17-19 February: 4th International Iconic Houses Conference in L.A.

Wed, Feb 17 - Fri, Feb 19  2016

Iconic Houses present its 4th International Conference to be held February 17th to 19th at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Hosted by The Getty Conservation Institute and Getty Foundation at Richard Meier’s Getty Center, the event will feature more tours, more speakers, and more networking activities than in past conferences, all focusing on modern residential architecture’s importance, its preservation, and its future. 

A California State of Mind

The theme for the conference is “A California State of Mind: The Modern House Museum in Southern California.” Since Los Angeles is the spiritual home of the modern house, there will be several renowned Modern homes to visit (many of them not normally open to the public), both during the optional pre-conference tours and as part of the regular program. The story of the Mid-Century Modern movement will be told in one day with tours of the Gamble, Hollyhock, Schindler and Neutra houses, and there will be opportunities to visit landmark homes including the Eames House and several others. Guests will enjoy spectacular views at the closing cocktail party in Club James, the newest addition to the legendary Goldstein Residence, designed by John Lautner in 1963. 

The speakers represent key stakeholders –curators, owners, restoration architects and residents of iconic houses– and capture the spectrum of perspectives and opinions. Noted architectural historian Wim de Wit will share, as keynote speaker, his insights into the origin of the Modern house in Southern California. The second keynote speaker, architect Toshiko Mori, will share her unique experience of working on three Modernist classics designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer and Paul Rudolph. Additionally, Malachi Conolly, President of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, will present three Cape Cod museum houses that are rented out as holiday homes as an interesting business model, to give an insight in recent developments on the East Coast of the US. 

Franklin D. Vagnone, co-author of the Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums, will share his highly original perspectives on preventing house museums from dwindling into dull mausoleums and presents his ideas on how to make them fresher, more exciting, and better connected to the local community. The conference program also includes two expert sessions devoted to the pressing topics of fundraising and conservation plans. 

About Iconic Houses

Iconic Houses is the international network connecting architecturally significant houses from the 20th century that are open to the public as house museum. The platform also focuses on conservation, management, policy and cooperation. The website, www.iconichouses.org, lists circa 150 house museums worldwide and was launched November 2012. The Organizing Board consists of house museum directors Natascha Drabbe (Van Schijndel House Utrecht/ Iconic Houses founder), Iveta Cerna (Villa Tugendhat), Kimberli Meyer (MAK Center) and Lynda Waggoner (Fallingwater). 

About Getty Conservation Institute and Getty Foundation

The Getty has a longstanding interest in modern architecture, as currently manifested through the Getty Foundation’s Keeping It Modern grant initiative for 20th century buildings around the world, the Getty Conservation Institute’s Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative (CMAI), and the collections of the Getty Research Institute. 

Conference Program

Full program and booking details can be found HERE.