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George Smart    

Podcaster, Founder & CEO of USModernist®, the World's Largest Nonprofit Educational Archive of Modernist Residential Design

George Smart HAIA is the founder and CEO of USModernist®, the world's largest non-profit educational archive dedicated to the documentation, preservation, and promotion of Modernist residential design. A passionate advocate for Modernism, Smart has been one of the nation's leaders in raising awareness preserving this important architectural movement and his work has helped to change the way people think about modernism. He is a frequent speaker to architecture, design, preservation, real estate, and museum groups. Previously, he worked for 30 years as a management consultant with clients such as Boeing, Microsoft, Cisco, Harvard Business School, and UNC-Chapel Hill. He is one of the few to be bestowed an Honorary AIA by the American Institute of Architects.

Modernist home design is characterized by open interior floor plans with vaulted ceilings, large and numerous windows, flat or low pitch roofs, long exposed beams, extensive use of glass to bring in natural light, and unusual geometric forms. Early Modernist architects wanted to change the way people lived by making houses and objects more affordable through better materials, streamlined building, and family connectivity. Gone were formal living and dining rooms. Instead, there was a large family space where kitchen, dining, and living rooms flow into each other; and smaller private bedrooms. More than anything, Modernism creates feelings of optimism for a better and brighter future.

As host of the long-running architecture and jazz podcast "USModernist Radio", named by DWELL as the #2 architecture and design podcast, and by Atomic Ranch as #1, Smart informs, entertains, and inspires audiences to engage preservation and keep the bulldozers away.

USModernist’s intrepid team of non-profit staff and volunteers have documented over 130 major 20th century architects, researched over 20,000 Modernist houses, and scanned over 4.2 million pages of architecture magazines going back over 130 years. Smart and USModernist have won 18 honors for leadership in preservation, including the national AIA Institute Honors for Collaborative and Professional Achievement.

Smart takes The Accidental Archivist presentation on the road to design audiences, architecture conferences, art & history museums, libraries, preservation organizations, and real estate associations across the country. Corporate clients include Architectural Firms, Real Estate, and Pharmaceutical companies.

Speech Topics

The Accidental Archivist: Modernist Architecture in America

America's mid-century Modernist architects and their original clients are almost all dead; their houses have been sold several times; and the local real estate community would just as soon tear down the properties as find new, caring owners.

Despite many Modernist houses aging over the 50-year mark, city councils and preservation groups have a hard time considering Modernist houses to be historic - because 50 years later many still look like the future. With bulldozers continuing to destroy mid-century Modernist houses (like Marcel Breuer’s Geller House in 2022), these livable works of art continue to be threatened by rising land prices and disinterested heirs. Preservation is more important than ever, but you can’t save something if you don’t know where it is and why it is important. If you’re a Modernist fan in many towns and smaller cities, you may have asked: hasn't somebody documented the Modernist houses? Surely some architect or preservation society or library has a list? Likely, no.

George shares the story of how an energetic and dedicated team of volunteers documented thousands of Modernist houses across America. Audiences learn basic principles of Modernist design, why preservation is important to our communities, and how easy it is to start a documentation and preservation effort of their own - with nothing more than a car, a cell phone, and a laptop.

For anyone who loves good design, this is an informative and fun conversation. George delivers keynotes, and is also available for panels as participant or moderator.

Participants will:

  • learn how thousands of significant Modernist houses were documented and made available to the public online, many for the first time.
  • identify the beginnings of residential Modernist design as part of a national movement.
  • learn key differences between Modernist and contemporary architecture.
  • learn the key architects and influencers in national Modernism.
  • learn marketing methods to preserve mid-century Modernist houses through preservation, occupancy, and sustainable development strategies.
  • discover how documenting, preserving, and promoting residential Modernist design benefits the architecture and construction industries.
  • learn key differences between selling a traditional house and selling a Modernist house.
  • gain access to a digital archive of over 30,000 photos of over 20,000 Modernist houses, along with profiles on 400+ architects.
  • learn how USModernist became the country's largest open digital archive for Modernist houses and a recognized leader in Modernist preservation with 18 local, state, and national awards.

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