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Planning Department’s Montgomery Modern Book Wins Award

Book honored with first place in illustrated text category of 2016 Washington Publishers Book Design and Effectiveness Competition

SILVER SPRING, MDThe Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, has won first place for its book, Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1930-1979, in the illustrated text (small to medium nonprofit) category of the Washington Publishers’ 2016 Book Design and Effectiveness Competition.

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. It includes an inventory of key midcentury modern buildings and communities, and biographical sketches of the architects and developers who created them. The book was designed by Robert L. Wiser and edited by Nicole Diehlmann, and includes the color photography of Carol M. Highsmith.

The Washington Publishers Book Design and Effectiveness Competition recognizes excellence in bookmaking across the greater Washington, DC book publishing community. The competition’s judges evaluate the excellence of each book’s design and effectiveness in achieving the publisher’s goals, meeting the readers’ needs and reaching its market. Prizes are awarded in 15 categories, five designs for each of the three publisher categories – plus best of show.

The Planning Department will receive the award at a ceremony being held on Friday, September 23 at the Resource and Conservation Building in Washington, DC.

For more on the Department’s Montgomery Modern program and for information on how to purchase Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1930-1979, consult our web site.