In the late 1950s and early 1960s there was an efflorescence of ski resorts across the USA. In Vermont the pastime was in its heyday with 81 ski areas operating in 1966. Not the least of which were the Sugarbush, Glen Ellen, and Mad River Glen resorts in the Mad River Valley. Nestled between the two ranges of the Green Mountains, it was a groovy place to ski and be seen. Young professionals and hip suburbanites were drawn to the area for its low-key charms and great skiing. It was this atmosphere that drew a group of adventurous young graduates of the Yale School of Architecture to the area to try their hand at design, building and developing weekend houses for the ski set.

The town of Norwich, Vermont has a deep and rich developmental history dating back to the mid-18th century. As the town grew over the next century, its residents built houses in the Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival styles. There was little new construction in Norwich during the period of population loss in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and as a result there are few examples of Victorian, Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, or bungalow-style buildings in the town. Between 1944 and 1974, however, development began again, and low-slung homes of the style now known as Midcentury Modern were built on the hillsides in Norwich.

The Gutterson Fieldhouse at the University of Vermont. St. Mark Catholic Parish on North Avenue. The Given Medical Building of the UVM College of Medicine. The NBT Bank on Bank Street. The Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes. Ohavi Zedek Synagogue. Rice Memorial High School. What do all these greater Burlington buildings from the 1940s, '50s and '60s have in common? All of them — and hundreds more around Vermont — were designed by one architect: Ruth Reynolds Freeman.

Think of Vermont, and what comes to mind? Most likely a decidedly nostalgic vision of quaint villages, white churches with tall steeples, picturesque farmsteads with red barns and cows grazing in green fields, and covered bridges crossing meandering rivers. This is all true, but it’s not the complete story. Believe it or not, the 20th century did happen in Vermont and left its own unique imprint on our built environment.

Was it to be a missing person’s report, or more of a personal ad? Middle-aged female architect ISO a goddess she recollects from her youth: about seven feet tall; long, flowing locks; triumphant pose. Last seen: Battle Creek, Michigan, sometime in the late 1980s, in the food-court of a mall. I see now that it’s starting to read a bit like an episode of Stranger Things, but pour yourself a bowl of corn flakes and settle in.

Hot Spring’s downtown core and Park Avenue (Highway 70) approach road hosts several elegant modernist hotels sprinkled throughout an urban fabric typically touted for its historic Bathhouse Row, Arlington Hotel, and assortment of prewar buildings dating back to the 1880s, tightly hemmed into a picturesque valley of the Ouachita Mountains. This group of hotels, some undervalued and threatened, represent the final phase of the dynamic, almost century-long trajectory of the Arkansas settlement which was once considered a top resort destination in the United States.

The former Ministry of Education and Health Building in Rio de Janeiro, also known as Gustavo Capanema Palace, one of the earliest modern public buildings in all of the Americas and a highly significant site in the global history of Modernism, could be auctioned off by the Brazilian Government. 

In her definitive biography of Walter Gropius, Fiona MacCarthy posed the question about the last years of Gropius’s life: “Why was it that the Bauhaus and its history continued to be his great preoccupation and why did he cling to the little group of friends—Bayer and Breuer and Schawinsky—who had been with him at the Bauhaus, and who sometimes treated him with singular disloyalty, for the rest of his long life?” To answer this question, one need simply look to the Wellfleet community they shared and the unforgettable times spent together on Cape Cod beginning in the mid-1940s. The following is an excerpt from Breuer’s Bohemia: The Architect, His Circle, and Midcentury Houses in New England by James Crump, forthcoming from Monacelli Press on September 14. 

Docomomo US is excited to share that be:cause modern, the auction for modernism, will return again this November. In anticipation of the event, we are seeking special donation items such as signed drawings and books, paintings, woodcuts and lithographs, unique and vintage tabletop items, exclusive tour experiences and modern home stays.

On June 25, 2021, the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council, voted unanimously in support of the James R. Thompson Center nomination to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. 

During the mid-20th century, the Green Book helped Black Americans to travel by letting them know which hotels, motels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses it would be safe for them to frequent. Here we highlight some of the modern resources that made their way into the Green Book.

Get a sneak peek of some of the tours that will take place this October for Docomomo US Tour Day. This year's theme is "travel and leisure."

In the second-ever edition of our Commercial Real Estate Round Up, we are featuring travel and leisure-related midcentury businesses (and one Airstream!) currently for sale. The hospitality industry has been hard-hit in the last year and half, but we are all itching to get back out there and the prospects look good if you're in the market to become the next steward of one of these legacy midcentury businesses. 

The 2021 Docomomo US National Symposium focused on the most important city in the United States when it comes to modern design – Chicago. I have never physically visited Chicago, but I was very grateful for my opportunity to attend this event. It illuminated not only the central role that the city of Chicago has played in Midcentury Modernism but also how it represents a node that connects the Midcentury Modern design of many other large cities in America, such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington DC.  

A list of Robert Venturi’s most well-known works will usually include the Sainsbury wing extension to London’s National Gallery (1991), Fire Station no. 4 (1968) for the city of Columbus, Indiana, and of course his postmodernist masterpiece, the iconic residential house built for his mother, the Vanna Venturi House (1964) in Philadelphia. Quite less known are the remarkable series of vacation and second homes his firm designed in the 1980s in classic coastal New England locales.

The Ant Farm Antioch Art Building Creative Preservation Group (AFAAB) is dedicated to the creative preservation of the spirit and structure of the Ant Farm Antioch Art Building in Yellow Springs, Ohio. 

The Docomomo US 2021 National Symposium Chicago: Crossroads of Modern America is now available to watch through Vimeo. You can purchase individal sessions or choose a package deal to watch the whole Symposium.

Local architects in the modern era could have tremendous impact on the built landscape of their communities. In post-WWII South Dakota, there were only a handful of architectural firms in-state that were very active, though that pool of professionals expanded some into the 1960s and beyond. A unique contributor to modern architecture in South Dakota, and in particular the city of Sioux Falls, was the architect Ward Whitwam, who recently passed away in January 2021. 

Our society learns to appreciate past architectural styles in waves, and landmark buildings attract attention earlier than other types of structures. In the mid-20th century, the Catholic Church in South Dakota invested in a handful of worship spaces that stand out in the top tier of Modernist ecclesiastical design for the state, making them an excellent introduction to architecture of the Modern movement in South Dakota.

Historical context for modern sites in South Dakota is still in its fledgling stages and recognition of modern resources within the general population of South Dakota is still a hill to climb, and, for those outside the state, awareness of this history is likely negligible. Writing this set of spotlight articles has served as a way for the staff of the South Dakota SHPO to expand their knowledge about Modernism, and they are our humble way to introduce South Dakota to the wider Modern Movement audience.