Re‑establishing Docomomo Ontario: Advocacy, Awareness, and the Future of Modern Places
Docomomo is an international organization dedicated to the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites, and neighbourhoods associated with the Modern Movement. Founded in 1988 in the Netherlands, the organization emerged from a growing recognition that architecture and urbanism from the modern period were increasingly under threat—often misunderstood, undervalued, or dismissed as obsolete before their cultural significance could be fully understood. From its earliest days, docomomo has acted as both an advocate and a watchdog, lending international stature and intellectual rigor to conversations around the conservation, adaptation, and future relevance of modern places.
At its core, Docomomo exists to foster the exchange of ideas related to conservation technology, architectural history, and education. It promotes a deeper understanding of the heritage value of modern buildings and landscapes, while also highlighting their importance not only as artifacts of the past, but as active contributors to present and future cultural life. More recently, the organization has evolved its guiding statements to more explicitly embrace the opportunities presented by adaptive reuse and sustainability—acknowledging that the long‑term survival of modern places depends on their ability to evolve while retaining their core design intent and cultural meaning.
Within this international context, the goal of re‑establishing Docomomo Ontario is both timely and necessary. Ontario possesses an extraordinary legacy of modern architecture, much of it constructed between roughly 1940 and 1975—a period of profound transformation in Canadian society. These years encompass post‑war optimism, rapid urbanization, the expansion of public institutions, and the Centennial moment, when architecture played a visible role in shaping a national identity that continues to evolve. Many buildings from this period are now reaching the end of their original lifecycle, or have already passed it, placing them at heightened risk of alteration or demolition. At the same time, their values are often hidden beneath aging materials, changing tastes, or shifting economic priorities.
Re‑establishing Docomomo Ontario offers an opportunity to lend another informed, credible voice to advocacy discussions around the value of modern places across the province. One key objective is to generate broader awareness of buildings and sites that are provincially significant—places whose importance extends beyond their immediate local context. At the same time, it is equally important to highlight buildings that are locally relevant and of high architectural quality. Awareness is the first step toward value; without visibility and understanding, even the most thoughtful works of architecture can be dismissed as expendable or irrelevant.
A renewed Docomomo Ontario can play a critical coordinating role by bringing together and amplifying the efforts of many organizations already working to protect and adapt modern places. Across the province, there are community groups, heritage advocates, academic researchers, and practitioners engaged in this work, sometimes in isolation. By providing a shared platform, Docomomo Ontario can help build partnerships, pool resources, and add weight to advocacy efforts. This coordination also extends to generating awareness of conservation and adaptive reuse activities across different stages of the process, helping to foster collaboration rather than duplication.
Another important goal is to expand and enrich the provincial register and gallery of modern places. Adding more sites from across Ontario will help highlight the breadth and quality of modern architecture in the province, while also offering a cross‑sectional view of different building types and periods. The gallery, in particular, provides an opportunity to showcase regionally significant places that might otherwise remain under the radar. Advocacy and appreciation often happen first at the local level, and by broadening awareness across regions, the gallery encourages people to take a second look at places in their own communities and reconsider their value over time.
The current Docomomo Ontario website already provides part of the foundation for this renewed effort. Built on the work of the original organization, it includes historic register entries and documentation of past initiatives, including the 2005 conference held at Trent University. The site also serves as a reference point for the efforts of related organizations outside Ontario, helping to situate local work within a broader national and international context. In addition, it highlights advocacy efforts led by community groups focused on modern sites, reinforcing the idea that meaningful preservation often begins at the grassroots level.
The inclusion of gallery entries has been a particularly important and somewhat unique aspect of the Ontario site when compared to other regional Docomomo chapters worldwide. These entries broaden the conversation beyond a narrow canon and reflect a more inclusive understanding of modernism as it was built and lived across the province. Many of these gallery contributions have come from others—demonstrating the value of creating an open platform that encourages participation and shared stewardship.
From a personal perspective, my involvement with Docomomo Ontario began more than a decade ago, when I started building the website without being formally asked to do so. The initial focus was on learning—understanding the organization’s past efforts and discovering modern places across Ontario. Equally important was the desire to create a space for sharing information more broadly, recognizing that knowledge about these sites was often fragmented or siloed. Early on, the site also functioned as a place to collect and archive related news stories, ensuring that information would not be lost as articles were moved or deleted elsewhere.
Looking ahead, the timing of Docomomo Ontario’s formal re‑establishment aligns with renewed international momentum. The 2026 Docomomo International Conference, taking place this month in Los Angeles, offers an opportunity to reconnect with the organization’s broader network. The conference features a full slate of sessions and keynote speakers who explore both contemporary architectural issues and the origins and evolution of Docomomo itself. Los Angeles is a particularly compelling host city, as its urbanism embodies many of the tensions inherent in the modern period—between ideals and outcomes, experimentation and consequence. The city’s rich collection of modern residential architecture, much of it rarely open to the public, serves as a powerful reminder of how architecture responds to specific climates, cultures, and moments in time.
As part of the process of formally re‑establishing Docomomo Ontario, a work plan covering the next three to five years will be shared with the International Council. In the coming months, we will also begin outlining future plans related to membership, engagement, and programming. A key priority will be strengthening connections with Schools of Architecture across the province. Significant research related to modern architecture is already taking place within these institutions, and fostering a shared framework for collaboration will encourage resource sharing and promote modern places as worthy subjects of study and exploration. Ultimately, the goal is to re‑activate Docomomo Ontario as a visible, engaged participant in conversations around advocacy, adaptive reuse, and conservation of modern places. The organization is being built on a strong academic foundation that reflects Docomomo’s original mandate: the exchange of ideas and the generation of awareness. By engaging with individuals, community groups, and aligned organizations, Docomomo Ontario can help amplify messaging and advocacy efforts, ensuring that the modern places that shaped our collective past remain meaningful contributors to our shared future.