GETTY FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GRANTS FOR MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE INITIATIVE
Jessica Gelt reports in the Los Angeles Times that the Getty Foundation has announced a second round of grants for the Keeping It Modern conservation initiative, which supports the study, preservation, and maintenance of modernist architecture across the world. This time, grants totaling more than $1.75 million have been awarded to fourteen buildings all built in the twentieth century across eight countries.
The foundation selected the winning structures based upon their potential to function as a model for conservation practices. They include: Erich Mendelsohn’s Einstein Tower in Potsdam, Germany; Marcel Breuer’s St. John’s Abbey and University Church in Collegeville, Minnesota.; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois; Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius’ residence in Lincoln, Massachusetts; and James Strutt’s residence in Ottawa, Canada. This year the foundation is giving its first implementation grant to Wright’s Unity Temple, where the money will be used for conservation. Prior grants were issued strictly for research and study so that the local guardians of the structures could come up with their own preservation plans.
Other buildings receiving grants from this second round are Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House in Helensburgh, Scotland; Pierre Jeanneret’s Gandhi Bhawan (Gandhi Center) in Chandigarh, India; Joao Batista Vilanova Artigas and Carlos Cascaldi’s School of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo; Gerrit Rietveld’s Schroder House in Utrecht, Netherlands; Michel de Klerk’s Het Schip in Amsterdam; George Nakashima’s Arts Building and Cloister in New Hope, Pennsylvania; the Giancarlo de Carlo Collegi buildings at the University of Urbino in Italy; Paul Rudolph’s Jewett Arts Center at Wellesley College in Massachusetts; and Jorge Ferreira’s Arthur Neiva Pavilion in Rio de Janeiro.
The first round of Keeping It Modern grants announced last fall provided funding for the study of ten structures, including Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House in Australia, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House in Chicago, and the Ray and Charles Eames’ residence in Los Angeles.
