These 10 Iconic Buildings Will Be Conserved by the Getty Foundation

From Eero Saarinen’s North Christian Church in Indiana to Ernst May’s Uganda National Museum, these structures have been selected for preservation funding

Nick Mafi

July 19, 2019

The hope for every architect is that their work is appreciated and preserved. Now, thanks to several generous grants totaling $1.6 million from the Getty Foundation, 10 buildings will be conserved for, at the least, another generation to enjoy and be inspired by. As part of Keeping It Modern, an international grant initiative that helps to maintain major architectural achievements, the Getty Foundation worked with a panel of international experts to evaluate and provide funding for these 10 buildings. “The Getty strongly believes in research and planning as a bedrock for making informed short-term and long-term conservation decisions and policies,” says Antoine Wilmering, senior program officer for the Getty Foundation.
The list of buildings that will receive funding—reaching into several new countries for the first time: Argentina, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Mozambique, Spain, and Uganda—includes the following:

building with mountains in the distance — Buzludzha Monument, Hadzhi Dimitar Peak, Bulgaria, by aArchitect Georgi Stoilov.
Photo: Getty Images

long building with city in the background — Torino Esposizioni, Turin, Italy by engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi.
Photo: Courtesy of the Getty Foundation

car parked in front of a building with clouds in the sky — Beira Railway Station, Beira, Mozambique by architects Paulo de Melo Sampaio, João A. Garizo do Carmo, and Francisco José de Castro.
Photo: Courtesy of the Getty Foundation

white house next to trees — Villa E-1027, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. The home was designed by Eileen Gray.
Photo: Courtesy of Getty Foundation/Manuel Bougot

building next to flowers and trees — North Christian Church, Columbus, Indiana, by architect Eero Saarinen.
Photo: Courtesy of Getty Foundation/Hadley Fruits

flowers in front of a house — Miller House and Garden, Columbus, Indiana by architect Eero Saarinen.
Photo: Courtesy of the Getty Foundation/Tad Fruits

building with few lights on overcast sky trees with no leaves — Laboratory for Faculty of Chemical Technology at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania by architect Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis.
Photo: Courtesy of the Getty Foundation

people stand in front of a building — Uganda National Museum, Kampala, Uganda by architect Ernst May.
Photo: Courtesy of the Getty Foundation

yellow fence next to a concrete building — Escuela Superior de Comercio Manuel Belgrano, Córdoba, Argentina by architects Osvaldo Bidinost, Jorge Chute, José Gassó, Mabel Lapacó, and Martín Meyer.
Photo: Courtesy of the Getty Foundation

building next to trees under blue sky — Paraninfo at the Universidad Laboral de Cheste, Valencia, Spain by architect Fernando Moreno Barberá.
Photo: Courtesy of the Getty Foundation

Since its inception in 2014, Keeping It Modern has supported 64 national and international conservation projects. Previous recipients include the Eames House in California, the Sydney Opera House, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in Illinois, to name a few. “Grant funding supports the creation of conservation management plans that guide long-term maintenance strategy, studies of building conditions, and the testing and analysis of modern materials,” says Wilmering. “Activities in these areas can range from archival research to 3D laser scanning, or material research on a particular type of concrete to training workshops for local professionals.”

While there isn’t a theme each year for its grants, this year followed the linear path of adaptive reuse projects. “Because some of the preservation problems of 20th-century architecture seem so daunting, it can be an easy decision to replace a building with something new,” explains Wilmering. “But adaptive reuse is actually a very thoughtful approach, and it is often the best solution for preserving modern architecture. Building codes have changed over time, visitor numbers have increased for many sites, and energy efficiency is more important than ever. To meet these challenges, adaptive reuse is often the only feasible solution to avoid obsolescence, which often leads to demolition.” Here’s to the enjoyment of these 10 iconic buildings in this century, and hopefully the next as well.
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/buildings-conserved-getty-foundation