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Docomomo International (sometimes written as DoCoMoMo or simply Docomomo) is a non-profit organization whose full title is International Working Party for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement.

[edit] History

Its foundation was inspired by the work of ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, established in 1965. The work of Icomos was concerned with the protection and conservation of historical buildings and sites, whereas Docomomo was founded to take up the challenge of the protection and conservation of Modern Architecture and Urbanism.

Docomomo International was founded in Eindhoven in 1988 by Dutch architects Hubert-Jan Henket and Wessel de Jonge. Henket chaired Docomomo International with de Jonge as secretary until September 2000 when the International Secretariat relocated to Paris, where it is presently hosted by the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, in the Palais de Chaillot. At the last Council Meeting held at Rotterdam in 2008, it was decided that the International Secretariat would relocate again to Barcelona.

[edit] Conferences and seminars

Docomomo holds biennial international conferences where the people related to conservation issues gather and exchange information and studies pertaining to their scholarly research. The list of conferences held until now is as follows:

1990 - Eindhoven, The Netherlands
1992 - Bauhaus Dessau, Germany
1994 - Barcelona, Spain
1996 - Bratislava and Sliac, Slovakia
1998 - Stockholm, Sweden
2000 - Brasilia, Brazil
2002 - Paris, France
2004 - New York, United States
2006 - Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey
2008 - Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The 2010 conference will be held in Mexico City, Mexico.

The International Scientific Committee on Technology (ISC/T) organizes seminars covering the following themes: restoration of reinforced concrete structures, curtain-wall facades, windows and glass, wood and the modern movement, colours in modern architecture and stone in modern buildings.

Seminars and conferences are often held in key modernist buildings, as for instance at Alvar Aalto’s Vyborg Library (2003 ISC/T seminar), Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt's Van Nelle factory in Rotterdam (2008 Conference), and Gordon Bunshaft's Lever House in New York (closing party at 2004 Conference).

[edit] Work at national level

Many countries have national Docomomo working parties, as either part of academic establishments or architecture federations. They may define gazeteers of important structures to be protected, such as DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments, or support local campaigners.^[1]

Docomomo's preservation work along with others was recognised by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection after a 2009 charrette to protect the former Bell Labs Holmdel Complex.^[2]

[edit] See also

SAHANZ - Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand

[edit] References

^ Why we have to protect our modern buildings, Western Mail, 18 July 2009
^ Bell Labs charrette recognized by state, Greater Media Newspapers, June 25, 2009

[edit] External links

[0] Why we have to protect our modern buildings, Western Mail, 18 July 2009

[1] Bell Labs charrette recognized by state, Greater Media Newspapers, June 25, 2009

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