The Amato House in New Canaan, Conn. designed by James Evans c. 1966It always sounds curious to talk about preservation and Modernism in one breath, but the two are fast becoming linked as time marches forward, leaving the mid-century Modernism movement farther and farther in our past. In an effort to protect mid-century Modern houses for future preservation The Philip Johnson Glass House (a National Trust Historic Site in New Canaan, Conn.) has created a “narrative survey of 91 existing modern homes in New Canaan” designed by masters of the era like Marcel Breuer, Eliot Noyes, and John Johansen, as well as a second generation of Modernists. Following the lead of DoCoMoMo (the international organization for the Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement), the Glass House hopes that the Modern Homes Survey will provide “criteria for significance,” rendering the featured houses preservation worthy. The digital version of the Survey is accessible online for free. It tells an interesting tale of a bucolic region surprisingly populated by the works of celebrated Modernists.
I wrote about my visit to the Glass House here.
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast