Landmark Columbus will build financial support for a new coffee table book about Columbus architecture at a free fundraising event from 5:30 to 7 p.m. today at the Columbus Area Visitors Center, 506 Fifth St. downtown.
“American Modern: Architecture, Community, Columbus, Indiana,” will be published by The Monacelli Press, one of the more prestigious architecture and fine arts-related publishers in the world.
Columbus native and author Matt Shaw is former executive director of The Architect’s Newspaper, where the online publication won an International Committee of Architectural Critics honorable mention. He has written some 40,000 words on the project. Shaw’s work has appeared in a broad range of publications, including The New York Times.
His words will to be teamed with images by photographer Iwan Baan, who shot photos here in 2020 and 2021.
“He’s considered one of the premier architecture photographers in the world,” said Richard McCoy, executive director of the nonprofit Landmark Columbus Foundation, which is spearheading the project. He mentioned Tuesday morning that he already has received four donations for the work tentatively scheduled for publication in summer 2024.
“This is a major, once-in-a-generation work,” McCoy said.
Ideally, McCoy said organizers would like to raise about $30,000 for the effort.
“But people always have been very generous with us,” he said. “So we’re excited for whatever we might get.”
Supporters who donate at least $1,000 or $2,500 will have an opportunity to receive their name listed in the book, a signed copy, and a silkscreen print.
Promotional emails for the book call it “the first in-depth publication about Columbus, Indiana, that demonstrates the unique convergence of civic, industrial, and social forces that produced the preeminent laboratory of architectural modernism in the country.”
McCoy said he hopes “to have a full house” at tonight’s event that will feature Shaw speaking with McCoy about the book. “We feel like this is the ideal chance to really extensively tell Columbus’ story in a big way,” McCoy said.
He added that this volume could open the door to more similar works with a local slant.
“We could easily come up with a list of 10 more book ideas,” he said.
On Thursday, Friday
Landmark Columbus Foundation is hosting on Thursday and Friday a free, two-day event focusing on the work of the seven teams awarded 2023 Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellowships. The event was created in partnership with the Indiana Communities Institute at Ball State University’s Miller College of Business and Indiana University’s Center for Cultural Affairs at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
It will occur in downtown Columbus, highlighting the Fellows’ work and the expertise of nationally recognized experts. Activations in Place was created so that attendees can:
- Gain practical and valuable knowledge about how quality of place amenities can create benefits for communities.
- Spark new collaborations between universities, municipal leaders, funders and makers.
- Deepen the understanding of each university installation and its relationship to this cycle of Exhibit Columbus.
For the activities schedule, visit exhibitcolumbus.org.
