In 2026, Docomomo US turns its annual thematic focus toward the rituals and spaces of Recreation and Play, expanding its attention beyond formal architectural typologies to the built environments where people gather for leisure, activity, and joy. This theme highlights a wide array of sites from skate parks and playgrounds to swimming pools, bowling alleys, and small amusement parks, recognizing both their design significance and their role in community life. Alongside formally designed landscapes, the focus also includes artistic elements incorporated into these environments, underscoring how places of play have shaped cultural and spatial experiences throughout the modern era.

The 2026 theme consciously acknowledges the complex histories embedded in recreational spaces, including mid-twentieth-century sites shaped by segregation and exclusion. Examples such as Embarcadero Plaza and its adjacent Vaillancourt Fountain illustrate ongoing threats—from deferred maintenance to misunderstandings about cultural practices like skateboarding—that can undermine recognition of these places as historic landscapes worthy of preservation. Docomomo US emphasizes that appreciating these environments as modern heritage is essential while they still exist.

To deepen engagement with the theme, the organization plans a suite of related activities throughout the year. These include collaborative events and articles with regional chapters and partners, a special edition of its newsletter, tours tied to the Recreation and Play theme for its October Tour Day celebration, expanded registry listings for recreational sites, and broader sharing of stories on social media using the hashtag #modernrecreationandplay. In spotlighting these places, Docomomo US hopes to encourage its community and beyond to explore and value the diverse environments that express modern heritage through play and leisure.

Visit Docomomo US site for more information about the 2026 theme.

Call for Articles

In tandem with framing “Recreation and Play” as its 2026 annual theme, Docomomo US has put out a Call for Articles inviting submissions for a special newsletter edition that examines mid‑twentieth‑century recreational sites where communities have gathered for leisure, movement, and social life. Topics of interest span parks, plazas, swimming pools, skate spaces, playgrounds, and other landscapes built between 1949 and 1969, with particular attention to informal uses, cultural practices, and histories of access, exclusion, and belonging—reflecting the organization’s commitment to advocacy and documentation of modern heritage in all its social and spatial dimensions.

Proposals are due Friday, April 17. If your article is accepted, materials are due by Monday, June 29, 2025. See website for article submission instructions.