Over the concluding decades of the twentieth century, the historic preservation community increasingly turned its attention to modern buildings, including bungalows from the 1930s, gas stations and diners from the 1940s, and office buildings and architectural homes from the 1950s. Conservation efforts, however, were often hampered by a lack of technical information about the products used in these structures, and to fill this gap Twentieth-Century Building Materials was developed by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service and first published in 1995. Now, this invaluable guide is being reissued—with a new preface by the book’s original editor. With more than 250 illustrations, including a full-color photographic essay, the volume remains an indispensable reference on the history and conservation of modern building materials. Thirty-seven essays written by leading experts offer insights into the history, manufacturing processes, and uses of a wide range of materials, including glass block, aluminum, plywood, linoleum, and gypsum board. Readers will also learn about how these materials perform over time and discover valuable conservation and repair techniques. Bibliographies and sources for further research complete the volume. The book is intended for a wide range of conservation professionals including architects, engineers, conservators, and material scientists engaged in the conservation of modern buildings, as well as scholars in related disciplines.

11 Post- tradition in Japanese culture -- Heritage -- 12 Industrial architecture -- 13 Landscape architecture -- 14 Middle- class housing -- Memory -- 15 Cultural institutions -- 16 Architectural photography -- Conservation -- 17 Laws and regulations -- 18 Technology -- Economy -- 19 Economic analysis -- Index of places -- Index of names

This book offers an international overview of how to apply the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) to the 20th-century architectural heritage. Although the CMP is universally considered a fundamental tool for sustainable management of the built heritage, the application to 20th-century buildings is still limited. The book illustrates selected case studies from different countries to discuss how best to preserve the authenticity of the original materials, manage changes in use, engage users and stakeholders in this process, and make conservation and sustainability work together. "Conserving 20th-century architecture" will provide insights for scholars and students and assist architects in drafting an effective conservation management plan.

This book deals with the planned conservation of modern architecture and proposes a comparative discussion between eight research programs recently completed in Italy and Brazil as part of the “Keeping It Modern” program by means of which the Getty Foundation supported the drafting of conservation management planning for major architectural masterpieces of the twentieth-century worldwide, between 2014 and 2020. The scientific results of this program are maturing and also resulting in publications promoted by universities and research centers involved by the Getty Foundation. Within this framework of initiatives, we dedicate this book to the comparison among research projects carried out in Italy and Brazil, starting from the distinctive characteristics that modern architecture has gained in the two countries and evaluating the impact that the Conservation Management Plans on the cultural scenario of each country and on the corresponding protection systems. We asked the co-authors to reconsider the research experience faced within the KIM program, overcoming their description, and proposed to describe its specific reflection on the role that management plans play for twentieth-century architecture and on how the outcomes of this experience have contributed to the debate on the protection of contemporary architecture. Finally, the book presents many transversal topics and highlights numerous similarities in approach between the two countries, but also profound differences in the way of understanding conservation of twentieth-century architectural heritage.

Preservation is Overtaking Us brings together two lectures given by Rem Koolhaas at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, along with a response (framed as a supplement to the original lectures) by Jorge Otero-Pailos. In the first essay Koolhaas describes alternative strategies for preserving Beijing, China. The second talk marks the inaugural Paul Spencer Byard lecture, named in celebration of the longtime professor of Historic Preservation at GSAPP. These two lectures trace key moments of Koolhaas' thinking on preservation, including his practice's entry into China and the commission to redevelop the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. In a format well known to Koolhaas' readers, Otero-Pailos reworks the lectures into a working manifesto, using it to interrogate OMA's work from within the discipline of preservation.

The importance of protecting significant buildings from decay and destruction would seem to be undeniable. Yet whilst the majority of buildings of merit constructed before the Second World War have been highlighted as worthy of protection there is much indifference, and in some cases hostility towards many important post-war buildings. These deserve to receive wider formal recognition but in many cases continue to be mistreated or even demolished.This book examines many of the philosophical and practical issues surrounding the conservation of modern buildings and also the problems faced by building practitioners in dealing with buildings constructed in a wider range of styles and materials than at any other time. Climate change in particular has forced change in the way in which we think about buildings, with the pressures to address issues of energy efficiency becoming more urgent and likely to have consequences that may alter the perceived architectural and historic interest of modern and traditional buildings alike.