Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!
Obituary and Interment: The Death and Disposition of Irving J. Gill
Iconic Houses in the Media
Interview in Leading Catalan newspaper ARA
Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale
Historical Exhibition, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Painter, Conversation
Our Badge of Honour
Istanbul’s Modernist Ataköy Housing Estate is At Risk
Early Furniture Designs by Le Corbusier on Permanent Display in Maison Blanche
Photo Report City Icons Amsterdam
Healing Through Architecture
Reopening An Iconic Modernist Landmark
City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood
MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters
Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon
Modernism Week Lecture: 10 Years of Iconic Houses
Aluminaire House Grand Opening
Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde
An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture
Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner
SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!
SPECIAL – German Greats!
SPECIAL - Vacances en France!
SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!
SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!
SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies
SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!
SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing
SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses
Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Winy Wants a World Wonder
Welcome Atelier Volten!
Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House
Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package
The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague
Icons of the Czech Avantgarde
Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta
Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons
Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses
7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success
Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá
Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska
Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof
17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum
Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!
Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism
Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects
'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop
Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin
Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen
'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House
Rietveld Houses Owners Association
Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops
Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House
Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!
Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97
Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand
Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House
Welcome Umbrella House!
Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip
Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave
Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami
Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary
Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House
Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved
Serralves Villa after restoration
Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione
Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe
Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building
Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle
BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time
New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform
Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina
A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo
Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman
Winy Maas on the Green Dip
Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s
Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois
The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer
Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism
Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage
Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces
July is Iconic Houses Month
Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk
Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!
How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event
Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House
13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage
Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!
Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970
Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments
Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design
ICONS AT RISK
Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck
Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'
A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism
New Centre for Historic Houses of India
An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House
Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands
A Mendini temple in Amsterdam
IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House
Sponsors and Friends
An Afternoon with the Glucks
Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable
Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK
Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon
Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors
Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois
Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership
Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar
Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering
Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra
Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project
We welcome 13 new members!
BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!
LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright
Iconic Reads
Iconic Houses End Year Message
City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?
Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress
Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk
Renovation Gili House in Crisis
An Iconic Saga
Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies
Modernism on the East Coast
Iconic Houses in Latin America
Conference testimonials
House Tours May 2018
Expert Meetings
Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter
Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson
New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne
Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House
John Arbuckle on Great House Tours
William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan
Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson
Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House
Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation
Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)
Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina
Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán
Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro
Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation
Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships
John Bacon on Planned Giving
Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America
Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More
Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times
Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation
Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod
Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses
Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House
5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018
Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company
Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio
Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association
Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale
Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico
De Stijl in Drachten
Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio
Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru
Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil
Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition
Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece
In Berlin’s Modernist Network
Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary
Meet Our New Foundation Board Members
Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation
Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D
Getty Grant for Villa E-1027
Plečnik House in Ljubljana
Iconic Dacha
Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip
Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí
11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List
At home with Le Corbusier
Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored
Lynda Waggoner reports
A Conference to Remember
4th International Iconic Houses Conference
Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner
Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour
Wright Plus 2016 Walk
Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute
John Mcllwee, Garcia House
Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup
Iconic Houses: The Story So Far
Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses
Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor
Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes
Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage
Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra
Sidney Williams, Frey House
Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists
Meet the Friends - James Haefner
Toshiko Mori, architect
Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust
Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke
Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House
Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office
Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House
Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library
Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences
Ted Bosley, Gamble House
Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants
Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer
Wim de Wit, Stanford University
Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy
Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage
Join us in Los Angeles! Update
Work in Progress: Casa Vicens
Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House
Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois
Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House
Conference calls!
Follow us!
Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success
Conference House Tours Barcelona
Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera
Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation
Special speaker Oscar Tusquets
Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’
Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation
Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner
Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda
Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)
Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain
Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc
Conference Program 25 November 2014
Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó
Documentary La Ricarda
Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera
Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera
Henry Urbach, The Glass House
Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12
Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum
Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat
Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater
Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center
Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld
Barragán House on Screen
Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move
Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013
Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open
September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris
June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments
Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook
Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture
Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse
New arrivals: Spain special
MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June
Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award
Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May
Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen
Message from the Editor
Neutra’s House on Screen
Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier
Symposium The Public and the Modern House
Melnikov House on Screen
Iconic Houses in the media
Message from the Editor
Round Table Review
Eileen Gray House on Screen
Copy Culture
At Home in the 20th Century
New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches
Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux
Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable
Chandler McCoy has worked in the field of architectural conservation for over 25 years. Four years ago, he joined the Getty Conservation Institute to manage the Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative.
First off, tell us about your forthcoming book on energy and conservation.
The book is called Energy and Climate Management: Case Studies in Conservation Practice, the second volume in our new Conserving Modern Heritage series. The purpose of this series is to provide useful information to building owners, architects, and conservators on specific topics that pertain to the conservation of buildings from the modern era. The case studies in this book show examples where improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort are successfully balanced with conserving the heritage values of the place. A lot of damage can be done to a historic property in the name of energy retrofitting if it doesn’t start with careful thinking about the architectural form, the materials and other qualities of the architecture. Doing this work requires a willingness to balance two important factors.
For the unconverted, why is it important to make Modern houses sustainable? And what are the biggest obstacles in making Modern houses more energy efficient?
It’s important to make all houses as sustainable and energy efficient as they can be whether they are Modern, traditional or vernacular buildings. We live in an age of climate change and depletion of natural resources. We also understand that using our existing buildings in a sustainable manner means keeping them in use rather than demolishing them. In some ways, energy use can be the Achilles heel of buildings from the Modern era. The architects from this time tried to incorporate as much glass as possible in their buildings to bring in natural daylight and tried to dematerialize exterior walls by making them as thin as possible. They opened their houses to the outdoors directly with floor to ceiling glazing and sliding glass doors. All of these aspects of a modern house are very challenging to retrofit. In many cases, the very thing that gives the house its beauty and its architectural character is seen by many as a big energy waster, because these features do not provide sufficient thermal buffer between the indoor environment and outdoor climate.
How did you get into this field, and why?
I loved being in architecture school and learning design but also loved architectural history, especially learning about the modern era. After working for a while, I found that I preferred working on existing buildings, especially ones with an important history. I discovered the organization Docomomo in the early 90’s and it immediately clicked with me, because it combined many of my interests, so I was drawn into the world of conserving works from the Modern era. Four years ago I started working at the Getty Conservation Institute, managing their Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative. This job allows me to pursue one of my main interests in many areas of the world.
What does the Conserving Modern Architecture initiative do?
The GCI launched the Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative (CMAI) in 2012 in order to advance the practice of conserving 20th-century built heritage. It identifies and addresses conservation challenges particular to modern architecture in several ways. It does research on Modern materials, with our current research focused on the repair of modern concrete. It produces and disseminates technical materials that will help architects and conservators solve difficult modern conservation problems. Our case study book series is an example of this. Also, the CMAI does education and training. We have a short introductory course on conserving modern architecture that we have offered in Los Angeles for two years, with a third course planned for July 2020. Finally, we work with partners like the Eames Foundation doing field projects on actual buildings that allow us to model best practices. We have just completed a Conservation Management Plan for the Eames House that is now available online, which we hope will inspire others to undertake conservation planning.
What initiatives would you like to see in order to advance energy efficiency and sustainability in Modern homes?
I live in California and really appreciate the fact that it created the California State Historical Building Code (CHBC). It is an incredibly valuable tool for the preservation of historic buildings. It recognizes the unique construction issues inherent in maintaining and adaptively reusing historic buildings and provides alternative building regulations for permitting repairs, alterations and additions. I would like to see similar thinking applied to energy standards, to create something such as ‘historic building energy codes’ developed by national and local authorities. This would emphasize improved overall building performance instead of focusing on setting requirements for the performance of individual building parts like glass, insulation, lighting, and so on.
Is updating Modern houses to 21st-century standards ever a realistic goal?
I think the objective should be to make 20th-century houses perform to the best of their ability rather than imposing 21st-century standards onto them. When working on energy improvements for houses from the modern movement, you have to start by assessing the building’s overall energy consumption and look at ways to improve it holistically. Perhaps the windows are single-glazed and are absolutely essential to the building’s historic identity. If that is the case, we leave the single glazing and focus on other areas where improvements can be made. This is a process that requires understanding the building and being very creative in finding solutions. Merely complying with building standards is not a creative process and it does not take into account issues like significance or architectural character.
How does improving energy efficiency pay off for such houses?
It means they consume less energy, so they cost less to operate and also are more comfortable to occupy.
Can such measures coexist with a more classical ideas of conservation? Yes, it can be done but it is a complicated balance to achieve. It requires commitment and creativity.
What other issues are you looking forward to discussing at the conference?
It’s very important for me to attend these conferences and find out what matters to the owners of modern houses, whether it is technical and operational issues, visitor management, or challenges related to heritage protection.
Do you have a favourite young heritage house (1965 or younger), and why?
Because of my recent involvement with IHN’s Icons at Risk effort, I have become aware of the Casa Sperimentale built during the 1960s and 70s as a seaside villa outside Rome by the architect Guiseppe Perugini for himself and his family. It is in now unoccupied, is very dire condition and is covered in graffiti, but it is nevertheless a marvel of modernist architecture. Designed as a concrete ‘treehouse’, it is as experimental as its name implies, using reinforced concrete to its maximum potential for sculptural expression.
In your opinion, what is the most urgent issue that iconic houses currently face?
Finding owners who will care for them in the appropriate way. This is a challenge and not for the faint of heart, requiring an understanding of what makes them significant.
Conversely, what do you think are the most hopeful circumstance for heritage homes currently?
In the short history of conserving modern heritage, we are now at a point where there is general agreement that works from the 20th century are important and do qualify as heritage. Twenty years ago, that was not true at all. Although taking care of heritage homes is not an easy task, there are now networks like Iconic Houses that help raise awareness of this issue and provide support.
Jane Szita
Posted December 11, 2019