What Is It About Modernism?

http://blog.preservationleadershipforum.org/2014/02/25/makes-modernism-different/#.Uw1ELkdVYy


Hello Everyone:

We are getting closer to our goal of 10,000 page views.  I just checked and we're at 9746 page views. Fantastic.  Let's get it going.  I'll get writing and you keep reading.  On today's post, explore what makes modernism so different?  Specifically, how should we approach the preservation of buildings from the sixties through early eighties?  This is the over arching question that Beth Wiedower and Chris Morris pose in their post for the Preservation Leadership Forum, "What Makes Modernism So Different?"  They ask, "Are the advocacy tactics to save modern buildings the same as those for older, more traditional, buildings?  Or do we need a completely different approach?"  These are important questions to consider in light of the fact that buildings from the later phase of modernism are coming under threat of demolition.  There really isn't a clear yes or no answer to the questions posed by the authors.  The answer is both.  Confused?  Let's press on.

Prentice Hospital
Chicago, Illinois
chicagoarchitecture.info

In 2013, the National Trust for Historic Preservation led two very highly publicized battles to save the Prentice Hospital in Chicago, Illinois and the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The common thread they share is that they were both built in the late stages of the modern movement and relied on familiar preservation strategies.  The pitched campaigns to save these two structures also broke new ground in an effort to reach a wider audience and persuade elected officials.  By analyzing the campaigns, we can gain better insight into the goals, tactics, and triggers; thus gain some insight into the lessons learned in the battle to save Modernist buildings from the sixties through early eighties.









Show Some Love for "Dome Sweet Dome"

The Astrodome
Houston, Texas
columbia.edu

The National Trust quickly leapt into the fight to save the Houston Astrodome after it was added to the Trust's 11 Most Endangered HIstoric Places list in 2013.  The stadium's owner, Harris County issued a call for proposals to save and reuse the iconic stadium.  One idea, to rehabilitate the Dome in order to create a unique special events space jumped to the top of the list as feasible, fundable, and almost financially viable.  This proposal was put to a vote in four short months.  It was an emotional topic.  The Houston residents love it.  They all have fond memories of attending favorite events and volunteer efforts to help Hurricane Katerina refugees.  However, there are those that strongly believe that rehabilitating "dome sweet dome" is not what Houston is about and want bring on the wrecking ball.  The Dome's place and significance in modern architecture was mostly besides the point to the supporters of reuse and those who want to raze the stadium.

The Astrodome with an open section
columbia.edu

Aware of the heated passions surrounding the Astrodome, the National Trust put together a campaign to save the venerable stadium based on its sentimental appeal.  Playing on the memories of Houstonians, the Trust developed a campaign that encouraged voter to support saving and reusing the structure by challenging the to envision a new Dome that they could visit and enjoy.  The venue would capture that upbeat, can-do attitude and innovative environment in the twenty-first century in the same way it did in 1965, when the Dome opened.  The Trust created a Dome Mobile, driving it around Houston, engaging the voters and supporters.  Decked out with Astrotruf, a dugout bench, and stadiums seats, the Dome Mobile played on sentiment, memory, and peoples' connection to the place (all key factors in preservation), not on its architectural significance or its place in modern design and engineering.

Astrodome Interior
columbia.edu

Of course the Trust used words such as "modern marvel" during its outreach and the phrase, "space-age," was often heard by the Trust outreach team as they encountered Dome lovers across Houston and Harris County.  The Trust team deliberately did not emphasize the Astrodome's role in redefining sports stadium design.  Design details such as lucite skylights and cantilevered poured-concrete or the Dome's national significance mattered little in comparison to Oilers great 1978 and 1979 seasons inside the dome.

The strategy of connecting people to place based on emotion and experience based on emotion and experience guided the campaign and message.  It was heard loud and clear.  The Trust staffers interacted with over 77,000 Dome-philes over the course of a month's time during the autumn.  Everyone, regardless of age and economic status came to make themselves heard on the issues of reinvestment and reuse.  This was Houston's only landmark, their Eiffel Tower, symbolic of Harris County and the city itself during a period when scientific and technological advances made the seemingly impossible, possible.  Was it enough to sway the naysayers?  No.  The ballot proposition lost but something else happened.

Does Design Matter?

News coverage of the fight to save the Astrodome began appearing in the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and even the Houston Chronicle chastising Harris County voters for not recognizing the Dome's significance as a symbol of the modern movement and encouraged its preservation for the future.  This clarion call was heard throughout a city where the development motto is newer is better and very few buildings see their fiftieth birthday.

The point is, conversations about the fate of the Astrodome have now broadened in scope, including reverence for design and construction methods used in the early sixties.  Maybe a design discussion was necessary after all?  The sentimental approach didn't quite accomplish the task.  However, combining the traditional preservation approach-architectural merit and significance-with sentiment might just what's needed to keep the beloved Dome from a final date with the wrecking ball.

Prentice Hospital: "All Politics Is Local

Prentice Hospital interior
askmissa.com

The late Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas "Tip" O'Neil, famously once said, "all politics is local."  How true.  In the case of Prentice Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, the campaign to save it had very little to do with modern architecture.  It was a local political fight.  The backstory is: a powerful property owner wanted to tear down one of the important buildings on the hospital campus and only Mayor Rahm Emmanuel had the power to stop it.  Let me know if you've heard this before.  The hospital's architectural style, history, and engineering significance were irrelevant because those in power-i.e. the decisions-makers and the property owner-didn't care about all those issues.

To Focus on Architectural Significance or Not To Focus on Architectural Significance

Nurse's station in Prentice Hospital
ragnarbenson.com

Preservationists, too frequently, can be the source of problems by focusing almost all of the attention on the architectural significance of a building.  Beth Wiedower and Chris Morris suggest that preservationists should spend some time figuring out who has the power to remedy the situation, where the obstacles are and how they can be overcome.  The fact that they hospital was "Modern" became moot after attempts to negotiate with the powers that be proved fruitless.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation and a coalition of local and national preservation partners changes tactics to apply public and media pressure. They made the building attractive to audiences.  Preservationists opted not to focus on the fact that Prentice was a maternity hospital where thousands of babies were born, thus could provide a more personal connection to the place.  Why the stress on design?  First, Chicago prides itself on being the birthplace of twentieth-century architecture and buildings like the Willis (neé Sears) Tower are tourist magnets.  Second, many of the women who gave birth at the hospital did not have loving memories of their experiences.  Perhaps it was better to focus on the architectural significance in this case but did it pay off?

The media outlets picked up on the arguments over architectural significance, especially when Pritzker-Prize (the architectural equivalent to the Nobel Prize) winning architects offered their support.  The Trust also found that the under-35 set were showing up at campaign events, rallies, and meetings.  However, the over-35 set did have the same affection for the hospital, not usual, according to related posts (see http://blog.preservationleadershipforum.org).  For the over-35 age bracket it's more about an individual perception's of history than architectural style.

What's The Message?

Preservationists can be such "know-it-alls."  There, I've said it out loud.  We think that we know what makes a place or building so important, and other people should appreciate them for same reasons we do.  Riiiight.  The majority of the general public can't distinguish one period style from the next, or building materials but they may have a real connection to the place for other less obvious reasons. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the preservation professional and amateur to understand and respect those connections.  Twenty-twenty is hindsight and the in the case of Prentice Hospital, The Trust and its partners should've conducted test market research to identify the key issues and messages that resonated with the audience.  The results of which might've been helpful to persuade Mayor Emmanuel and the developers.

Lessons Learned

The preservation case studies at the Houston Astrodome and Prentice Hospital in Chicago, Illinois called attention to Modernism and the iconic and vernacular buildings in need attention and protection. In each case, the Trust took two divergent approaches that were not entirely successful.  The obvious lesson was by mainly focusing on one strategy to marshal support for these buildings would not have been wise.  The main lesson from both these cases is that the personal connection to a place, and role it has in the greater context of architecture, experience, culture, and collective history will help raise the public esteem for Modernism and rally support for its important buildings.

For more on the subject:

Pride and Prejudice: Preserving Modern Heritage
Five Strategies to Preserve a Midcentury Mecca
The Sunshine Mile: Saving a Commercial Modernist Shopping District
No Longer Invisible: Googie Coffee Shops

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