Keeping It Modern

The list of 20th-century architecture masterpieces selected by the Getty Foundation to receive its 2017 grants, in the ‘Keeping It Modern’ program is intriguing. The program, which began in 2014, seeks to advance preservation of modern architecture across the globe through a focus on conservation planning and research. The list consists of icons that have come to define modern architecture, including Walter Gropius’ Bauhaus Building in Dessau, which the German modernist created when the art and design institution moved to the industrial city in 1925; the Melnikov House in Moscow, home of Konstantin Melnikov, one of the fathers of the Russian avant-garde; Frank Lloyd Wright’s only skyscraper, the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma (above); Brutalist Boston City Hall, designed by Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles (1968); Yoyogi National Gymnasium, in Tokyo, by Kenzo Tange (1964); the Station Thermal in Tokyo by Sidi Harazem (1960); the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) in São Paulo, Brazil, designed by Lina Bo Bardi; St Peter’s Seminary in Glasgow, Scotland, by Andy MacMillan and Isi Metzstein of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia; Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, India, by Le Corbusier; Stadio Flaminio in Rome, which Pier Luigi Nervi completed in the late 50s. The list totals 12 buildings. What a spectacular program. 
Picture

Melnikov House, Moscow, by Konstantin Melinkov

Picture

Stadio Flaminio, Rome, by Pier Luigi Nervi (1956-9)

Picture

Yoyogi National Gymnasium; Tokyo, Japan, by Kenzo Tange, 1964

Picture

Boston City Hall; Boston, Massachusetts, by Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles (1968)

Picture

St Peter’s Seminary, Glasgow, Scotland. by Andy MacMillan and Isi Metzstein of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia

Picture

Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo, by Lina Bo Bardi