This website was created to explore a specific genre of architecture that has largely been ignored. While architecture of the mid-century and recent past have become more appreciated in recent years, there is a category of vernacular building that uses a modern architecture vocabulary and contributes to a sense of place, but is generally not considered significant or as a candidate for preservation. Examples include regional bank branches, churches and synagogues, schools and community colleges, municipal offices, fire and police stations, and small commercial and retail locations. This is not a comprehensive survey but rather an effort to document a small fraction of these places and hopefully raise awareness about their importance.
Special categories and features on this site include Not So Mundane, site visits to mid-century buildings and complexes identified as very significant and a candidate for preservation; Demolished!, which documents lost examples of our mid-century mundane heritage; Preserving Our Mundane, which looks at current preservation efforts for mid-century structures; and Mid-Century Mondays, reader-submitted buildings and sites.
Interested in learning more? Contact midcenturymundane@gmail.com.
GREAT…and LONG OVERDUE !
BRAVO !
I love mid-century architecture, and agree that we need to preserve more of it. Thanks so much for this site.
Brooklyn Heights Library is in plans of being destroyed . The art by Clemente Spampinato will be put in the dumpster without any thought to the beauty lost to NYC Developer’s greed. Google Citizens Defending Libraries.