DOCOMOMO US/New York Tri-State and the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Historic Buildings Committee are co-hosting a book talk with Alastair Gordon marking the release of the revised and expanded edition of Weekend Utopia: A Century of Modern Living in the Hamptons. Originally published 25 years ago, the book was the first to comprehensively document the many important Modern houses built in the Hamptons. The New York Times Book Review selected it as one of the Best Books of 2001.

Showcasing the artistic and architectural innovations of the Hamptons from the 1920s to the current day, Weekend Utopia ranges from the country clubs of the Social Register elite to the experimental houses and studios of avant-garde artists like Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell to the daring beachfront homes designed by the likes of Peter Blake, Andrew Geller, Philip Johnson, and George Nelson. The revised edition, published by Princeton Architectural Press, includes never-before-seen images and newly researched stories, an updated introduction, and an extensive new concluding chapter that brings the narrative into the present. It also discusses preservation challenges. Sadly, since the original publication a number of the Modern houses documented have been destroyed but others have been saved and restored.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Alastair Gordon is an award-winning critic, curator, filmmaker, and author. For more than twenty years, he wrote on art, architecture, and the environment for the New York Times. He served as contributing editor on design for WSJ., the Wall Street Journal magazine, and was the architecture/design critic for the Miami Herald. Gordon has written extensively for numerous publications, including Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, House & Garden, and Dwell. He has authored more than twenty-eight books, including Beach Houses: Andrew Geller, Romantic Modernist: The Life and Work of Norman Jaffe, Architect and Naked Airport.

Tuesday June 16, 6:00pm
Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY

Registration information coming soon.

Hamptons closer than Manhattan?  Alastair Gordon will be giving a talk on Weekend Utopia at the East Hampton Library Thursday June 11 at 5:00pm as part of its Tom Twomey Series of lectures presented in partnership with the East Hampton Historical Society. Details and registration.