Is Modernism Historic?
Special Issue of Preservation Magazine Explores the Burgeoning Controversy over Saving Modernist Buildings and Others from the Recent Past
Posted May 7, 2008 | Contact pr@nthp.org or 202-588-6141
Washington, D.C. (April 25, 2008) — From a celebration of modernism in Palm Springs, to a manifesto on modernism from one of America's eminent architectural critics, to an article that seeks to answer the question "What is Modernism?" the latest issue of Preservation magazine confronts a key debate roiling the preservation community: how modernism, and other architectural styles from recent past, fit into the broader preservation movement. Iconic yet varied, treading the line between past and present, "too new" to merit National Register listing (in many cases) but too significant to neglect, modern architecture forces preservationists to confront the central question at the heart of all preservation issues: What is worth saving?
Articles in the May/June issue of Preservation magazine include:
The Modernist Manifesto By Paul Goldberger
Like Art Deco architecture, which until the 1970s was disdained by serious scholars and preservationists alike, architecture from the recent past is entering a similar cycle of scrutiny as audiences ask "why bother?" Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker and trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, makes the case for preserving buildings from the recent past. While modern preservation poses technical and ideological challenges, Goldberger—reminding us that Pennsylvania Station was 53 years young when it was demolished—lays out the merits of saving buildings of our living past from development and demolition.
Preservation answers this question by identifying 16 modernist landmarks, placing them on a 20th-century timeline, and asking readers to both react to the magazine's choices and offer their own.
Palm Springs Eternal By Eric Wills, Associate Editor
On a bright mid-February morning, Palm Springs kicked off its third annual Modernism Week by honoring architect Don Wexler with a spot on their Walk of Stars—right in front of a building he designed that is now threatened by development. Wills visits the festival to "see both how architecture here took shape and how the city has managed its rediscovered hipness" in the face of growing development pressures. From the sublime, such as Neutra's Kaufmann house, to the ridiculous—a rotating house that "looks like a 1960s sci-fi movie prop"—Wills finds a tight-knit group of preservationists determined to keep the pioneering spirit of modernism alive in their desert oasis.
Air Age Gothic By David Hill
Designed by Walter Netsch in the 1950s, "air age Gothic" buildings of the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs express American optimism in the age of flight, and as they approach their 50th birthdays, they also symbolize many of the challenges that face modernist buildings growing older. Charged with preserving one of the greatest collections of modernist buildings in the country, architect Duane Boyle has spent 25 years helping them age gracefully.
Preservation Abroad by Susan Davidson
Tel Aviv's Bauhaus core enjoys a comeback – hundreds of buildings in the neighborhood around Tel Aviv's storied residential street, the world's largest concentration of European modernism from the late 1920s to the early 1940s, have been restored. The collection of some 4,000 Bauhaus-inspired buildings in the "White City" honor the city's architectural ancestry and its history as a hub of progressive, experimental architecture.
Gaga Over Googie? A Seattle Denny's stirs up a divisive debate. By Krista Walton, Assistant Editor
A controversial landmark designation for a 1964 diner ignites debate over the preservation of Googie buildings. Where some see a funky, iconic part of Seattle's recent past, others ask how a little-noticed Denny's could qualify as an official landmark.
Paradise Lost: McMansions multiply in an Arizona town. By Eric Wills, Associate Editor
Development threatens the character and modernist architecture of Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Icons at Risk By David V. Griffin and Preservation staff
From Parkmerced in San Francisco to the Astrodome in Houston to the New York State Pavilion in New York City, Preservation editors showcase nine of the most significant, and most threatened, modernist landmarks from across the country.
Preservation, the award-winning magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, examines the many ways in which Americans seek to safeguard and enjoy their architectural and cultural heritage. A bimonthly, four-color publication, as well as a daily online news source on preservation issues, Preservation offers features, essays, book reviews, and reporting on places and people who treasure those places.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them. By saving the places where great moments from history – and the important moments of everyday life – took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, DC, nine regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America’s stories. For more information visit www.PreservationNation.org.
