Editor's Note

Many of our members have done amazing things in the field of design -- buildings, artwork, studies or research -- but with our busy lives, we seldom get to know much about our own member/friends' work.

On 1 Sept 2021, one of our members, Sandhya Sood, presented her paper "Reading Place: Lineage and Modernity in San Francisco Bay Region" at the virtual 16th International Docomomo Conference Tokyo Japan 2020+1. The theme is "Inheritable Resilience: Sharing Values of Global Modernities". An international organization, Docomomo stands for the International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement. The organization has many chapters that “endeavour to increase public awareness of the Modern Movement, to preserve and promote the study, interpretation and protection of its architecture, landscape and urban design.” The link for Docomomo US chapter is https://www.docomomo-us.org/

Sandhya’s research investigates the building tradition of the early 1900’s that influenced generations of Bay Area’s architects such as Julia Morgan, Bernard Maybeck, Ernest Born and Garner Dailey. She evaluates attributes of this tradition within the context of the modern movement, revealing shared architectural values that contribute to the making of place. Her paper, “Reading Place: Lineage and Modernity in San Francisco Bay Region” will be published in a book compiling the conference proceedings.


Link for additional information on the conference: https://docomomo2020.com/.

For more than two decades, Sandhya has led a research based architecture practice in California and Chandigarh, India’s modern city designed by Le Corbusier. Her interest lies in traditional and modern design strategies and vocabularies that engage people and the environment. She has written essays for the American Institute of Architects, Society of Architectural Historians and Le Corbusier’s monograph, “Le Corbusier, Chandigarh and the Modern City". Sandhya has been serving on the board of Docomomo, Northern California chapter since 2013 and can be reached at

info@accentarchitecture.com.