\Êli567The Modern Movement can be considered without exaggeration internationally as the most influential and image-defining movement in Twentieth Century architectural development. Especially before World War II, Dutchmen played a vital role in it. Architects such as Oud, Rietveld, Van der Vlugt and Dudok, and to a lesser extent Duiker and Stam, enjoyed worldwide fame. Although Van Tijen, Merkelbach, Peutz, Bodon, Kloos and others were little known outside the Netherlands, they too played a defining role in the thinking and face of the modern movement, based above all on social, technical and aesthetic innovation for the sake of social progress. Unfortunately, several modern buildings are now in very poor condition, or have been altered beyond recognition for functional and economic reasons, such as Duiker's sanatorium Zonnestraal or Peutz's Glass Palace in Heerlen. In order to continue the ideas of the Moderns with interested parties in other countries, to learn from the lessons of the recent past and to ensure that the legacy is safeguarded in some way for future generations, DOCOMOMO, an abbreviation for the International working party for DOcumentation and COnservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the MOdern MOvement, was founded in 1988 at Eindhoven University of Technology. In 1990, the first international congress was held in Eindhoven, with thirteen countries participating. Since then, DOCOMOMO has grown into a network of about 1,200 architects, historians, policy makers and technicians with active working groups in 36 countries worldwide. They all share the common goal of acting as watchdogs when Modern Movement buildings are threatened anywhere, exchanging knowledge in the technical, historical, architectural and planning fields, and generating outside interest in the thoughts of Modern Movement heritage. The national working groups organize symposia, exhibitions, make films, publish books and sometimes even give big parties. There are international committees for registers, for education, urbanism and landscape, for technology and for publications. Every two years an international congress is organized where all the important decisions for the next two years are also made. From September 16 to 18, 2000, the sixth international DOCOMOMO Congress will be held in Brasília with the theme "The Modern City facing the Future." One of the activities of the national working groups is to document in an identical way the most important buildings, urban areas and cultural landscapes of the Modern Movement in national registers. From this, a preliminary international Selection has been distilled of about six hundred buildings worldwide. At the invitation of the international preservation organization ICOMOS, an initial proposal was formulated for expansion of the Unesco World Heritage List to include important buildings and oeuvres of the Twentieth Century. In 1998, the archive of the DOCOMOMO International Selection of the Université de Paris was transferred to the Netherlands Architecture Institute. Hubert-Jan Henket Chairman DOCOMOMO International The foreword is taken in part from: Architecture Agenda 1999, Modern Movement. Ten Years of DOCOMOMO (NAi Publishers, 1998). \li567Foreword \li567 The Modern Movement can without exaggeration be regarded internationally as the most influential and visually significant tendency in twentieth-century architecture. Dutch architects played a vital role in this movement, especially in the period before the Second World War. Architects like Oud, Rietveld, Van der Vlugt and Dudok and to a lesser extent Duiker and Stam, enjoyed international fame. And although Van Tijen, Merkelbach, Peutz, Bodon, Kloos and others were little known outside the Netherlands, they too played a decisive role in the development of the ideas and image of the Modern Movement which was above all based on social, technological and aesthetic innovation for the sake of social progress. Regrettably, several modern buildings are currently in a very poor state. Others, like Duiker's Zonnestraal sanatorium or Peutz's Glass Palace in Heerlen, have been altered beyond recognition for functional or economic reasons. In 1988, an international association dedicated to carrying on the ideas of the Modernists, to learning from the recent past and to ensuring that the Modernist heritage is safeguarded for future generations, was founded at Eindhoven University of Technology: the International working party for DOcumentation an COnservation of buildings, sites and neigbourhoods of the MOdern MOvement, DOCOMOMO for short. In 1990 it held its first international conference in Eindhoven with thirteen countries participating. Since then DOCOMOMO has grown into a network of some 1200 architects, historians, policy-makers and engineers, with active working parties in 36 countries around the world. Their common objectives are to act as watchdog whenever Modernist buildings anywhere are under threat, to exchange information relating to technology, history, architecture and planning and to foster interest in the ideas and heritage of the Modern Movement beyond their own circle. The national working parties organize symposia and exhibitions, make films, publish books and even throw the occasional big party. There are international committees for registers, for education, urbanism and landscape, for technology and for publications. Every two years an international conference is organized where all the important decisions for the coming two years are also taken. The Sixth International DOCOMOMO Conference will be held in Brasilia from 16 to 18 September 2000. Its theme: 'The Modern City facing the Future'. One of the activities undertaken by the national working groups is the compilation of standardized national registers of the most important buildings, urban areas and cultural landscapes of the Modern Movement in their respective countries. A preliminary International Selection of some six hundred buildings worldwide has been distilled from these national registers. At the invitation of the international monuments organization ICOMOS, DOCOMOMO has drafted an initial proposal to add major twentieth-century buildings and oeuvres to UNESCO's World Heritage List. In 1998 the archive of the DOCOMOMO International Selection was moved from the University of Paris to the Netherlands Architecture Institute, where it is now accessible to everyone. Both the NAI and DOCOMOMO are now ten years old. To celebrate this memorable fact, the 1999 Architecture Diary is devoted to the Modern Movement. The Dutch register has so far concentrated on the prewar period. The documentation and selection of works by the post-war generation will begin shortly, as soon as the register of urban areas and landscapes before and after the war has been drawn up. I sincerely hope that this diary will stimulate your interest in and concern for the recent past and the ideas of the Modern Movement. Hubert-Jan Henket Chairman DOCOMOMO International