In 1992, the modernist architect Mart van Schijndel designed a house in Utrecht with a number of distinctive features. When he died in 1999, his widow, Natascha Drabbe, an architectural historian and public relations executive, was determined to open the house to visitors. But she also needed to continue to live in the 1,885-square-foot building. For advice, she began reaching out to the directors of other important 20th century houses, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater to Mies van der Rohe’s Villa Tugendhat. Soon the directors were sharing ideas and strategies, and Drabbe had founded the Iconic Houses Network. In November, the organization, which she runs from her office in Amsterdam, will hold its biggest meeting yet, at Gaudi’s La Pedrera-Casa Milà in Barcelona; participants will have a chance not only to discuss important 20th century houses (with a focus on the Mediterranean region), but to visit some of them, as part of a pre-conference tour program.
How did the Iconic Houses Network begin?
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