Guidelines for submitting the 2019/2020 Homework

Dear Docomomo Chapters, Due to the exceptional circumstances of COVID-19, we are extending the deadline of June 1st to August 15th, 2020. A plan for new documentation homework has been approved in the last Council Meeting, August 30th, 2018 (Ljubljana, Slovenia), proposed by the ISC/Registers. With the aim of moving forward to the documentation of conservation good practices, Docomomo Working Parties (WP) have to submit: Working Parties that already have submitted 30 Documentation Fiches and uploaded 50 sites to MOMOVE: (a) 1 fiche for 2019 and 1 fiche for 2020, on an example of Good Conservation Practice. Download the template here: link, and here: link. (b) A bibliography with 5-10 publications (books or articles) on Modern Movement…

Docomomo US National Symposium 2020 – Announcement

The next Docomomo US National Symposium will take place in Chicago, IL from June 3-6, 2020 in collaboration with the Docomomo US/Chicago chapter. Chicago has been recognized as the “crossroads”, not only for its connecting of water, land, and air networks, but for its place at the intersection of architecture, culture, and technological change. The rapidity of Chicago’s growth, coupled with its prominence in producing innovations of the modern movement is an opportunity for the 2020 meeting of Docomomo/US to consider this history and its prospect for the recognition, interpretation, preservation and extension of the forms and ideas of modernism…

Docomomo US

“Docomomo US is excited to announce the line-up of tours and events taking place during our thirteenth Tour Day. The only national event of its kind, Tour Day is an annual celebration of modern architecture and design where the public and like-minded organizations across the country participate in a tour or event on the second Saturday and throughout the month of October. This year’s thematic focus, “The Diversity of Modernism” reflects the efforts of Docomomo US and its chapters to raise awareness of sites designed by minority and female architects, landscape architects, designers, and engineers, and of the designers themselves….

Modernism in America Award

“Docomomo US is pleased to announce the ten recipients of the 2019 Modernism in America Awards. These projects highlight the best in preservation practice by today’s architects, designers, and preservation professionals, for modern sites, landscapes and beyond. This year’s awards recognize new approaches to livable modernism, a once-in-a-lifetime effort to modernize one of the country’s most iconic landmarks, projects where vision and community coalesce, and the collaborative nature of art and design. The sixth annual Awards acknowledge the contributions of designers and preservationists to tell the full stories of our built heritage from the midcentury. We don’t remember great pieces of architecture…

Articles: Growing up Modern

Modernism has been described in numerous technical, architectural, and scholarly ways. It has not commonly been expressed from the inside out, as in, how it was to actually live with the main characters of that era. To understand the architects, designers, and artists of the midcentury, the following essays may elucidate the deeper as well as more mundane parts and pieces of the players. In learning about how their children experienced them, we can glean more of what was behind the sleek designs and innovative ideas. We all believe, or at least believed at the time, that our childhood was…

Tafel House demolition denied

“Thanks to the efforts of community members, architects, Docomomo US New York/Tristate and others, the Scarsdale Committe for Historic Preservation denied the current owner´s application to demolish Edgar Tafel´s Alpern House at 8 Overlook Road in Scarsdale, New York. Designed in 1950 by Tafel, among the most prominent members of Frank Lloyd Wright´s Fellowship, the Committee agreed the home designed by a “master,” and its style as well as its material usage was important. This is a hurdle in a much longer race as the owners may appeal the decision to the Village Trustees. Docomomo US New York/Tristate and others will continue to…

Lecture: Rediscovering Brutalism: Understanding D.C.’s Concrete Architecture

“Docomomo DC will host a lecture and tour highlighting the unique Brutalist architectural heritage of Washington, D.C., as part of this year’s annual, nationwide Docomomo Tour Day. Brutalism is an architectural style everyone loves to hate, but marks an important period in the history of design and the history of our Washington, D.C. Recent demolitions of Brutalist buildings in the city have shown that now is the time to reevaluate and celebrate this architecture. The event will begin with a lecture titled “Heroism and Hubris” by architectural historian Michael Kubo on the evolution of brutalist design and its development within…

Travel Tour: Discover Modern Cuba: Continuity of Past and Present

3 – 12 October, 2015 Havana, Cuba – Hotel Capri (8 nights) Tour Leader: Belmont Freeman Guest: Eduardo Luis Rodríguez Docomomo US is pleased to announce registration is now open for our educational travel tour of modern architecture in Havana, Cuba. Experience the rich architectural past of this long elusive Caribbean island located just 90 miles south of U.S. soil. Modern Cuba offers a unique travel opportunity in a small group setting featuring access to modern homes and buildings considered off the beaten path or not ordinarily open to the public. The ten-day, nine-night trip will be led by architect and scholar, Belmont Freeman, FAIA, with Cuban architect and historian, Eduardo…

Tour Modern Homes of Litchfield

Full-Day Tour: Modern Homes of Litchfield 15 August 2015, Full-Day Tour, Litchfield, Connecticut “Join Docomomo US on Saturday, August 15th for a special full-day tour of Modern Homes of Litchfield, Connecticut. This summer tour offers guests a unique opportunity to visit an exceptional collection of modern homes designed by architects such as Marcel Breuer and fellow Harvard 5 architects, John Johansen, and Eliot Noyes. The Modern Homes of Litchfield tour will begin with an overview at the Litchfield Historical Society and include 4 Marcel Breuer designed homes with the last home, Stillman House (which happens to be a 2014 Modernism in America Design Citation of Merit recipient), including a reception. Following the…

Tour Day

Taking place on Saturday October 11, 2014, Tour Day is Docomomo US’ annual national event that works to raise the awareness of and appreciation for buildings, interiors and landscapes designed in the United States during the mid-20th century. Now in its eighth year, Tour Day invites organizations and people across the country to take stock of significant 20th century built design in their state, city, region or neighborhood and celebrate that work with a tour. We are thrilled to have The Architect’s Newspaper as our official media sponsor along with community sponsor the Waterproofing Company (Boston , MA). The full…