they shared and the unforgettable times spent together on Cape Cod beginning in the mid-1940s. The following is an excerpt from Breuer’s Bohemia: The Architect, His Circle, and Midcentury Houses in New England by James Crump, forthcoming from Monacelli Press on September 14. 

Docomomo US is excited to share that be:cause modern, the auction for modernism, will return again this November. In anticipation of the event, we are seeking special donation items such as signed drawings and books, paintings, woodcuts and lithographs, unique and vintage tabletop items, exclusive tour experiences and modern home stays.

On June 25, 2021, the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council, voted unanimously in support of the James R. Thompson Center nomination to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. 

During the mid-20th century, the Green Book helped Black Americans to travel by letting them know which hotels, motels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses it would be safe for them to frequent. Here we highlight some of the modern resources that made their way into the Green Book.