On September 7, 2004, an organization called Docomomo US/WEWA, dedicated to documenting and conserving buildings, sites, and neighborhoods constructed as part of the modern movement, incorporates as a nonprofit in Washington. Six years earlier, the group had joined Docomomo US, which itself is part of a larger worldwide preservation network called Docomomo International. As a leading voice in advocating for the preservation of modern places in Western Washington, a style that dates from the 1940s into the 1970s, Docomomo US/WEWA will go on to successfully nominate Western Washington homes, office buildings, and other structures for landmark designation. Members lead popular and richly resourced architectural tours that explore midcentury modern homes, offices, apartment buildings, and churches, and give presentations on topics related to Northwest modernism.
Focus on Modern Design and Architecture
In the late 1990s, a handful of Seattle-area architects, designers, and urban planners started meeting socially, drawn by their mutual interest in modern design and architecture, a period that roughly encompasses the 1940s into the 1970s. In 1998, the all-volunteer group became a chapter of Docomomo US, which itself is one of more than 80 national and regional organizations under Docomomo International, founded in 1988 in The Netherlands. The local contingent, in its desire to embrace a geographic region larger than just Seattle, added the designation WEWA, or Western Washington, to its name.
Two years later, Docomomo US/WEWA became a volunteer committee under Historic Seattle, a community-based historic preservation organization established in 1973 by city ordinance, where it remained until 2004. At Historic Seattle, Docomomo US/WEWA members produced public lectures and neighborhood tours; in turn, Historic Seattle supplied some funding and access to office equipment.
On September 7, 2004, Docomomo US/WEWA incorporated as a nonprofit in Washington. The following year, on March 31, 2005, it was recognized as a Federal 501c (3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. At the time of incorporation, the organization’s board of directors included Susan Boyle, Rhoda Lawrence, Kathleen McNeely, Andrew Phillips, Greg Walton, and Eugenia Woo. The group’s website, launched in 2006 with a grant from 4Culture and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, promotes events and tours, and provides a place to document the lives and careers of more than 200 regional architects, designers, engineers, and urban and landscape planners.
Modernism on the Rise
The modern movement began in the 1930s but hit its stride in the mid-1940s after World War II "when the country had a shortage of housing and an abundance of confidence" ("Retro Look in High Demand"). During a time when ornamentation was deemed excessive and simplicity was in, midcentury modern buildings were boxy and plain, sporting sharp angles, flat roofs, and open floor plans.
According to a 2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, Seattle is a showcase of midcentury modern homes with "a higher percentage of homes built between 1940 and 1969, a prime modern period, compared with percentages in the county, state and nation, where homes are more likely to be newer" ("Retro Look in High Demand"). Many of these buildings were designed by well-known Northwest architects who made use of the building materials and construction techniques popular some 75 years ago: reinforced concrete, glass, and steel. "It’s not a style of architecture that’s warm and fuzzy" ("In Bellevue, Few Protections Exist ...").
But a building’s style – whether pleasing or not – is not the point. Often misunderstood, even disparaged, modern design tells a story about who we were and how we lived, says Eugenia Woo, organization co-founder and current board president. "Why are these places important? It’s because they tell the story of a community, of a city. It’s not just about a single building" (Woo interview).
Appreciation through Education
Docomomo US/WEWA’s most popular events are its custom-designed architectural tours. For each tour, the group creates a body of well-researched written materials and photographs to explain the design, history, and people connected to the site. The organization reports that the tours sell out quickly, appealing to a wide range of audiences "including homeowners, designers, preservationists, historians, students, and civic leaders. Tours also present opportunities for like-minded modernist enthusiasts to engage each other in discussion and community building" (Docomomo US/WEWA website).
Docomomo US/WEWA offered its first public tour in June 2001, exploring Eastlake, a Seattle neighborhood on the eastern shore of Lake Union. Tour stops included office and professional buildings, two apartment buildings, and the Egan House, a geometric structure that features a triangular-shaped house sitting on a rectangular plane atop a pier block. The house was designed in 1958 by local architect Robert Reichert (1921-1996) and designated a Seattle Landmark in 2010.
Another popular tour, held in 2008 and again in 2010, took attendees to the Hilltop neighborhood, located southeast of downtown Bellevue. Hilltop began in 1948 as an 18-family cooperative that celebrated a park-like setting and used indigenous Northwest materials. The homes, while typical of that era’s popular ranch style, are distinctly Northwest modern, nestled among trees and lush landscaping; some offer dramatic and expansive views of the lake and mountains. The community was planned by three of Seattle’s most well-known midcentury modern architects: Perry B. Johanson (1910-1981), Fred Bassetti (1917-2013), and John Morse (1911-2000).
More recently, tours were held on the main campus of the University of Washington (2022) and in downtown Burien (2024). Besides the public tours, Docomomo US/WEWA offers lectures on topics ranging from modern furniture design to the 1962 World’s Fair. Said Woo: "Modernist means more than just buildings. It influenced graphic design, furniture design, and art. These advancements were all happening during the same period, primarily in the 1950s and 1960s" (Woo interview).
Keeping the Aesthetic Alive
In addition to fostering awareness and appreciation, Docomomo US/WEWA also focuses on advocacy that supports the preservation of endangered structures. The group has nurtured longstanding ties with national, state, and local preservation organizations and often provides expert testimony at public meetings, comment letters, historic research, and landmark nomination materials.
Over the years, Docomomo US/WEWA has successfully nominated homes, office buildings, and other structures to historic registers. Among Seattle landmarks championed by the group are: the Hat 'n' Boots roadside attraction, which once housed a gas station; the dramatic angled Egan House; two office buildings, one housing the engineering firm of Shannon and Wilson and the other, the architectural offices of Steinhart Theriault and Anderson; and an office and printing facility serving Pacific Architect and Builder Magazine.
One of the most controversial landmark nominations spearheaded by Docomomo US/WEWA occurred in 2016 when the University of Washington announced it was demolishing More Hall Annex, a 55-year-old concrete building that had once housed a small nuclear reactor, to make room for a new computer science and engineering building. Concerned about the precedent this might set, Docomomo US/WEWA responded by nominating the building for landmark status. "Preservationists contend that the city should have a role in determining if a building has historic properties. Without it, they say, there will be no checks and balances of the type afforded by the preservation ordinance’s public-review process ... If the university doesn’t have to follow the city’s landmark ordinance, [Woo] said, a dozen more modernist-style buildings on the 703-acre Seattle campus could be threatened, too" ("What’s a Landmark? UW Wants to Decide").
This set off a chain reaction: The UW sued both the City of Seattle and the nonprofit preservation group. When a judge ruled that the city’s landmark-preservation ordinance did not apply to the university, the city appealed and the case went before the Washington State Supreme Court in Olympia. On July 20, 2017, the court sided with Seattle and the preservationists, unanimously ruling that the UW is subject to the ordinance – a precedent-setting decision that came too late for the More Hall Annex. The building had been razed a year earlier, on July 19, 2016.
