Iconic Houses Conference – 25/11/2014

The latest international gathering devoted to 20th-century museum houses helped to raise awareness among the general public, and morale among those in the sector

The third Iconic Houses Conference, held on 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera in Barcelona, brought together 150 participants from 17 different countries – all of them are professionals and stakeholders in the field of the 20th-century house museum. The conference, which has previously been held in Los Angeles and London, is an opportunity to establish a high-level debate on cultural needs and the maintenance of the architectural heritage, as well as a platform for advising governments on the protection of heritage under threat. The event is also a forum for knowledge exchange, with this year’s edition featuring ten case studies from Iconic Houses members around the Mediterranean, detailing a variety of challenges and solutions. Finally, the conference also plays an important role in raising awareness, not only of the issues affecting 20th-century museum houses in general, but also of the work of the Iconic Houses organisation itself. In fact, the event proved to be a stimulus for some of the important 20th-century museum houses in Spain to join the Iconic Houses Network.

Growing Importance

In Catalonia, there are now nine houses on the Iconic Houses list (out of the total of 13 located in Spain), five of which were designed by Antoni Gaudí. In fact, the current growth of the number of 20th-century house museums in Barcelona was one of the reasons for holding the conference there. Casa Amatller and Casa Lleó I Morera, from the so-called ‘Block of Discord’ where you can also find Casa Batlló, recently joined Iconic Houses, as will Gaudí’s earliest house, Casa Vicens, which is currently undergoing major restoration work before opening in 2016. All this confirms what Natascha Drabbe, founder of the Iconic Houses Network, stressed in her opening presentation: that 20th-century houses are becoming an increasingly prominent part of the cultural landscape. Over the past five years, more than 30 modern house museums have opened their doors to the visiting public, she said. This is double the rate of the early 1990s, when the number of such houses opening for visitors peaked at 15 per five-year period.

Mediterranean Tour

After hearing briefly about the history of Barcelona’s house museums and their recent development, the audience learned about Unesco’s programmes to support domestic architecture from this era, and how to preserve this fragile (although recent) heritage, while conserving its iconic value, essence and authenticity. The presentations which followed focused on important 20th-century houses located around the Mediterranean, including La Pedrera, Casa Bloc and La Ricarda/Casa Gomis in Barcelona; Casa Broner in Ibiza; Can Lis in Mallorca; Casa Masó in Girona; E1027 by Eileen Gray in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France; Quartier Modernes Frugès by Le Corbusier in Pessac, France; and the Villa Girasole by Angelo Invernizzi in Marcellise, Italy. The presentations detailed many practical issues affecting the houses, their custodians and their public. All lectures will be available in the video section of our website in January. The Iconic Houses Debate then broadened the discussion again.

Exchanging Ideas

The day was closed by Oscar Tusquets’ presentation about Casa Vittoria, a (still) privately owned house that he designed on the island of Pantelleria in Sicily, a hidden gem among the domestic architecture of the 20th century. The conference message was again underlined: attention must be given to preserving these recent masterpieces, in order to safeguard their future. For the participants, the event explored ideas on how to do this, plus the chance to exchange experiences and thoughts. They left the event inspired and reinvigorated. Meanwhile, the conference generated a huge amount of interest in the media, and succeeded not only in placing Iconic Houses on the agenda for those in the sector, but also in raising the awareness of the organisation, the houses and the issues surrounding them among the general public.

Acknowledgements

The Iconic Houses Network is extremely grateful to co-organiser Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera and to all the wonderful speakers and supporters who gave so generously of their time and resources.
Finally, a very special thanks to the team of Marga Viza, Silvia Vilarroya and Jordi Freixa, the producers of the conference. Without their enthusiasm and untiring efforts, this great event could have never happened.

TLmag has worked closely with the Iconic Houses Network and its founder Natascha Drabbe with special Real Life features in TLmag 17 through 21 – exploring different properties and house museums around the world.