America's Most Endangered Historic Places...

As many of you who have been following this blog for awhile know, I have a thing for mid-century modern things. I love it all...furniture, clothing, houses, and buildings. Many folks dislike this style because it is a bit "in your face," especially in the case of buildings of this style.

You can ignore someone's choice in furniture or clothing (because this is their own personal choice). To a lesser extent you can ignore mid-century modern homes because they have less of an impact on the public space than buildings (even though there are WAY MORE houses of this style out there than buildings).

You have no choice but to pay attention to a building, because they exist as part of the public footprint on a community. They are often very tall and imposing structures. The 60s was a time of over-the-top creativity, a pushing of boundaries in architecture. It is no surprise that buildings like this (Markel Building, Richmond, VA) were born in this time period.

Sadly, not everyone feels preserving these (admittedly) unique structures. So the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed (as of yesterday) their take on America's Most Endangered Historic Places, and the list includes two mid-century modern buildings, the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, CA, and the Miami Marine Stadium in Miami, FL. Both built in the 60s and both in great danger of being torn down.

I can do very little on my end, other than inform a couple of you that this is happening. If there was a mid-century modern building in my area about to be torn down or listed as endangered, I would find a way to take action.

Now, I know this is not some of you all's cup of tea, but there are non-mid-century modern buildings and structures on the list as well.

Take a look at the American Historical Association's blog post about this. Good read.

Hope you all have a great (and enlightened) day!

By the way, thanks, Dad, for sending me this info!