Modernism as Liberation: J. Max Bond, Jr. at Midcentury

For DOCOMOMO US/NY Tri-State’s next Modern Conversations event, Brian Goldstein will speak on J. Max Bond, Jr.’s engagement with midcentury modernism in the 1950s and 1960s. At its onset modernism promised social transformation and the construction of a better world, but by the mid 20th-century modernism had unanchored from these ideals and was a contributing factor in some increasingly harmful programs and planning, especially in American cities. As an African American, Bond experienced this aspect of modernism firsthand. Rather than straying from modern architecture, however, Bond worked to shape a liberatory modernism in the early years of his career. In considering Bond’s often-fraught education at Harvard University and his first U.S. project—a dormitory at Mary Holmes College in West Point, Mississippi—this talk will explore how Bond brought the Civil Rights Movement to bear on architecture. In doing so, he demanded that modernism live up to its social ambitions and extend them to the realm of racial justice. The talk will close with some reflections on preservation, modernism and race, informed by Bond’s work.

Michelle Joan Wilkinson will join Goldstein for a conversation about his lecture, followed by a discussion moderated by Nina Rappaport, vice president of DOCOMOMO/US NY Tri-State.

Neigh Dormitory, Mary Holmes College, J. Max Bond, Jr., 1970, West Point, MS. (Photo: courtesy Davis Brody Bond)
Wann
9. Juni 2021, 18:30
Wo
Online-Event
Organisator
DOCOMOMO US/NY Tri-State
Link
docomomo-nytri.org

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