The Getty Foundation’s Conserving Black Modernism initiative is a program dedicated to preserving and celebrating the architectural contributions of African American architects in the Modernist movement across the United States. It was launched in 2022 as part of the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the largest preservation campaign to support the longevity of African American sites. Established initially as a two-year initiative, it has since expanded to support 26 historic modern sites and is launching its fourth funding cycle this year. The grants are given to support conservation planning, professional training, and storytelling across a diverse array of building types in 17 states and D.C., including academic, spiritual, residential, civic, cultural, and commercial sites of historic importance.
The Action Fund also recently announced support for a total of 27 sites, including five new sites added to the Conserving Black Modernism program. This year, the Getty Foundation’s grants include buildings in five different states: an urban park and transit route bridging historically Black neighbourhoods in Boston; a distinctive geometric church design suggesting the shape of two hands interlocked in prayer in East Chicago; a glass modernist educational building by the oldest Black-owned architecture firm in the US, in Nashville; a distinctive cylindrical building honouring Dr Martin Luther King Jr in Houston; and the first Black-owned, designed and operated shopping centre in Milwaukee.
The grants are intended for both building maintenance and fostering community engagement in places of collective significance. The Conserving Black Modernism program not only highlights architectural works but also raises public awareness of the Black architects and designers who contributed to the Modernist architecture movement. Find below the five new buildings added to the programme this year. The details of each project and the destination of the funds were provided by the Getty Foundation.
Southwest Corridor / Stull & Lee, Inc.
Boston, Massachusetts, 1969-1987
The Southwest Corridor Project, including the Metro Boston Transit Authority (MBTA)’s Ruggles Station, was built on land initially cleared for the 1-95 Southwest Expressway. After community activism cancelled the highway’s construction in 1969, Black-led architecture firm Stull & Lee, Inc. led the planning for the extension of MBTA’s Orange Line and a 52-acre park along its route. The Southwest Corridor Project prioritized community participation and included recreational facilities, community gardens, and paths connecting to other Boston park systems. Ruggles Station opened in 1987 with an iconic barrel vault with sunburst windows and cast-in-place concrete featuring art by local artists. Getty funding will support a historical documentation study of significant Stull and Lee projects along the Southwest Corridor through archival research, photography, 3D modeling, and engagement with architect M. David Lee to preserve knowledge about their design and cultural history.
St. Mark AME Zion Church / Wendell Campbell
East Chicago, Indiana, 1973
완공된 1973년, St. Mark AME Zion Church는 서로 맞물린 기도하는 손을 연상시키는 다면적 삼각 지붕과 리본형 창문을 특징으로 한다. 이 교회는 소수민족 건축가의 전국적 조직인 National Organization of Minority Architects의 공동 설립자이자 초대 회장인 Wendell Campbell이 설계했으며, 모더니스트 및 네오-익스프레시브 종교 건축의 예시이다. Getty 기금은 현 상태를 기록하고 보존 우선순위를 확정하며 현장의 향후 보수 재개를 안내하는 보존 관리 계획을 지원한다.
Park-Johnson Hall at Fisk University / McKissack & McKissack
Nashville, Tennessee, 1954
Park-Johnson Hall은 Fisk University Historic District에 위치해 1954년에 지어졌으며, 벽돌과 유리로 된 3층 규모의 모더니스트 건물로 강의실, 강의 홀, 사무실을 수용한다. 이 건물은 미국에서 가장 오래된 흑인 소유 건축사무소인 McKissack & McKissack가 설계했고, Getty 기금은 현장의 포괄적 보존 및 관리 계획을 지원하며, 이 건물이 Fisk University 캠퍼스의 건축적 기여 포트폴리오 내에서의 위치를 다루는 문서화를 포함한다.
Martin Luther King Jr. Humanities Center, Texas Southern University / John Saunders Chase Jr.
Houston, Texas, 1969
1969년에 완성된 Martin Luther King Jr. Humanities Center는 텍사스 남부 대학교 커뮤니케이션 학부의 오랜 거주지이다. Chase Jr.는 텍사스에서 최초로 면허를 받은 흑인 건축가이자 전국 소수민족 건축가 기구의 창립 멤버였으며 미국 미술위원회에 흑인으로 처음으로 봉사한 인물이다. 이 건물은 독특한 원통형 형태와 연장된 날개를 특징으로 하며, 이는 킹 박사의 유산과 지속적인 영향을 상징하는 것으로 여겨진다. Getty 기금은 건물의 역사적 중요성, 현 상태 및 보존 우선순위를 문서화하는 역사적 구조물 보고서를 지원한다.
Central City Plaza / Alonzo Robinson Jr.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1973
1973년에 완공된 센트럴 시티 플라자는 위스콘신주 최초의 흑인 면허 소유 건축가인 알론조 로빈슨 주니어가 설계했으며, 밀워키에서 최초로 흑인 소유, 설계 및 운영의 쇼핑센터다. 이 단지는 밀워키에서 드문 뉴 포멀리스트(New Formalist) 양식의 대표 사례 중 하나로, 아치형 포티코, 주조된 콘크리트 패널 및 아케이드형 상점으로 구성된 세 개의 독립 건물로 이루어져 있다. 구세군은 1983년에 구조물 중 하나의 소유권을 취득하고, 그 공간을 인도적 활동에 활용하고 있으며, 24시간 긴급 주거, 식사 제공 및 각종 서비스를 제공한다. Getty 기금은 역사적 구조물 보고서를 지원하고, 관련 연구를 통해 현장의 보수 및 재생 활용을 안내하여 피난처와 지원 서비스를 확장할 예정이다.
A wide range of modern architectural works was recently included in UNESCO’s latest inscriptions, including ten buildings and urban ensembles built between the 1960s and the early 1990s during the reconstruction of Tashkent following the 1966 earthquake, and a selection of 13 buildings in Finland designed between 1920 and 1980 by Alvar Aalto, Aino Marsio-Aalto, Elissa Aalto and the Aalto studio. In the United States, Dallas City Hall has for months been weighing the demolition of the building designed by I.M. Pei & Partners against the need for costly repairs. In Chile, the Sociedad Chilena de Autores e Interpretres (SCD) recently undertook the restoration of the iconic Teatro Mauri building in Valparaíso, reopening its doors to the public this past June.
