The accompanying exhibition, both physical and digital, broadens the reach of this important narrative, engaging diverse audiences and fostering a deeper appreciation for Close’s work. “Given the lack of scholarship on women architects, the book and exhibit are to be applauded. The biographic information was stunning,” commented jury chair Gail Kennard.

Watch recording of Docomomo US/MN event: Women in Architecture: Lisl Close and the Legacy of Modern Design
View exhibition materials at the Goldstein Museum
Elizabeth Scheu Close: A Life in Modern Architecture at University of Minnesota Press
List of 2024 Modernism in America Award winners

Project Team: University of Minnesota Press (Publisher); Jane King Hession (Author and Curator); Joan Soranno (foreword); Pieter Martin (Senior Editor); Laura Westlund (Managing Editor); Eric Lundgren (Development and Outreach Manager); Anne Carter (Editorial Assistant); Rachel Moeller (Assistant Production Manager and Art Director); Emily Hamilton (Associate Director for Book Publishing); Heather Skinner (Publicity Director); Matt Smiley (Senior Sales Manager); Maggie Sattler (Digital Marketing Manager); Jeff Moen (Rights, Permissions, and Contracts Coordinator); Jena Sher (designer); William B. Olexy (Photographer); Goldstein Museum of Design, University of Minnesota (Exhibition Host); Lin Nelson-Mayson (Museum Director); Soo Jin Kang (Exhibition Designer); Rolf Anderson (Nominator)

Donors: Georgia Bizios; Lynda and Darel Jacobsen; Edward J. Kodet, Jr., FAIA; Mark Larson and Jean Rehkamp Larson; Michaela Mahady; Rosemary McMonigal; Lea Babcock Scherer and Jeffrey Scherer; Anne Close Ulmer, Roy M. Close, and Bob Close; James and Megan Dayton; Dale and Jan Mulfinger; Gladys and Roger Reiling

Grant Support: Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation; Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts

New York, New York, September 10, 2024 – Docomomo US today announces 16 recipients of the 2024 Modernism in America Awards. Now in its 11th year, the Awards celebrate the documentation, preservation and reuse of Modern buildings, structures and landscapes built in the United States or on U.S. territory and recognize building owners, design teams, individuals, and preservation organizations that have made significant efforts to retain, restore, and advocate for the aesthetic and cultural value of such places. 

Inventory/Survey Award of Excellence:
Docomomo US/MN Minnesota Modern Registry

Location: Minnesota
Project Team: Bobak Ha'Eri (Creator, Developer, and Researcher), Docomomo US/Minnesota

The Docomomo US/MN chapter’s Minnesota Modern Registry receives an Inventory/Survey Award of Excellence for its achievement in documenting Modern architecture across an expansive regional landscape. This project meticulously catalogued over 9,000 properties, distilling vast amounts of data from diverse sources into a user-friendly, evolving resource. Its centerpiece, the Registry Map, provides a rich, interactive platform showcasing structures, districts, architects, and photographic documentation of properties built from the 1920s through the 1980s.

The Registry's comprehensive Works Cited, featuring more than 5,300 entries, underscores the depth and breadth of research involved, highlighting the exceptional dedication of board member Bobak Ha’Eri, who brought this ambitious vision to fruition. This initiative serves as a critical foundation for future scholarship, preservation, and public engagement with Minnesota’s Modern resources. By employing Google Maps, the Registry ensures accessibility, ease of use, and adaptability, while also facilitating future expansions and contributions.

With nearly 150,000 views as of June 2024, the Registry is an invaluable asset for researchers, enthusiasts, and the public alike. “An impressive amount of work was done here, and it is evergreen – accessible and expandable for future additions or revisions,” jury chair Gail Kennard highlighted. “Excellent pre-planning; I love that it is serving as a template for others – they have already helped Wisconsin start their version,” added jury member Rocío Aranda-Alvarado. 

Explore the Minnesota Modern Registry
List of 2024 Modernism in America Award winners
2024 Modernism in America Press Release

A Civic/Institutional Design Award of Excellence is given for the rehabilitation of Peavey Plaza, originally designed by M. Paul Friedberg and Associates and completed in 1975.

Landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg conceived the Peavey Plaza as the “living room” of downtown Minneapolis. The result was an iconic sunken plaza that balanced the tranquility of a central reflecting pool with a cascading concrete fountain and active programming that filled the plaza.

By the late 2000s, the Brutalist fountains had run dry and were slated for demolition. A consortium of local and national advocates, including M. Paul Friedberg himself, successfully convinced the city that the site was worth saving (this effort was recognized with a Docomomo US Advocacy Award of Excellence in 2014).

The renovated plaza opened during the summer of 2019. One of the biggest changes, raising the basin of the sunken plaza from 10” to ¼”, not only created a more welcoming and flexible space, it also reduced water usage by tens of thousands of gallons. Additional improvements include a new, fully accessible entry experience placed along Nicollet Mall, with select terraces converted to permeable pavers. All this was accomplished through a consensus-building process while negotiating many layers of review.

Today, the plaza stands restored to its original splendor with issues of universal access resolved and infrastructure challenges addressed while still retaining the Plaza’s character defining features.

Read More about Peavey Plaza
List of 2022 Modernism in America Award winners

The Design Citation of Merit is given for the restoration of the Arvonne Fraser Library, designed by Ralph Rapson. Built in 1963 as a credit union, and converted to a public library in 1967, Rapson’s work in Brutalism was especially distinctive, imbued with a liveliness and sense of surprise. The building’s defining original features include a floating concrete waffle slab ceiling/structure with skylights, board-formed site walls, and undulating brick and glass envelope. For years only the first floor of structure was occupied, and the lower level was abandoned due to accessibility issues and years of water infiltration. After local residents were adamant that it be preserved, improvements were made including access to all areas of the building, flexible spaces supporting changing needs, and the design of the new opening between the two floors, which provides light and openness to the windowless lower level.

"The design team managed to make every usable space functional and inviting. The lighting enhancements and reuse of the original natural lighting strategies draws the eye to the detail of the exposed structure detailing inherent in Brutalist design."
-Emily Rauh Pulitzer, 2020 Jury member

"The sustainability goals, community engagement process, and restoring to public use previously inaccessible spaces are all admirable parts of this project."
- Kim Yao, 2020 Jury chair

Client: Hennepin County Library

Restoration Team: MacDonald & Mack Architects, Quinn Evans Architects

Read More about the Arvonne Fraser Library
List of 2020 Modernism in America Award winners​