George Smart HAIA, MBA, CNE, CDE
AKA Mr. Modernism!

National Keynote - The Accidental Archivist: Preserving America's Legacy of Modernist Houses

North Carolina Keynote - Mayberry Modernism: Preserving North Carolina's Legacy of Modernist Houses

To book, call 919.740.8407 or george@usmodernist.org.  

2025 Press Kit

High-res photos: tux, jacket, Palm Springs, sweater.

Who: George Smart HAIA is founder and CEO of USModernist®, the world's largest nonprofit educational archive dedicated to the documentation, preservation, and promotion of Modernist residential design. A passionate advocate for Modernism, George has been one of the nation's leaders in raising awareness preserving this important architectural movement. He is a frequent speaker to architecture, design, preservation, real estate, and museum groups. Previously, he worked for 30 years as a management consultant with clients such as Boeing, Microsoft, Cisco, Harvard Business School, and UNC-Chapel Hill. He is one of the few people to be bestowed an Honorary AIA by the national American Institute of Architects.

Where: George has spoken to: AIA National Conference 2023 2022 2016 * California Preservation Foundation * AIA Knoxville / North Carolina / Charlotte / Eastern / Piedmont / Asheville / South Atlantic Regional * Paul Rudolph Institute * Modernism Week 2023 2018 2014 * WestEdge LA * NY School of Interior Design 2024 2023 2022 2018 2017 * Northeastern University * Wichita Century II * Columbia Design League * Modern Atlanta * National AIA Foundation * Charlotte History Museum * Modern Richmond * Rhode Island State Preservation Conference * NC State College of Design * Branch Museum * Gregg Museum * Preservation NC * ASLA North Carolina * National Trust for Historic Preservation.

As host of the long-running podcast USModernist Radio, named by DWELL as the #2 architecture and design podcast, George has led 380 episodes and interviewed over 650 guests in architecture and design from around the world. George informs, entertains, and inspires audiences to engage preservation and act in ways that will be effective not just symbolic.

USModernist:  USModernist’s intrepid team of nonprofit staff and volunteers have documented over 140 major 20th century architects, researched over 23,000 Modernist houses, and scanned over 4.3 million pages of architecture magazines going back over 130 years. USModernist's work has helped to change the way people think about preservation. George and USModernist have won 19 honors for leadership in preservation, inculding national AIA Institute Honors for Collaborative and Professional Achievement.

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What is Modernism? Modernist design is characterized by features such as combining traditionally separate common areas (like the living room and the dining room, for example), open interior floor plans with vaulted ceilings, large and numerous windows, flat or low pitch roofs, long exposed beams, extensive use of glass to bring in natural light, and unusual geometric forms. Early Modernist architects wanted to change the way people lived by making houses and objects more affordable through better materials, streamlined building, and family connectivity. Gone were formal living and dining rooms - instead, there was a large family space where kitchen, dining, and living rooms flow into each other - and smaller private bedrooms. More than anything, Modernism creates feelings of optimism - a better, brighter future than the past.

About George's Talk: America's mid-century Modernist architects and their original clients are almost all dead; their houses have been sold several times; and the local real estate community would just as soon market teardowns as find new, caring owners. Despite many Modernist houses aging over the 50-year mark, city councils and preservation groups have a hard time considering Modernist houses to be historic - because 50 years later many still look like the future.

With bulldozers continuing to destroy mid-century Modernist houses (like Marcel Breuer’s Geller House in NY and Craig Ellwood's house in CA), these livable works of art continue to be threatened by rising land prices and disinterested heirs. Preservation is more important than ever, but you can’t save something if you don’t know where it is and why it is important. If you’re a Modernist fan in many towns and smaller cities, you may have asked: hasn't somebody documented the Modernist houses? Surely some architect or preservation society or library has a list? Likely, no.