News
September 2022
Tuesday, September 13th, 2022
Docomomo US has announced its 2022 Modernism in America Awards winners in recognition of their inspiring commitment to preservation practices resulting in innovations across a broad range of building types and scales. The organization shares that these results are a “testament to the dedication and foresight of those who recognize the value of preserving our modern heritage for everyone.”
This year’s list includes the transformation of two seminal Marcel Breuer designs in New Haven and Litchfield County, Connecticut; OTJ and Mecanoo’s important modernization of Mies’ Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in D.C.; and an initiative by the University of Massachusetts to preserve academic buildings on its flagship Amherst and Dartmouth campuses to raise awareness of buildings originally designed by Paul Rudolph, Kevin Roche, Gordon Bunshaft, Edward Durrell Stone, Hideo Sasaki, and several others.
The jury was chaired by Bruner/Cott Architects principal Henry Moss and included University of Michigan professor Caroline Constant; the Getty Conservation Institute’s Head of the Buildings and Sites Department Susan Macdonald; New York City-area preservationists Theodore Prudon, Meredith Arms Bzdak, and Angel Ayón of Ayon Studio; and PUSH studio co-founder Glenn LaRue Smith.
The 2022 cycle represents the Awards’ 9th overall edition. As with past years, winners were chosen based on their “holistic approaches” and respect for the original intent of their designers. “This year’s award winners demonstrate that doing the ‘impossible’ is possible,'” Docomomo US Executive Director Liz Waytkus said in a statement. “These projects represent what we should all be looking for in preservation outcomes: holistic, sustainable, and inclusive design that benefits us all.”
Jury Comments: “A Residential Design Citation of Merit is given for the restoration of Clauss Haus II at Little Switzerland, completed in 1941. Clauss Hauss II is an early masterpiece of American modern design, conceived by Alfred and Jane West Clauss, former employees of Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier respectively. The pair chose to create a radical new housing development in an unexpected location, the ridge of Brown’s Mountain near Knoxville, Tennessee. Although only completing five of the original ten planned houses, the Clauss’ development of Little Switzerland is an early and rare example of an enclave of International Style homes in the US. This residence, the second one occupied by the couple, has been extensively renovated since 2015, bringing it back to peak form and preserving the original forward-thinking design. Exemplary efforts were made to retain and restore the redwood doors, window sashes, frames and siding, and replace only as needed. A multi-stage program to remove thick layers of paint from the siding was initiated and will continue as part of a long-term maintenance plan.”