Community invited to meet author Clare Lise Kelly to learn about the County’s mid-20th-century landmarks and purchase book
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is hosting a launch party for the new book, Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1930-1979, on Friday, October 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Writer’s Center (4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD).
The event, sponsored by the Planning Department’s Historic Preservation Office, is free. Kelly will give a presentation about the County’s midcentury modern architecture and attendees will have an opportunity to purchase a signed book. RSVPs are encouraged but not required.
Register for the Montgomery Modern Book Launch Party on October 30. Please note space is limited.
Copies of the book can also be purchased online: a hard cover copy and a paperback.
Also available for purchase is Places from the Past, an illustrated book about Montgomery County’s most historic neighborhoods and landmarks. A 10th anniversary edition copy and a limited edition copy of the book with a fold-out map can be bought online or at the launch party for $35 each.
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 mid-century 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 MNCPPC 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 photographs by 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.
Carol Highsmith has been called “America’s Photographer,” having made a career documenting the nation’s built environment, focusing on its fragile and disappearing architectural heritage. Her photographs are housed in a permanent collection at the Library of Congress.
Questions or comments?
Contact Clare Lise Kelly, Research and Designation Coordinator for the Historic Preservation Office