DOCOMOMO US / greater PHILADELPHIA

GRACE ONG YAN IS PRESIDENT Emeritus AND BOARD MEMBER OF DOCOMOMO US-Greater PHILADELPHIA, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve, educate, document & advocate for modern architecture, landscape & design as important pieces of American history. 

As chapter president, grace took leadership over the activities of study tours, building-focused happy hours, book talks, and advocacy of modern architecture in philadelphia, as well as other administrative responsibilities of a nonprofit organization.

She supervised and organized with other board members the in-depth tours of Vincent Kling Houses, eero saarinen's hill college house dormitory at Penn, Robert Venturi's Guild House, Pietro Belluschi's Rohm and Haas building, and I.M.Pei's society towers & townhouses. she also co-organized a book talk on barbara miller lane's houses for a new world. Grace also organized the nomination for historic preservation of the mitchell/giurgola-designed dorothy shipley white house in chestnut hill.  

by organizing these activities around modern architecture, docomomo highlights not only the importance of these historic buildings, but their preservation. docomomo's activities are imperative at a time when many modernist buildings are at risk of demolition.