DOCOMOMO US Meets in Sarasota
After a long New York winter, the 86 degree blast of heat that hit me once I’d deplaned in Sarasota was a welcome one. I’d come all the way to Florida to learn more about modern architectural heritage and meet and converse with others about strategies to save it. The first national symposium held by DOCOMOMO US, “Modern Matters” was co-sponsored by the University of Florida’s Historic Preservation program from April 18 to 21, 2013. Three jam-packed days of presentations, design charrettes, historic tours, and networking sessions later, I left even more convinced that this is an architectural legacy that needs to be codified and sustained for years to come. Unlike monuments that have survived centuries and face slower challenges to find the funds necessary to repair and restore them, modernist buildings face the immediate, daily threats of demolition and disregard.
After dropping my bags at the hotel I raced over to Sarasota’s new Herald Tribune building, designed by Arquitectonica in 2005 to reflect the “Sarasota School” founded by Paul Rudolph and Ralph Twitchell, among others, in the postwar 1940s and 50s. Theo Prudon, President of DOCOMOMO’s US chapter, delivered the keynote. Giving his take on the current state of the field and peppering his presentation with thought-provoking questions for the audience, Theo set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Themes ranged from materials preservation to public housing to environmental sustainability.
The next day started bright and early at the Ringling College of Art & Design. Sidney Williams, curator of Architecture and Design at the Palm Springs Art Museum, made a presentation about Palm Springs Modernism Week and kicked off a design charrette for a roomful of 50 or so people, a mix of professionals, teachers and academics, government officials, and local Sarasota stakeholders of various shades. After a bit more coffee we broke into smaller groups and brainstormed ideas for kicking up awareness of Sarasota’s modern architectural heritage. The day continued at Ringling with presentations from DOCOMOMO chapter heads across the country, discussing current priorities in their regions vis à vis modernist preservation. Highlights included presentations about the fight to save the Former Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago; the transformed Manufacturers Hanover Trust building in Manhattan (the exterior is intact while the interior has been completely changed); an overview of SurveyLA, an innovative program in L.A. that has been documenting the city’s rich architectural heritage in its entirety; and a number of presentations about Paul Rudolph’s work as well as Florida’s modernist heritage.
Nine hours later everyone was ready for a glass of wine, and the venue couldn’t have been more appropriate. We headed to Sanderling Beach Pavilion on Siesta Key—designed by Paul Rudolph and listed on the National Register of Historic Places—for shrimp on toast, fried spring rolls, and mini lobster rolls. Toasts were made, conversations were continued, and a lot of shoes were kicked off for the requisite toes-in-sand moment so beloved by city-dwellers.
The next day continued with more US chapter presentations, as well as a number of presentations focused on urban renewal projects in San Francisco, Detroit, and Chicago. Gretchen Hilyard from San Francisco’s Planning Department delivered a fascinating presentation on Parkmerced that introduced modernist landscape preservation into the conversation. After a shorter day of presentations, we all embarked on tours of Sarasota, walking the Lido Shores neighborhood with its huge mansions and smaller architectural gems like Rudolph’s Umbrella House; taking a bus tour focused on Sarasota’s modernist civic and educational buildings; and an inside look at Ca’d’Zan Mansion, the Ringling Family’s eccentric house from the 1920s.