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Events Celebrate New Planning Department Book on Midcentury Modern Architecture in Montgomery County

Award-winning author Clare Lise Kelly will speak about County’s significant midcentury modern buildings and neighborhoods at book-signings in Germantown, Silver Spring, Glen Echo and other locations

SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is celebrating its new book, Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1930-1979, with a series of author talks and book-signing events. The 250-page, well-illustrated book is written by Clare Lise Kelly, a preservation planner and an architectural historian with the Planning Department’s Historic Preservation Office. The book includes an inventory of key buildings and communities, and biographical sketches of architects and developers.

“I’ve been researching historic sites for 25 years now and advocating for their preservation, and Montgomery County has one of the strongest preservation programs in the country,” says author Kelly.  “The post-war era is a time period that has been little understood and we are raising awareness about the value of buildings in this time period.” For her architectural advocacy, the American Institute of Architects’ Potomac Valley Chapter honored Kelly with its 2015 Paul H. Kea medal.

The upcoming talks and book-signing events will be held as follows:

-January 30, 10:45 a.m.: Montgomery County History Conference, Montgomery College, Germantown Info
-February 6, 3 p.m.: 
 Montgomery Preservation Inc./Silver Spring Historical Society, B&O Train Station, Silver Spring Info
-February 17, 6:30 p.m.:
 Society of Architectural Historians, Latrobe Chapter; The First Congregational United Church of Christ, 945 G Street, NW, Washington, DC Info
-March 5, 1 p.m.: 
Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Glen Echo Park Info
-April 15, 6:30 p.m.
:  Sandy Spring Museum

Copies of the book can also be purchased online: a hard cover copy costs $65 and a paperback costs $55.

About Montgomery Modern
The publication of Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1930-1979 and the book signing event are part of the Historic Preservation Office’s award-winning Montgomery Modern initiative to educate the public about the architectural heritage of Montgomery County. This preservation program has included a bus tour, bike tour and other outreach events dedicated to the wealth of midcentury modern architecture in the County. Learn more about the Historic Preservation Office’s Montgomery Modern initiative.

Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1930-1979, written by M-NCPPC senior architectural historian Clare Lise Kelly, provides the historic context for modern architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland, from its first appearance in the 1930s through the 1970s. Richly illustrated with images by DC photographer Carol Highsmith, period photographs and architectural renderings, the book is organized by building types set within four main time periods.

Biographical sketches of practitioners (architects, landscape architects, developers, planners) are included, as well as an inventory of key projects, including buildings and subdivisions. Montgomery Modern is intended to raise awareness about the significance of modern architecture and the fragile nature of the built environment from the recent past.

View the video from the Montgomery Modern Book Launch on October 30, 2015.

View the video featuring Clare Kelly’s Kea Award.

View the promotional video about the Montgomery Modern Initiative.