Preservation Houston is partnering with the American Institute of Architects Houston Chapter's Historic Resources Committee on preservation-related programming this spring. PH and Pier & Beam members can enjoy discounted registration for events; details are included below.

Concrete and Steel: Reimagining the Modern

In this lecture, University of Houston assistant architecture professor Michael Kubo will compare two cases of research, advocacy and preservation of the modern built heritage in U.S. cities: the Brutalist buildings that transformed Boston in the 1960s and 1970s, and the modernist urban revitalization efforts in Pittsburgh during the same period.

In Boston, the buildings were conceived with progressive-minded intentions by some of the world’s most influential designers, including Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, I.M. Pei and Paul Rudolph. Meanwhile, the so-called “Pittsburgh Renaissance” brought together powerful urban planning authorities, visionary mayors and business leaders, and architects and designers of international renown to address the social, economic, and environmental problems that confronted the postwar city. Today, when urban renewal-era buildings across the nation are under threat of demolition or insensitive renovation, examining these building programs can help understand the intentions and aspirations of the period, explore what was built (and what was imagined), and ask what these histories might suggest for the future of American cities.

Registration

The program will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 30, at Brasil, 2604 Dunlavy Street. Advance registration is required; the cost is $10 for PH/Pier & Beam members. Register here using the code HRCPartner2019 (select the "non member" registration option and enter the code to receive a discount off the regular registration price).

Kubo’s lecture is the last in a series.