On the occasion of the opening of Analogue Sites, an exhibition on view beginning April 1 along Park Avenue in New York, join us at Scandinavia House for a discussion with artist, architect, and ASF Fellow Jorge Otero-Pailos and author David Peterson (US Embassies of the Cold War: The Architecture of Democracy, Diplomacy and Defense), and Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Assistant Dean at the Yale School of Architecture!
Eero Saarinen and his associates drew plans for many of the U.S.’ most recognizable foreign embassy buildings, namely the U.S. Embassies in London and Oslo. These sites warmly welcomed ordinary visitors to participate in cultural events and other public-facing programming. Today, many of these architectural gems have ceased to support American diplomatic operations, as the State Department’s needs have expanded. This lecture will explore the relationship between modern architecture and the Cold War, using Saarinen’s work as a lens. What has become of Saarinen’s design vision in 2024?
Analogue Sites is a public art exhibition featuring three sculptures created by Otero-Pailos while preserving the former U.S. Embassy in Oslo—a Saarinen-designed landmark—using materials from the fence that once surrounded the building. From April 1 through October 31, 2024, the sculptures will be on view along Park Avenue at East 53rd, East 66th and East 67th Streets in an installation presented by the Fund for Park Avenue Sculpture Committee in partnership with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks Program, where they will create a dialogue with mid-century modernist landmarks and the Park Avenue Armory.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Jorge Otero-Pailos is an American-Spanish artist, preservation architect, scholar, and educator renowned for pioneering experimental preservation practices. Alongside his artistic and preservation practices, he is Director and Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), where he also directs the Columbia Preservation Technology Lab, and where he founded the first PhD program in Historic Preservation in the US.
His works have been commissioned by and exhibited at major heritage sites, museums, foundations, and biennials, including the Chicago Architecture Biennale (2017), Artangel’s public art commission at the UK Parliament (2016), the V&A Museum (2015), and the Venice Biennale (2009). He is the recipient of a 2021-22 American Academy in Rome Residency in the visual arts.
As a preservation architect, Otero-Pailos collaborates on the creative restoration and interpretation of landmark sites. Notably, Otero-Pailos achieved an award-winning restoration of New Holland Island in St. Petersburg, Russia, in partnership with WorkAC (2013) and the Saarinen-designed former U.S. embassy in Oslo, Norway, with Langdalen Arkitektkontor, Atelier Oslo and Lund Hagem Architects (2023). www.oteropailos.com
David B. Peterson is CEO of Onera Group, Inc. and is the Executive Director of the Onera Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to supporting historic preservation. Mr. Peterson is Board Chair of the Harlem Academy school, an independent NYC school offering promising students a leading education regardless of economic circumstance. He serves on the Advisory Council of the Glass House, a National Trust Historic site in New Canaan, CT. He holds a BA from Dartmouth College, an MBA from New York University, and a MS in Historic Preservation from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. US Embassies of the Cold War: The Architecture of Democracy, Diplomacy and Defense is his first book.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen is an assistant dean and professor at the Yale School of Architecture in New Haven, CT. She is the author of books including Untimely Moderns: How 20th Century Architecture Reimagined the Past (2023) and Alvar Aalto: Architecture, Modernity and Geopolitics (2011), and co-author of books including Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future. She is the recipient of awards including Knight, First class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, presented by former President of Finland Tarja Halonen; the Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award; the Philip Johnson Book Award, and others.