The Year in Preservation News, So Far

John H. Beyer, the last surviving founder of New York's Beyer Blinder Belle Architects, died on Tuesday, January 20, at his Manhattan home. The news was reported by the New York Times, which described the firm as “one of New York’s most sought-after firms for sensitive renovation and expansion projects.” Beyer, Richard Blinder, and John Belle founded their eponymous firm in 1968, having met earlier that decade while working in the office of Victor Gruen, famous for his pioneering work on suburban shopping malls. The Times article singles out the firm's work on restoring Grand Central Terminal, completed in 1998, as well the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building and other projects.

On Thursday, January 22, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced that the Australia-based architecture firm Architectus won the 2026 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize for its “dynamic conservation” of the United Nations’ Historic Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (photo above). The building was designed by Italian architect Arturo Mezzedimi and completed in 1961, and it is considered “one of the most significant works of African modernism.” The award recognizes the decade-long (2014–2024) efforts of Architectus in restoring the building's reinforced concrete structure, mosaic finishes, and monumental stained-glass windows. The jury also recognized Hall Architects' restoration of Paul Rudolph's Umbrella House in Sarasota, Florida, with the Stewardship Award for Modernist Homes.

On Friday, January 30, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Travelers Companies Inc. announced the latest component in their Travelers Across America
initiative that advances “community resilience through collaborative action”: a resilience project focused on landscape strengthening and wildfire adaptation at the Eames House in Los Angeles. Although the famed house was “largely unharmed” in last year's Palisades Fire, the property did have to close to the public for five months due to smoke damage. The organizations see the project as “a scalable model for regional resilience efforts.”

On Tuesday, February 10, the WMF announced more than $7 million in support of 21 locally led preservation projects launching this year. In addition to efforts focused on physical conservation and intervention, the money will go toward heritage management and community engagement on some projects, as well as training on other projects. The projects range from historic buildings and landscapes to buildings damaged by natural disasters and neglected modern landmarks like the Cinema Studio Namibe in Angola (photo above).