In 2026, Docomomo US shifts its attention from religious sites to the rituals of Recreation and Play, highlighting the places where communities gather for recreation, activity, leisure, and joy. We will explore a wide range of sites, including informal and formal skate parks, roller-skating and hockey rinks, parks, bowling alleys, small amusement parks, swimming pools, and playgrounds. Art and sculpture incorporated into these spaces may also be highlighted.
Additionally, the Recreation and Play theme will examine mid-twentieth-century sites shaped by segregation and exclusion. Places such as swimming pools, beach pavilions, and parks have documented histories of racial and social division – stories that remain essential to understanding how communities interacted with these spaces then and how they continue to do so today.
Sites such as Embarcadero Plaza and the National Register-eligible Vaillancourt Fountain continue to face threats – from deferred maintenance and displacement to misunderstandings about cultural activities like skateboarding, which are too often viewed as nuisances rather than historic sites of creative expression, exercise, and youth culture.
To ensure that our artistic and cultural identities endure, it is vital that we assess these landscapes from the second half of the 20th century while they still extant.
In response, Docomomo US will spotlight smaller, more intimate landscapes, parks, and recreational environments – that have been overlooked for historic designation or only recently eligible for the National Register – where people can escape daily stresses and engage with nature, community, and play.
