By Kim Barker on behalf of the Docomomo US/MidTexMod Chapter

Changes are planned for San Antonio’s world’s fair site, HemisFair ‘68, and they have fans of modern architecture concerned. Intended to celebrate the city’s 250-anniversary and a confluence of cultures, HemisFair ’68 was a six-month exposition opened by First Lady Ladybird Johnson in April 1968.  Typical of a world’s fair, various states, nations, and corporations built new exhibition halls in the styles of the period, some of which are exceptional examples of modern architecture.  Given San Antonio’s established preservation ethic, they also retained and repurposed some of the nineteenth century residential buildings already on the site before the rest of the neighborhood was sacrificed for fair construction.  HemisFair ’68 attracted 6.3 million visitors but under-utilization since is now prompting redevelopment plans.

By Barbara Campagna

My last posting was a plea to stop viewing everything as black or white – architecture, politics, life.  The last sentence in that posting was, “So, while green has been the color of the decade, maybe gray should be the color of the next.“  And now I think that’s the perfect sentence to start off this essay with.

Join us for the 7th annual Docomomo US Tour Day on Saturday, October 5, 2013. Save the date for this annual event gathering chapters, members, students, architects, historians and the general public to celebrate the modern movement in the US. Click here for more information.

World Monuments Fund (WMF) invites nominations for the 2012 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize, which will be awarded this fall to a design professional or firm in recognition of innovative design solutions that preserved or saved a modern landmark at risk. The biennial prize was established to raise public awareness of the contribution modernism makes to contemporary life, the important place modernism holds in the architectural record, and the influential role that architects and designers play in preserving modern heritage.

Projects that enhanced a site’s architectural, functional, economic, and environmental sustainability while also benefiting the community are encouraged. Nominated projects must have been completed in the last five years.

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E-NEWS ARCHIVE - DOCOMOMO US currently produces a monthly e-news brief including recent events, news and notices concerning the modern movement in the United States and around the world. E-news is developed and edited by Edith Bellinghausen with assistance from DOCOMOMO US members and chapters.

December 2011

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October 2011