Architectural Lecture Series on Long Island Modern Design Starts Sunday

LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton will host an architectural series of lectures on modernism and the history of modern design on the East End in October and November.

“At LongHouse, the topic of modernism in architecture and design has always been part of our dialogue, seated in Jack Lenor Larsen’s LongHouse and his Round House next door, modernist concept houses based on his global vision,” says director Carrie Barratt.

“The present series explores the topic out east, with thought-provoking conversations and images, bringing top speakers together with a creative and enthusiastic audience,” she adds.

The lectures will take place on Sundays Oct. 1 and 22 and Nov. 5 from 3 to 5 p.m.

The first lecture will focus on Post-War Modernism on Long Island and Pierre Chareau, the French architect and designer, with Bob Rubin, a historian of architecture, film, and contemporary art, and Alastair Gordon, an award-winning critic, curator, cultural historian and author. Lee Skolnick, the acclaimed architect and principal of Skolnick Architecture + Design, will introduce Rubin and Gordon.

On Oct. 22, the second wave of Post-War Modernism on the East End will be discussed, specifically the innovative, neo-Corbusian works of Charles Gwathmey, Richard Meier, Barbara and Julian Neski and Norman Jaffe. Gordon and Rubin will moderate again and speak about the rise of a reactionary period of neo-traditional architecture on the East End.

The last lecture on Nov. 5 will focus on the Modern Movement, “beginning with a turn against faux historicism in the early 2000s and a return to the geometric clarity of post-war modernism, including East End projects” by Barnes Coy Architects, now in its 30th year, Skolnick Architecture + Design, Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects, among others.

Chris Coy, a founder of Barnes Coy Architects, and Skolnick will speak with Gordon sitting as the moderator.

The discussion will include the forms of “mannerist modernism that’s becoming mainstream on eastern Long Island, perhaps ending with the controversial “Blue Dream” house by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in East Hampton” and tied in with the “Endless House” which was first created by Frederick Kiesler in Springs in 1954.

Tickets, available online, are $30 for members and $40 for the general public.

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