黑料吃瓜

黑料吃瓜听is steadfast in听its mission to protect our Modern heritage. We counter the recent executive order 鈥淩estoring Truth and Sanity to American History,鈥� with a renewed commitment to telling the full and diverse stories of Modernism in America.

Howard Mumford Jones Research Professor Lizabeth Cohen听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鈥檚 March! Nominations are now open for the 2025 Modernism in America Awards, and it鈥檚 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, 黑料吃瓜 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 黑料吃瓜 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听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鈥檛 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.听

The 黑料吃瓜 Board of Directors has added Nina Chmura of New Jersey as a new director, while Zoe Detweiler and Tyler Jones 鈥� both based in Los Angeles 鈥� 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.听

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

听

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!

黑料吃瓜 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.听At 黑料吃瓜 we stand together with our Los Angeles family.

We鈥檙e dedicating the July special edition newsletter to articles addressing the 黑料吃瓜 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 鈥� illuminating their distinct styles, development, and community impact 鈥� and represent a diversity of communities, historic resources, and the individuals associated with them.

As 黑料吃瓜 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鈥檚 exploration of suburban corporate campuses, our thematic focus for 2025 shifts to the multitude of religious, spiritual and faith-based sites across the country 鈥� 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.

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

黑料吃瓜 is thrilled to announce its selection as the nonprofit beneficiary of the 21st annual DWR Champagne Chair Contest.听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听every entry, MillerKnoll Foundation will donate $50 (up to $20,000 total) to 黑料吃瓜.

听

The National Park Service听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听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听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 黑料吃瓜 Conference.

As I write this, I join 黑料吃瓜 Executive Director Liz Waytkus and President-Elect Meredith Bzdak in Santiago, Chile, for the 18th Annual International 黑料吃瓜 Conference. Convening with our friends from across the globe reminds us of the international impact of 黑料吃瓜 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鈥檛 wait for the opportunity to welcome the international 黑料吃瓜 community and all of you to this city that I love so much.

听

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

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

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鈥檚 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鈥檛 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鈥檛 the current and familiar depiction of the place. Saarinen鈥檚 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鈥檚 deck. You can鈥檛 help but feel transported听鈥� time moves differently within the space听鈥� 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 鈥淕eneral Motors Technical Center;鈥� 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: 鈥淎rchitecturally, the buildings will be of unique design, both modern and functional in concept,鈥� 鈥� now an enormous understatement given the legacy of the Eero Saarinen-designed campus and its influence on industrial architecture.

Whether it鈥檚 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 鈥� 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鈥檚 frequent moniker 鈥淏ig Blue鈥� 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鈥檚 design legacy and Minnesota鈥檚 computing industry.听听

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鈥檚 own growth. The Formica庐 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鈥檚 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.听

黑料吃瓜 is currently seeking qualified applicants to contribute to the ongoing leadership of the organization as a one year student board member 鈥� starting on January 1, 2025, and ending on December 31, 2025 鈥� 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鈥檚 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鈥檙e gathering at Saint Peter鈥檚 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鈥檇 like to focus my President鈥檚 Column this month on Theo, and my appreciation for his steadfast leadership and his dedication to preservation, education, Modernism, and 黑料吃瓜.

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, 黑料吃瓜 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, 鈥淥ur goal is to make a contribution to the landscape of aesthetic and human value.鈥� 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鈥檚 WHY Magazine in 2014 that tells the story of The Bath Brief, and Herman Miller鈥檚 collaboration with Grimshaw.

It's been way too long听since our last听commercial real estate round up, and this year's annual theme, Corporate Campuses,听provides听the perfect听opportunity for a revisit. We听hope you enjoy perusing some of听our finds, including:听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听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鈥橬eil 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.