Reglazing Modernism ― Intervention Strategies for 20th Century Icons (Birkhäuser, 2019)

Winner of the 2021 Lee Nelson Book Award from the Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) for the most outstanding and influential book-length work on preservation technology.

The extensive use of exterior glazed enclosures is one of the most character-defining features of Modern architecture. After decades of service, many Modern buildings from the pre- and post-war periods of the 20th century have deteriorated and have required various types of intervention to address decay, reestablish functionality and improve appearance or performance.

This book presents 20 international case studies of culturally-significant Modern buildings in the U.S. and Europe where the original window walls, curtain walls or ribbon windows have been intervened with according to different criteria and with varying outcomes. With case studies organized under either Restoration, Rehabilitation or Replacement, these three main intervention categories are expanded into further intervention strategies that portray a wide range of options for reglazing Modernism.

Each case study is presented through a combination of historical analysis, technical evaluations and compelling graphics that include historic images, technical details from before and after the interventions and existing conditions photographs. Conceived as a critical assessment instead of as a catalog or technical guide, the book presents a wide range of interventions and is the first publication to use them to delineate much-needed best practices for intervening on culturally-significant Modern exterior glazed enclosures. The book also explores emerging high-performance technologies that respond to challenges posed by some of the case studies included.

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The research underlying this book was developed through a Mid-Career Fellowship awarded to Angel Ayón in 2015 by the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation. Generous support was provided by MHB, the Technical University of East Westphalia-Lippe (TH OWL), Tnemec and Kalam.

Reglazing Modernism is available online! Click here to order it, or support your local neighborhood bookstore by purchasing it there. You can also get the e-book in both English and German!