Minnesota’s modern movement
Modern then.
Essential now.
A different way to see the places
that make Minnesota, Minnesota.
A future for our modern past
Great ideas deserve
another chapter.
Explore.
See familiar places differently.
Document.
Keep the stories within reach.
Conserve.
Care for what makes them matter.
Continue.
Give modernism a living future.
From the Docomomo US/MN collection
01 / A closer look
Saint John’s Abbey Church · Marcel Breuer · 1961Big ideas.
Extraordinary details.
Modernism rewards a second look.
Choose a detail to see what makes it matter.
Saint John’s Abbey Church / CollegevilleArchitecture, up close
A bell tower,
reimagined.
Breuer turns the traditional bell tower into a monumental concrete banner. Its openings frame a cross and five bells, making structure and symbol part of one composition.
Explore the building’s story ↗02 / The living collection
Minnesota, seen differently.Look closer.
There’s a story here.
A library that almost lost its future. A church that changed how we gather. Discover the places behind the forms.
No places match that search. Try an architect’s name or choose All places.
Four places. Many ways to see modernism.
Explore the full collection ↗Northwestern National Life / Minoru Yamasaki / 196503 / More than buildings
The future needs
a little history.
Modernism reshaped how Minnesota lives, works and gathers. These places still have something to give.
Docomomo US/MN brings people together to explore, document and advocate for the architecture and design of the Modern Movement.
Get to know Docomomo ↗01 Explore +
Get inside the story through tours, talks and shared research.
02 Document +
Discover the buildings, sites and designers in the Minnesota Modern Registry.
03 Advocate +
Help people recognize the value of modern places and speak up when they are at risk.
04 / Out in the world
Events calendar ↗Architecture is better
experienced together.
05 / Keep the movement moving