Lightning Talks
My noca Mod OBSESSION
On August 4, 2021, Docomomo US/NOCA hosted a virtual event “My NOCA Mod Obsession,” during which a series of presenters shared one of their obsessions with Northern California Modernism—whether it was a building, structure, artwork, or architect’s body of work. These lightning talks were fast-paced presentations—each about seven minutes with 20 auto-advancing slides—that provided a brief glimpse into the fascinating and diverse realm of our regional Modernism. The talks focused on architects and topics that are still relatively under the radar, but deserve more attention, so we wanted to share them with you!
Pk-California Dreamin’
This talk focuses on the work of British architect Paffard Keatinge-Clay in San Francisco.
Presenter Eric Keune is a Principal and Design Director of the Boston Studio of Perkins & Will where he practices as an architect, architectural historian, and author. He continues to research the history of the Modern movement, serving on the National board of Docomomo US and is the author of "Paffard Keatinge-Clay: Modern Architect(ure)/Modern Master(s)" in 2006. His most recent book, "100 Buildings," was co-authored by Thom Mayne, Val Warke, Andrea Simitch and Eui-Sung Yi in 2017.
Roger Lee: Egalitarian Modernist
This talk focuses on the Bay Area-based, Chinese-American architect Roger Lee.
Presenter Camila Baum is a former home stager at Redux Stage Co. where she specialized in Midcentury Modern and contemporary modern homes. She is a former Eichler homeowner and consulted on the interiors design for the Eichler X-100 house, and she provides interior styling services at ModernismfortheMasses.com.
Viva Varda
This talk focuses on the mosaic mural by artist Jean Varda that was originally located at the Villa Roma Motel in San Francisco.
In his professional life, presenter Jon Rusch has documented and evaluated a range of mid-20th-century resource types, including office towers, public plazas, residential neighborhoods, and transit infrastructure. His favorite type of modernism is thrifted.
Mario Ciampi
This talk focuses on the San Francisco-based, Italian-American architect Mario Ciampi.
Presenter Ethen Wood is an architectural designer and an educator working in his native San Francisco for the past 20 years. In addition to his design practice, Ethen has been an Adjunct Lecturer in Architectural Design at Stanford University since 2013, where he teaches design studios as well as courses on California Modernism and Japanese Modern Architecture. He has also taught numerous Graduate and Undergraduate design studios at the Academy of Art University and University of San Francisco.
San Francisco Street sign Typography
This talk focuses on the evolution of typography on San Francisco's street signs.
Presenter Ben Zotto is a researcher and writer on the history of design, technology, and San Francisco. (He is also an occasional typographer, among other things.)
Diamond Heights Safety Wall
This talk focuses on the Diamond Heights Safety Wall, designed by Stephen Alexander Novak.
Presenter Hannah Simonson is an architectural historian and cultural resources planner at Page & Turnbull, a preservation architecture firm in San Francisco. She is the current president of Docomomo US/NOCA and runs the Instagram account @moderndiamondheights.