Docomomo US is pleased to announce ten winners of the 2016 Modernism in America Awards program. These projects are exemplary of the efforts going on all over the country as the awareness of the importance to advocate, restore and celebrate the architecture, landscapes and typologies of postwar society in the United States continues to expand.
The 2016 winners include:
DESIGN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Mellon Square (Pittsburgh, PA)
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building (Los Angeles, CA)
Frederick and Harriet Rauh Residence (Cincinnati, OH)
Michigan Modern (Michigan)
CITATION OF MERIT
Margaret Esherick House (Philadelphia, PA)
The Met Breuer (New York, NY)
The Shepley Bulfinch Architecture Firm Office (Phoenix, AZ)
Houston: Uncommon Modern (Houston, TX)
CITATION OF TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
United Nations Campus Renovation of Facades (New York, NY)
Tower of Hope, Christ Cathedral (Garden Grove, CA)
View the 2016 Winners
The projects recognized for the Modernism in America Awards (#ModernismAwards) highlight the diversity of important modern buildings and sites, and a new desirability by the public to live, work and celebrate the richness of midcentury architecture and design. While often at the center of intense preservation efforts, they deserve and can be preserved in a meaningful and productive way that enhances their presence and value in their respective communities.
Speaking on the impact of the Awards program jury chair, Frederick A. Bland, FAIA, AICP noted, “Docomomo US has changed the environment and level of conversation for buildings and projects often disliked or derided. Saving buildings through careful and rigorous adaptive use is now the norm. Docomomo US has changed the environment more than any other group has done for any other era."
Mellon Square aerial view, showing terrazzo design, shadow play of surrounding buildings, fountains, gardens, and why the park is considered the “Emerald Jewel” of downtown Pittsburgh. Credit: © Ed Massery 2014 for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
Golden State Mutual Insurance Building Night view. Photo by Paul Turang.
Docomomo US is proud to announce Design Within Reach as the first program sponsor for the Docomomo US Modernism in America Awards. The 2016 Awards will be awarded on September 22, 2016 at the Design Within Reach Studio in New York City. Tickets and event sponsorship opportunities will be available shortly.
The Modernism in America Awards is the only national program that celebrates the people and projects working to preserve, restore and rehabilitate our modern heritage sensitively and productively. The program seeks to advance those preservation efforts; to increase appreciation for the period and to raise awareness of the on-going threats against modern architecture and design.
The awards acknowledge the substantial contribution preservation in general and the postwar heritage in particular makes to the economic and cultural life of our cities and towns and their respective communities. The awards also set a standard as to what can be accomplished with the productive preservation of these projects.