Designed by Harry Seidler, the 1996 Joadja House in Australia is built into a rock outcropping. Seidler was consulted in the conservation of some of his buildings.
This computer reproduction shows the results of the color research done in the living room of Huib Hoste’s 1927 Billiet House in Bruges, Belgium, to discover the original paint scheme.... [more]
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The Science of Conservation
Conservation of Modern Architecture
edited by Susan McDonald, Kyle Nomandin, Bob Kindred;
managing editor Jill Pearce
Donhead Publishing Ltd., Dorset, UK; 2007
194 pp.; paperback; 102 photos (mostly b&w); $52
ISBN 978-1-873394-84-7
Reviewed by Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, FAIA
When conducting scientific experiments, the process or methodology is most essential. Without a legitimate methodology, the results are questionable. Other important elements in such an experiment would be controlling the variables and forming a hypothesis to have a goal of an expected result. The conclusions of the experiment generally are the proof or disproof of the hypothesis and perhaps a list of other things that were learned along the way. The same holds true for the conservation or preservation process. Whether the intended outcome is adaptive use or strict preservation of a highly significant property, one must follow a process to reach a logical conclusion and, hopefully, learn a few things along the way.
Preservation and conservation professionals have been quite comfortable with accepted practice and accepted process for the past few decades. Regional differences were still readily adaptable (by narrowing the variables) to the scientific process in the cases of 19th and early 20th century structures. Now, however, professionals must approach mid-century Modernism as their conservation challenge. Are the rules different? This book, Conservation of Modern Architecture, provides a discussion through a series of case studies, addressing just that question.
The book consists of an introduction by Bob Kindred and 11 chapters, each delivering an approach to the conservation of Modern architecture, some more effectively than others. Authors include Lloyd DesBrisay, AIA, from Polshek Partnership Architects of New York City, James Dunnet, RIBA, representing Docomomo-UK, and others. The buildings discussed range from houses that lost the battle to demolition to redesigned museum spaces and continuously occupied office towers. The list of original architects includes Louis Kahn, Huib Hoste and Colin Lucas. The book addresses the "tendency to emphasize renewable technologies and to underplay that of architectural conservation," suggesting that there is a "danger that architectural conservation can become a relatively minor goal ... sacrificed for the greater good."
For preservationists, there is a learning curve on modern materials, such as steel windows and reinforced poured concrete walls, but issues like these can fit into the presumptive scientific method. One example of how these methods were applied to modern materials is found in the case study on the Billiet House in Bruges, Belgium, written by Ann Verdonck. It shows that preservation industry standard research and microscopy for color discovery can be applied to Modern architecture just as it is to earlier architecture. Designed by Huib Hoste (1881-1957) in 1927, this structure and its architect are part of the DeStijl movement which originated in the Netherlands in 1917 and sought "a more spiritualized and harmonic world …. They simplified visual compositions to parallel and perpendicular plans coloured in the primary colours red, yellow and blue and the non-colours black, grey and white."
Following closely the prescribed paint methodology to discover this masterpiece of color, the researchers were able to determine the original colors specified by Hoste. The question then became: What is the proper approach to the restoration of the house? The researchers, armed with the information about the original colors, were able to create computer renderings of the original rooms, but no follow-up restoration has been planned.
Perhaps one might say that the methodical approach is easier on a house than on a larger-scale building. The chapter by John Hudson on the Cooperative Insurance Society (CIS) Tower in Manchester England ("Conservation Values, Climate Change and Modern Architecture") changes the rules. According to Hudson, a strict methodology can be followed to research and investigate, but the outside influences on the decisions of design and philosophy are very strong. The variables (that one may wish to control throughout the experiment) each have powerful voices.
The CIS Tower has two formal architectural components. The office block contrasts with the service block, the service block being monolithic, covered with mosaic tile. When the tile began to fail, the question of how to solve the problem arose. The solution was overcladding to cover the monolith, changing the proportion contrast between the two components and eliminating the solid/void contrast, as now both pieces are glass. These design modifications were considered minor in exchange for the "common good."
Climate change, energy efficiency and low carbon generation, some of which are mandated by the UK government, become dominant enough to alter the aesthetic presence of significant structures. Before work is undertaken on a listed structure, the UK government requires that the importance of the building be considered first. Perhaps, the book suggests, this is a particular problem of Modern architecture due to insufficient passion for the Modern idiom and therefore insufficient arguments in terms of a structure’s historic significance.
In the UK case studies presented, the role of the "state" is an immense issue. Americans, who value the rights of the property owner above that of the common good, may find the involvement of the UK government in preservation and conservation issues to be invasive. The notion of "prosecution" for improper preservation work may actually be shocking…or perhaps a welcome concept. Clearly, proper government support promotes preserving significant Modern structures. The question still remains, how well?
The chapter by James Dunnett, "Docomomo-UK Questions of Assessment," presents several buildings in comparison with one another. Seemingly little control is suggested with these experiments. The dominant variables change from one building to the next suggesting that Modern is an excuse to set the process aside. Dominant variables with these several buildings ranged from economics and market driven program changes to materials questions, to allowing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning to determine the outcome of the design.
Included in this collection is the chapter titled "Harry Seidler and the Legacy of Modern Architecture in Australia," by Susan Macdonald. It is an insightful interview with a Modern architect who had actually been consulted in the conservation of some of his early work. Harry Seidler spent time in Marcel Breuer's New York office prior to leaving "a legacy of wonderful buildings" to Australia. When asked about conserving his buildings, or any building, Seidler suggested that buildings should be a mark of their own epoch, but that often "protection mechanisms did not always support conservation aims."
The outstanding cover photo shows one of Seidler’s houses standing regally on its site, built into a rock outcropping. The photos in the book tend to be primarily black and white, which in itself is not a problem for Modern structures that profess to be "non-colour." The lack of clarity, however, in some of the photos in unfortunate, as those who discuss architecture are generally very visually oriented.
This reviewer enjoyed the book and found it to stimulate much conversation and pique awareness of the difficulties in approaching structures with which professionals may be too familiar and have trouble separating themselves from the social connotations or professional admiration to be objective.
TB
Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, FAIA, is principal in the firm of Chambers, Murphy & Burge Restoration Architects in Akron, OH. Her firm works closely with clients and other architects to recycle old or historic structures for new uses or to restore unique landmarks to strict conservation standards. Murphy also teaches at Kent State University College of Architecture where she has lead her Historic American Building Survey Teams to first place in the Charles E. Peterson Prize Competition five times. She also serves as a professional peer reviewer for the General Services Administration Design Excellence Program.
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