Photo courtesy of Architecture Sarasota

Architecture Sarasota recently announced the schedule for Sarasota MOD Weekend, November 12-14, which will honor Philip Hanson Hiss, the primary catalyst of the modern architecture movement in Sarasota. The three-day event will celebrate Hiss’s forward-thinking ideas and how they gave rise to the origins of the Sarasota School of Architecture (SSA). The festivities kick off Thursday with a private VIP Champagne reception for Architecture Sarasota Circle level Members. Friday night welcomes guests to the Party Under the Banyan Tree at Hiss Studio, Saturday begins with the morning Symposium and an afternoon of walking, trolley and kayak tours. The inaugural Hiss Dinner on Saturday night celebrates the launch of Architecture Sarasota and The Hiss Award, and the tours continue on Sunday.

Philip Hiss was the pioneering developer behind Lido Shores, where he used knowledge of life in the global tropics to lead a group of emerging architects to create innovative designs well suited to this environment. Hiss expanded his architecture patronage by leading the Sarasota County Schools building program, which Time Magazine celebrated in their pages in 1958. He then went on to be a founder of New College, where he secured I.M. Pei to build dorms for the new school. 

“Celebrating the legacy of Philip Hiss—the man who made Sarasota Modern—gives us the opportunity to share the origin story of the Sarasota School of Architecture. Hiss’ massive contributions to our community—intellectually, creatively, aesthetically—are but a microcosm of his impact nationally as a thought leader engaging with forward-thinking colleagues across the country, from Alfred Barr to Walter Paepcke to Margaret Mead,” said Anne-Marie Russell, Executive Director of Architecture Sarasota. “His visionary pedagogy wove the discourse of technology, education and design together in a way that presciently helped pave the way for future initiatives. His rich and varied contributions, including his war-time service, provide extraordinary inspiration to us all."  

Ticket sales to the general public begins Monday, September 27, and advance tickets sales to Members begin Monday, September 20. For a detailed schedule and programming visit sarasotaMOD.org

Photo courtesy of Architecture Sarasota