Contact Us

Email us with any questions or feedback to midcenturymundane@gmail.com.

3 Responses to Contact Us

  1. Ted Cleary says:
    June 15, 2012 at 5:50 pm

    Hello Frampton, I just found your blog b/c of the mention on the docomomo.us e-mail feed. Great stuff! I really enjoyed (& will continue to) all the entries.

    When I came across one particular two-story white brick neighborhood bank, now with a Bank of America sign on it, somewhere in Boston (?) or thereabouts, I thought, “Gee, that reminds me of the one in my neighborhood growing up”, except that I grew up in New Hyde Park on Long Island….well, sure enough as I discovered scrolling further (March 19, 2012), you covered that one too! Not very remarkable from a MCM-enthusiast’s perspective, but pretty cool for me to see since I spent many a Friday evening popping in there with my folks (long before the days of direct deposit)…..then a stop a few doors down the strip at Gina’s Pizzeria. Saturday afternoons often spent between the two in the Alan (?) Movie Theater. At age 52 now, both parents passed away, all of my ties to the old neighborhood gone & busy raising my own family in the relatively-fresher “New South” of Charlotte, NC, I really miss those messy, worn-out-looking, but cozy, neighborhood strips that a kid could easily ride their bike to.

    I felt compelled to write b/c I often think myself of all the midcentury buildings ‘hiding in plain sight’ all around us……the formerly-respectable businesses and office buildings, now used-car dealerships & cellphone stores, victimized by the unfortunate consequences of evolving demographics, highway expansions and changing fashions. But when you squint your eyes and look past the clutter on them & around them, envisioning it more like a black & white Julius Shulman photograph, there’s really a lotta cool stuff there. And looking at all the things you show on the blog really helps us who love midcentury modernism remember it’s not just all about right-angles and Eames Lounge Chairs; there was a whole world going on through those decades of inspired creativity by unsung talents. As a landscape architect my eye especially focuses on the shabby condition of the surrounding exteriors and plantings, which are usually mis-shapen, gimmicky, and far from the original LA’s intent. I put it this way: it takes some cost and effort to ‘remuddle’ a building or house, but much less to ‘improve’ a landscape piece by piece beyond recognition; it falls victim more easily to the effects of nature, changing Codes, and the whims of unenlightened owners. I’ve been planning to set up my own blog soon (“modernoutside . com”) which is really focused on residential MCM garden design (up to this point I’ve only written guest blogs here & there), but some time I’ll cover this topic too.

    Continued success with the blog…..and thanks for speaking up for those [buildings] that cannot speak up for themselves. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Pamela Reilly says:
    November 19, 2013 at 12:06 pm

    Hi, Great site! There is so much interest in mid century buildings right now. the latest “frontier” in preservation since those buildings are just reaching the 50 year mark.
    I am an architectural historian with the state of Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office. I was just wondering what your policy is on sharing photos? Our office publishes a blog on preservation related topics and we are often in seach of good photos to illustrate an issue. Would it be possible for us to copy photos from your site and if so, what is the process? Check out our blog at http://www.pahistoricpreservation.com
    Thanks!

    Pamela Reilly

    Reply
  3. nico says:
    November 20, 2013 at 9:35 am

    I just stumbled across this blog. Fantastic. I make sculpture that references mundane architecture. Often times it’s mid century. Thanks for the eye candy. Here’s a link to my work. http://antoniadisandstone.com/

    Reply

Leave a reply to Pamela Reilly Cancel reply