Ordinary to Icon: Case Studies in the Rehabilitation of Modern Buildings and Sites Architecture

Modern architecture offers many challenges to conservation practice that continue to be debated and tested across the spectrum of our industry. The concept of “modernization” — which often entails adaptive reuse — increasingly gains currency among commercial, institutional and government building owners fueling an exponential increase in the volume of activity in this arena.  Organizations such as the Getty Conservation Institute, ICOMOS, Docomomo and APT have undertaken broader inquiries into addressing the questions that impact the fundamental philosophy of how to work with this large and diverse legacy. This in turn has produced new guidelines such as the ICOMOS Madrid Document on Approaches for the Conservation of 20th Century Architectural Heritage that are meant to complement the existing established international charters, and to help us to better evaluate and devise appropriate treatment for these properties. This seminar proposes to identify and evaluate some of the key challenges facing the preservation community and to analyze through critical analysis of selected case studies, solutions or directions that address these issues while seeking to minimize other perceived failings. It is hoped that the seminar will foster more detailed investigation of some of the more persistent and complex challenges and how they interface with a general drive to create sensitive design interventions that conserve carbon and increase the sustainability quota of many of these resources.  

We will address the following:
1. Should the evaluative criteria that we develop for modern properties differ from those applied to earlier and/or more traditional forms of construction. Should there be different criteria applied to landmark quality structures versus the Ordinary Everyday Modern (OEM) vernacular? 
2. Modern materials such as concrete, steel (except weathering steel) aluminum and polymers do not age and acquire patina in the manner of traditional materials such as stone, wood and copper, and therefore must be replaced rather than repaired once they have irretrievably lost their finish and/or are at the point of failure. Is this true and what opportunities might exist in the restoration of modern materials? Where replacement is mandated, by what standard should replacement materials be evaluated?
3. Modern structures in many cases use a lot of operational carbon because of thin construction and lack of insulation. How do we devise and vet strategies to enhance energy performance that are appropriately balanced with maintenance of historic character? As examples we will study recent renovations to structures such as Gund Hall and Louis Kahn’s Richards Laboratories.  
4. Design of Interventions: Conservation is increasingly being acknowledged as being an integral, creative part of any renovation and adaptive re-use project, particularly with modern structures, many of which are chronically and persistently unloved. Building owners are increasingly embracing modernization not only of systems and building envelopes in the name of energy efficiency and performance, but as a strategy to refresh and enhance what may be perceived as tired or outdated structures. What is the right balance of new design and conservation, and what is the role of the preservation professional in developing criteria and making judgments as to what constitutes appropriate alteration?