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2015

by

Chairperson

Regina O’Brien, 2009-2015

Milestones in the Community

  • ModCom Turns 30

Meeting Locations

Advocacy

Church of Christ Scientist – aka Mosaic Church

Primary support for this preservation in 2015 came from http://www.saveresidentialhollywood.com/ however ModCom lent their support to the initiative.
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/mosaic-church-fifth-church-christ-scientist

Kronish House

1954 Neutra Home in Beverly Hills Saved when it became a HCM in April 2015. Helped to solidy and activate the City of Beverly Hills preservation program.
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/kronish-house
http://www.beverlyhillshistoricalsociety.org/

Norms Las Cienega

After the sale of the iconic eatery in 2014, a nomination was rushed to the city council. 1957 Googie by Armet and Davis received HCM on January 15, 2015
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/norms-la-cienega-coffee-shop

Robinson’s Department Store

Beautiful retail complex designed by Pereira in Beverly Hills Lost

Etc.

The predominance of issues described in the LA newsletter are Modern Issues
https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/default/files/files/documents/Mar-Apr15.pdf

Events

ModCom Turns 30

Thirtieth Birthday party for ModCom on March 28, 2015 at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Slide shows and presentations are given by Peter Moruzzi, Alan Lieb, Chris Nichols and Regina O’Brien

IMG_20150328_201547 20150328_205111

Annual Holiday Party:

December 7

Modern Master Awards:

  • Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr
  • Architectural photographer Wayne Thom

Tangents

MAK Architecture Valley Tour

Tour in conjunction with Dwell on Design on October 18, 2015 featured classic works of architecture in the San Fernando Valley: Van Dekker House (R.M. Schindler, 1939-1940) Goodwin House (R.M. Schindler, 1940) Phineas Kappe House (Ray Kappe, 1956) Barsha House (Ray Kappe, 1959) Struckus House (Bruce Goff, 1982)

John Elgin Woolf Exhibit and Talk

Steven Price lecture on Hollywood Regency style at the Palos Verdes Art Center

Palm Springs Paradise

by Peter Moruzzi – July 1, 2015
https://www.amazon.com/Palm-Springs-Paradise-Peter-Moruzzi/dp/142363991X/ref=llvn-20

Tiki Style

by Sven Kirsten– February 15, 2015
https://www.amazon.com/Tiki-Style-Sven-Kirsten/dp/3836555085/ref=llvn-20

Crestwood Hills: The Chronicle of a Modern Utopia

by Cory Buckner (Author), Amy Inouye (Illustrator) – March 30, 2015
https://www.amazon.com/Crestwood-Hills-Chronicle-Modern-Utopia/dp/1626400245/ref=llvn-20

Shag Store Opens in L.A.

New store on Melrose September 2015

1998

by

Chairperson

Chris Nichols, 1998-1999

Milestones in the Community

  • Modern Committee Website is launched initiated by Mary-Margaret Stratton
    320_983699530
  • Charles Phoenix First “Americana” Slide Show first showed his slides to ModCom members. His first public event, entitled “God Bless Americana: The Retro Vacation Slide Show of the USA”, was held at the California Map and Travel Store in Los Angeles in 1998. What begins as a friendly get-together mushrooms into a phenomenon. His outreach ends up bring Modern kitsch images to the masses
    http://www.charlesphoenix.com/
    _DSC0281

Meeting Locations

Events

A Place in the Sun: Architecture of Wayne McAllister 1928-1961

Exhibit honors the influential work of Wayne McAllister showcasing his career from 1930s drive-in restaurants to Las Vegas hotels in the 1950s

wayne3

Terminal Island Long Beach Tour

 

Ad hoc self-driving caravan tour produced by Daniel Paul

1998 terminal island tour

Advocacy

Albert Frey Gas Station in Palm Springs – check this date

Modcom travels to speak on behalf of the Tramway Gas Station at the PS City Council

Cinerama Done

Pacific Theaters, proposed a project that would have destroyed the theater’s existing plaza, box offices, and marquee. Modcom contributed to the efforts of Doug Haines to save the iconic theater in Hollywood (along with Hollywood Heritage and Friends of Cinerama) which was made an HCM on December 18, 1998.
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/cinerama-dome

Tangents

MAK Center Schindler Tour

Tour on November 6 – 7, 1998 presented: Sachs Apartments (1926-1928, 1934-1940), Grokowsky House (1928), Elliot House (1930), Yates Studio (1938, remodeled 1998), Falk Apartments (1939-1940), Roth House (1945), and Laurelwood Apartments (1946-1949).

May I Take Your Order: American Menu Design 1920-1960

A book which sheds light on many obscure Los Angeles eateries by Jim Heimann  June 1, 1998
https://www.amazon.com/May-Take-Your-Order-1920-1960/dp/0811817830/ref=llvn-20

1996

by

Chairperson

Peter Moruzzi, 1992-1997

Milestones in the Community

  • McDonald’s Corporation rededicates the Golden Arches Downey McDonalds and adds an historic museum to the site.
    mcdonalds 1996

Meeting Locations

Events

Society for Commercial Archeology Conference

Tour coincides with the Society for Commercial Archeology Conference at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Four-day “Life in the Past Lane” conference is co-sponsored by the Automobile Club of Southern California. Over 200 people attend. Panels of historians, architects, preservationists and critics will tackle such topics as “The Four Level Stack as Los Angeles Icon,” “The Stucco Box,” and “Booze, Bread, MGM, Ham and Giant Dogs: The Emerging Urban Landscape of Washington Boulevard, 1920-1940.” Auto Club historian Matthew Roth speaks. Chris Nichols dances along to stock film footage of Los Angeles roads and streets during the decades that commercial archeologists most love–from the 1920s to the ’60s. John English, leads two bus tours Sat: San Gabriel Valley and Anaheim tour and Sun: Central Los Angeles

Advocacy

Bullock’s Pasadena

Ongoing preservation issue to save the Welton Beckett designed sprawling Pasadena Bullocks – now a Macy’s. A project that would completely surround the former Bullock’s Pasadena on South Lake Avenue. Modcommers worked in association with Pasadena Heritage. In an unforgettable moment of preservation activism, Michael Kiralla opens an umbrella up at the Pasadena City council meeting and claims: “It’s raining lies in Pasadena.” The issue dragged on for 2 years until success in 1998.

Van De Kamps headquarters

Modcom stages a rally at the Dutch revival headquarters in Glassel Park. The bakery closed in 1990 and the building became threatened. It becomes a HCM landmark in 1992, but is threatened with demolition.

Tangents

20th Century Tiki

Group show at La Luz de Jesus. Co-curated by Otto von Stroheim and Sven Kirsten that included the work of SHAG and the birth of pop surrealism when Mark Ryden showcases his definitive piece “Exotica.”

Car Hops and Curb Service: A History of American Drive-In Restaurants 1920-1960

by Jim Heimann March 1, 1996
https://www.amazon.com/Car-Hops-Curb-Service-Drive-/dp/0811811158/ref=llvn-20

1992

by

Chairperson

Peter Moruzzi, 1992-1997

Milestones in the Community

  • Modern and Post-WWII Committee Group changes name to Modern Committee (aka ModCom)
  • Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) is founded by Peter Loughrey.
    https://lamodern.com

Meeting Locations

Events

Neutra in the 1930s

Tour and Lecture

Advocacy

Bobs Big Boy

Preservation Efforts to save the coffee shop drive-in in Toluca Lake begins.

Tangents

Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design

Lectures at the Schindler House featuring Peter Moruzzi and Sven Kirsten and others

1988

by

Chairperson

Kathleen Leonard, Co-Chairperson 1987-1988

Gene Polk, Co-Chairperson 1987 – 1990

Milestones in the Community

  • First formal ModCom Tour – John Lautner
  • Docomomo International (non-profit organization) is initiated in 1988 byHubert-Jan Henket, architect and professor, and Wessel de Jonge, architect and research fellow, at the School of Architecture at the Technical University in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Docomomo is short for the Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement.
    http://www.docomomo.com

Meeting Locations

Events

John Lautner: Real Architecture

Tour and Lecture

Before I started architecture school in 1988 I had a background in photography and filmmaking. I was a film editor on commercials, documentaries and feature films but I became more and more interested in architecture. I was telling a friend what I was really interested in architecture. He had asked me if I had seen the work of John Lautner? I started to research Lautner’s work and I stumbled on the Garcia House (The Rainbow House). The owner invited me in and said there was going to be a Los Angeles Conservancy Tour on Lautner and he asked if I would like to be his guest. I went inside the Carling House for the first time, the living room was on a hinge and the pool was inside and outside the living room. I saw the Silvertop House, Lautner’s own house and a few other houses, which were on the tour. The owner of the Garcia House said to me, “… you seem so interested in Lautner’s work you should go to Lautner’s office; it’s right on Hollywood Boulevard”. Bette Cohen, Producer of the documentary, “The Spirit of Architecture: John Lautner”
http://www.johnlautner.org/wp/?cat=11

Advocacy

Eames House

Early ModCom members worked with Ray Eames to ensure the Case Study House #8 (Eames House, Studio and Grounds) was nominated as HCM #381 on July 15, 1988

Tangents

Westwood

A series of Historic Cultural Monuments (HCM) in Westwood were accepted in June and July of 1988 – including several Mid Century Modern Richard Neutra designed homes.

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