Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative

Multi-Project Initiative

Advancing the conservation of twentieth-century heritage internationally

Project Details

A modernist, concrete building with colorful balconies

Unité d'habitation (1952) in Marseille, France, by Le Corbusier. Building: © F.L.C. / ADAGP, Paris / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2022

Photo: Jack Hobhouse / Alamy Stock Photo

About

Goal

The Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative seeks to advance the practice of identifying, conserving, and sustaining the buildings, structures, landscapes, urban areas, and building materials that characterize twentieth-century built heritage.

Outcomes

  • Three field projects on modern sites that model sound conservation methodologies and technical practices
  • Training programs on conservation methodologies and technical practices delivered to midcareer professionals
  • Public program series on modern heritage conservation, with thirteen events held to date
  • An open access bibliography, Conserving Twentieth-Century Built Heritage, for conservation practitioners working with twentieth-century built heritage
  • The 2013 Colloquium to Advance the Practice of Conserving Modern Heritage to examine the current state of the field and identify areas of outstanding need in order to develop actions to advance practice in this area of conservation. Report from the colloquium made public
  • Free, published resources, more than twenty to date, covering a broad range of topics including conservation methodology and principles, management of twentieth-century heritage places, broadening our understanding of and appreciation for twentieth-century built heritage and conserving specific modern materials
  • Conserving Modern Heritage book series, published by Getty Publications, to promote and demonstrate the application of sound conservation methods to modern heritage. Two titles published to date (Concrete and Managing Energy Use in Modern Buildings) with two titles forthcoming
  • Conserving Modern Architecture issues of Conservation Perspectives in 2013 and 2023

Background

From the late 1980s, new conservation challenges emerged as the seminal works of the early modern era and midcentury gradually reached fifty years of age and became eligible for heritage protection. Many of these buildings have not aged well. The new and innovative construction methods and materials and new architectural forms and planning approaches that typify the era challenge traditional conservation approaches and raise new methodological and philosophical issues. Despite improved recognition of modern architecture's cultural significance, there is still a lack of practical conservation knowledge that addresses the many complex challenges. The Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative was established to respond to these challenges.

Approach

Project Team

Chandler McCoy, Project Manager, Senior Project Specialist; Ana Paula Arato Gonçalves, Associate Project Specialist; César Bargues Ballester, Associate Project Specialist; Elsa Haarstad, Assistant Project Specialist; Sara Lardinois, Project Specialist; Susan Macdonald, Head, Buildings and Sites; Gail Ostergren, Research Specialist; Margherita Pedroni, Project Specialist; Timothy Ong, Getty Graduate Intern (2023–2024)

Contact the Team

Resources