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Santa Monica: Cradle of Modern Architecture
CPF Conference Tour
Sunday, May 15, 2011

Love modern architecture? Want to know more about its history and its conservation? Then don't miss the all-day study tour "Santa Monica: Cradle of Modern Architecture" during the 2011 California Preservation Foundation Conference, on Sunday, May 15, 2011, 9AM-5PM. 

Southern California has a rich legacy of modern residential architecture, and Santa Monica is the perfect place to explore it. Santa Monica is home to significant works from every decade of the 20th century and this tour will provide a rare opportunity for access to homes by Irving Gill, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Charles and Ray Eames, Craig Ellwood, Ray Kappe, and more, including homes from the renowned Arts & Architecture Case Study House Program. At each location, historians, preservation-minded owners, and conservation architects will be on hand to talk about the architectural ideas, preservation challenges, and conservation opportunities associated with the sites.

Additionally, the tour will bring a new perspective to the story of modern architecture in Southern California by approaching the topic through a place-based lens. Led by SAH/SCC President Sian Winship, the tour will explore the factors that ultimately shaped modern architecture in the area in the late 1950s and 1960s, including: a high concentration of creative individuals, such as writers, fine artists, dancers, and movie industry professionals; leading names in the promotion of modern architecture-namely Arts & Architecture magazine publisher John Entenza and author Esther McCoy; the presence of the defense industry, and its workers' demand for housing; the arrival of transportation infrastructure and urban renewal projects.

Tour participants will learn about the ideas behind the architecture, experience the spatial qualities of modern architecture that cannot be gleaned from photographs, discover solutions to conservation challenges associated with modern resources, and explore new strategies to make modern preservation issues relevant in their communities.

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