MOD Weekend 2024Architecture SarasotaSarasota, FloridaNovember 1417Around the world, people who live near water are feeling the effects of the climate crisis, and solutions for resilience are desperately needed. Among such communities, Sarasota is unique. Situated south of Tampa on Floridas Gulf Coast, few coastal cities know more about inundation: The city has endured six significant floods in the 18 months due to hurricanes and extreme rainfall. Simultaneously, its the also birthplace of the Sarasota School of Architecture, a style of postwar modern architecture popularized by practitioners like Paul Rudolph, Victor Lundy, and Gene Leedy. Stronger storms threaten this modern heritage. Earlier this fall, Hurricane Helene destroyed Paul Rudolphs Sanderling Beach Club, prompting conversation about whether to rebuild it on the same site. Both Sarasotas architectural future and past are threatened by extreme wind and flooding caused by a hurricane season that grows more destructive each year.This crisis was discussed at the most recent iteration of MOD Weekend, an annual event hosted by Architecture Sarasota, the steward organization of the Sarasota School, which gathers architects, scholars, designers, enthusiasts, and others. Following hurricanes Helene and Milton, which both devastated Sarasota with several feet of flooding, the event was dedicated to the organizations Restoring a Sense of Place disaster response program. The aligned concerns of climate resilience and preservation were at the top of the agenda.MOD Weekend convenes lectures and tours all over Sarasota, Florida. (Alive Coverage/Courtesy Architecture Sarasota)Architecturally, historically significant buildings and our cultural heritage provide a sense of continuity as our communities change and evolve, said Morris Marty Hylton III, president of Architecture Sarasota. When it comes to the recovery from natural disaster, theres even more heightened awareness because theres so much change that happened during that one event, and one thing that we can hold on to are those significant buildings that form a bridge between the past and the future that were working out at the moment. Over the course of the weekend, attendees traversed Sarasota by boat, car, and trolley. Tours covered the citys modernist religious architecture and the more well-known designs of the some of the stars of the Sarasota Schoolthe Umbrella House by Paul Rudolph; the Hiss Studio by Philip Hiss and Edward Seibert; and Victor Lundys 1956 Blue Pagodaas well as the South Gate and Lido Shores neighborhoods.Saturdays main event was the Adaptation By Design symposium. (Alive Coverage/Courtesy Architecture Sarasota)Saturdays main event was the Adaptation By Design symposium. The program focused on resilience at the scale of a neighborhood down to the options homeowners have to make their houses FEMA compliant.One of the symposiums speakers was Jenny Wolfe, a preservation planning specialist with Preservation Design Partnership (PDP). For over a decade, PDP has helped communities across the eastern seaboard adapt to rising sea levels and extreme weather events.There are plenty of mitigation options for homeowners who want to adapt their house to a changing climate, Wolfe said, but with historically or culturally significant buildings, its a bit more complex. These landmarks were designed to look and function certain way, the materials were purposefully chosen, and as a finished product it has served a role in the community beyond mere shelter. Preservationists, therefore, face a challenge of prioritization, explained Wolfe. In the big picture, what do I want to make sure is preserved that really conveys the character of this place? she asked. Then its about identifying what parts of the building might be vulnerable. This way, the spirit of the design can be preserved even if some of the original features are sacrificed. You may lose some material, you may choose to replace some material, but that youre keeping the overall structure, Wolfe offered.MOD Weekend participants paid a visit to the lauded Sandy Hook neighborhood of Sarasota, where myriad midcentury gems are tucked away. (Alive Coverage/Courtesy Architecture Sarasota)Throughout the weekend, Hylton III returned to a critical point about preservation in the age of climate disasters: Its not about restoring, recovering or keeping historically significant buildings exactly how they were made.Theres this misnomer that preservation is about freezing things in time, when its really about managing change, he said. The idea of preservation as change management presents intriguing opportunities, including the chance to document structures that perhaps hadnt been properly assessed in the past. Theres an opportunity to revisit and evoke the design approaches and thinking of the architect in the recovery process. Yes, in part it is that physical artifact, but its also about being the keepers of the flame, of that kind of approach to the built environment, and how we use that to address challenges like changing climate and rising seas, Hylton III explained.Architecture Sarasota is actively working to do this; through its Restoring a Sense of Place program, Hylton III and others are visiting houses across the city affected by flooding to help with assessment, documentation, and recovery, and its newly released Moderns That Matter: Sarasota 100 list highlights 100 places and structures that, due to their cultural value to the community, are especially important to protect from future disasters.Guests were treated to guided home tours (Alive Coverage/Courtesy Architecture Sarasota)The opportunity to recover and restore is partially enabled by technological advancements made in material design and construction. One example in Sarasota is Victor Lundys Galloway Furniture Showroom. (Lundy died earlier this fall at the age of 101.) When it was built, it was an impressive two-story glass pavilion supported by 16 wooden beams meeting at the center and bending outward like a blooming flower. Now, the glass is gone, and the interior is encapsulated by concrete. If it were to be restored in the spirit of its original design, the restoration could do more than just make it climate resilient and honor the vision of the original architect, Hylton III suggested.Lundy was really pushing the boundaries on what was feasible structurally. Now, the technology is there to realize his vision, maybe to a degree that it wasnt even possible at the time, Hylton III said. How we marry these ideas from the late 1950s with contemporary thinking and our current technology, is an exciting proposition.Oscar Fock is a Swedish freelance journalist based in New York City, where he reports on climate change, its effects on humans, and how we are responding.