STONE TO STEEL is the first episode of a projected 3-part series entitled 

BECOMING MODERN that documents the development of modern architecture in America from its sources  in the late-nineteenth century to its maturity in the mid-twentieth century - at the doorstep to our age.   The episodes include:

STONE TO STEEL    American architecture emerged with its first distinctive character in the period of rapid industrialization and disruptive social change that followed the Civil War.

MACHINES FOR LIVING    The tall building was an unprecedented technological achievement that fundamentally changed our concept of what a building is, how we work, and the shape of our built environment.

ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW   Three California architects, their unconventional clients, and an experimental building program radically transformed the modern house in the first half of the last century.

Buildings tell the stories of their makers, their ideals, their industry, and their age. They are the physical artifacts of our history. 

Unlike other art forms, architecture must be built to exist.  Building is a social and physical science that integrates art and innovation, circumstance and precedent, needs and resources, capital and labor.  Buildings therefore reveal the economic conditions, social values, technical advancements, environmental settings and cultural influences of their time and place.  

BECOMING MODERN will promote a broader understanding and appreciation of these multiple aspects of building design, technology and construction as they have contributed to our national legacy.

Vivid cinematography, period photographs and drone video that shows buildings in their settings in 3-dimensions are interwoven with commentary, analysis, and insights from period and modern critics, scholars, clients and practitioners from varied perspectives.  

Your contribution in any amount will help to make this program a reality.  

Tax-Deductible contributions can me made through the the International Documentary Association