Docomomo International at the 25th UIA World Congress

Docomomo International was on the 25th UIA World Congress, represented by Arch. João Belo Rodeia, President of the International Council of Architects of Portuguese Language (CIALP). The 25th UIA World Congress took place at the Durban International Convention Center, in Durban, South Africa, from 3rd to 7th August 2014. Arch. João Belo Rodeia took part at the round table of the UIA’s partners took place on 6 August 2014 during the UIA Congress in Durban, South Africa. The UIA and Partners Roundtable united the institutions with which the UIA maintains relations and exchanges based on protocols and reciprocal agreements. UIA Past President…

Registers: Submission of Documents

Request for all Docomomo Chapters During its last meeting in July 2013, the Executive Committee agreed on the 2013-2014 ISC Registers Plan of Action would be that ALL Docomomo Chapters are kindly asked to submit before the next International Docomomo Conference in Seoul: A1. To update and resubmit old “International Selection” paper fiches in a digital pdf form. Docomomo International is trying to collect all the available information to create a Registers website. Instead of asking for new thematic fiches the 2013 Homework is to “update and resubmit old “International Selection” paper fiches in a digital pdf form to help uploading them in the Register’s website….

Publication “Modern Architecture in Africa: Angola and Mozambique”

The publication “Modern Architecture in Africa: Angola and Mozambique” edited by Ana Tostoes, in 2014, was awarded with the Prize “Prémio de História Calouste Gulbenkian –  História da Presença de Portugal no Mundo” (Prize Calouste Gulbenkian Prize for History – History of the Presence of Portugal in the World). This publication is one of the results of the research project intituled “EWV – Exchanging worlds visions: modern architecture in Africa “Lusófona” (1943-1974) looking through Brazilian experience established since the 1930s” (http://ewv.ist.utl.pt/), coordinated by prof. Ana Tostões at the Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon (2008-2013). Read here the book review by Antoni Folkers on…

Gas Station

According to recent correspondences with the Fundação Marques da Silva, DOCOMOMO international painfully realizes that the Gas Station in Lugar de Covas by Fernando Távora is under threat of destruction. The energy company Galp Energia made ​​a request for amendment to the Municipality of Guimarães, which included the demolition of the original concrete mud flaps and replacement with new metal mud flaps. Although Galp claims that the original mud flaps, designed by architect Fernando Tavora do not fulfill the height required by law, International Docomomo believes it can continue to be used effectively thus preserving this landmark work of architecture and engineering Guimarães…

Van Nellefabriek on Unesco World Heritage List

The World Heritage Committee has inscribed the Van Nellefabriek on the World Heritage List. Docomomo International congratulates its member Wessel de Jonge, co-founder of DOCOMOMO and leader of this project, for this great achievement for the preservation of modern industrial architecture, and Marieke Kuipers, secretary of the ISC/Registers, who has been a driving force behind this successful WHL-nomination.  “Van Nellefabriek was designed and built in the 1920s on the banks of a canal in the Spaanse Polder industrial zone north-west of Rotterdam [Netherlands]. The site is one of the icons of 20th-century industrial architecture, comprising a complex of factories, with façades consisting essentially of steel and glass,…

Welcome Docomomo US/Michigan

Docomomo International would like to welcome Docomomo US/Michigan, a new group of Docomomo US. Docomomo US has another group to add to its fold, this time it’s Michigan! The architectural historians, preservationists, and modern enthusiasts of Michigan have been talking about starting a chapter for years. However, it appears that moving slow and steady has been the best method in getting to the end of the race to a brand new beginning for advocacy, education, and outreach of modern design across the state’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Mission Statement: Docomomo_US/Michigan hopes to raise awareness to the significance of Michigan’s modern resources…

Docomomo International joined the global campaign callling for culture to be included in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals

The word ‘culture’ was completely absent from the ‘Millennium Development Goals’ adopted by the UN in 2000. No one doubts great progress has been achieved. However, time and again, we have seen development initiatives hindered or prove unsustainable due to a lack of recognition and respect for local cultures. We strongly believe in the need for a human-rights based approach to development and are calling on world leaders to recognize that development is in itself an act of culture that impacts on the culture of its intended beneficiaries. Putting people first is recognizing the unique transformative power of culture. Development…

Publication: Casablanca Chandigarh. A Report on Modernization

This richly illustrated volume invites us to think afresh about urban life and the modern city by offering images and analyses of two very different but complementary contemporary cities: the planned Indian city of Chandigarh and the ancient metropolis of Casablanca—the ancient North African harbor town developed into a modern metropolis by Michel Ecochard and a team of young French and Moroccan architects after World War II. Countering the dominant view of modern urbanism that values avant-garde ideas originating in the West over developments in non-Western regions, the book offers a more nuanced approach to the history of the modern city,…