Weekend Utopia: A Century of Modern Living in the Hamptons with Alastair Gordon

The AIANY Historic Buildings Committee and DOCOMOMO US/New York Tri-State are co-hosting a book talk with Alastair Gordon, marking the release of the revised and expanded edition of Weekend Utopia (Princeton Architectural Press, 2026). Originally published 25 years ago in 2001, the book was the first to comprehensively document the many important Modern houses built in the Hamptons. The New York Times Book Review selected it as one of the Best Books of 2001.

Showcasing the artistic and architectural innovations of the Hamptons from the 1920s to the current day, Weekend Utopia ranges from the country clubs of the Social Register elite, to the experimental houses and studios of avant-garde artists like Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell, to the daring beachfront homes designed by the likes of Peter Blake, Andrew Geller, Philip Johnson, and George Nelson. The revised edition, published by Princeton Architectural Press, includes never-before-seen images and newly researched stories, an updated introduction, and an extensive new concluding chapter that brings the narrative into the present. It also discusses preservation challenges. Sadly, since the original publication a number of the Modern houses documented have been destroyed but others have been saved and restored.

Books will be available for purchase and signing. 

Speaker:
Alastair Gordon, Award-winning Critic, Curator, Filmmaker, and Author

About the Speaker:

Alastair Gordon is an award-winning critic, curator, filmmaker, and author. For more than 20 years, he wrote on art, architecture, and the environment for the New York Times. He served as contributing editor on design for WSJ., the Wall Street Journal magazine, and was the architecture/design critic for the Miami Herald. Gordon has written extensively for numerous publications, including Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, House & Garden, and Dwell. He has authored more than 28 books, including Beach Houses: Andrew Geller, Romantic Modernist: The Life and Work of Norman Jaffe, Architect, and Naked Airport. Gordon is currently writing and directing Vanishing Point, a feature film about the architect Norman Jaffe, who disappeared in 1993 when he went swimming in the ocean, never to be seen again.