Architect and Sustainability Management faculty member Lynnette Widder was awarded a 2018 Modernism in America Citation of Merit from Docomomo US.
Docomomo, an organization which focuses on conserving architecture from the modern movement, said the honorees “highlight the highest level of restoration expertise and demonstrate the importance of public private partnerships working together to save and reinvigorate threatened or outdated architecture.”
Widder’s project restored the Lurie House, which was designed in 1949 by Japanese American architect Kaneji Domoto. The Lurie House was one of five Westchester, New York homes designed by Domoto in the late 1940’s to mid 1950’s. Domoto studied architecture both at the University of California, Berkeley and at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West and was initially
invited by Wright to collaborate on the Usonia community in Westchester.
The 2018 Docomomo jury noted that “…Widder and her team worked to sensitively restore the original building materials while finding creative solutions that brought the house’s heating and mechanical systems up to date but minimally impacted the original design…. A beautiful a well-considered renovation done with extreme care and appreciation of environmental efforts as well as the Japanese-American architect’s cultural orientation.”
Widder teaches four courses as part of Columbia’s Sustainability Management M.S. program. In addition to serving as an Integrative Capstone Workshop adviser, she teaches Building Energy Workshop, Hungry City Workshop, and Responsibility and Resilience the Built Environment.
View Docomomo’s full list of 2018 award recipients here.
The M.S. in Sustainability Management, co-sponsored by the Earth Institute and Columbia’s School of Professional Studies, trains students to tackle complex and pressing environmental and managerial challenges. Visit our website to learn more.
