Docomomo US is honored to announce Hubert-Jan Henket, Dutch architect, scholar, and co-founder of Docomomo International, as speaker of the second keynote of the 2026 International Docomomo Conference, taking place March 17-22, in Los Angeles.
His address “What Is the Meaning of the Words Modern Movement Today?” will invite reflection on whether the classic definitions of the Modern Movement still hold true in our evolving world of climate urgency, social change, and architectural pluralism. Drawing on decades of experience in architecture, restoration, and advocacy for modern heritage, Henket will explore how modernism can adapt and whether Docomomo should broaden or preserve its guiding criteria.
Henket’s keynote comes at a pivotal moment for the conference and for modern-movement heritage worldwide. As the conference themes – climate, community, and creativity – underscore, the time is ripe for reexamining how modernism adapts to contemporary realities. Los Angeles, with its sprawling urban fabric and complex challenges, provides an especially fitting backdrop for this reflection.
Henket brings unrivaled authority to this conversation. In 1988, together with Wessel de Jonge, he established Docomomo International, setting in motion a global effort to document and conserve the architecture of the Modern Movement. Today he serves as its honorary president.
Over a distinguished career, Henket has specialized in the interplay between new construction, adaptive reuse, renovation, and restoration. His portfolio includes significant new buildings, as well as landmark restorations, including the celebrated revival of the Zonnestraal Sanatorium in the Netherlands, for which he and colleagues won the World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize. His work consistently balances social purpose, environmental context, and historical continuity – core values that resonate with this year’s conference agenda.
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Hubert-Jan Henket is a Dutch architect, preservationist, and educator. Born in 1940 in Heerlen, he graduated cum laude in 1969 from the Delft University of Technology, studying under renowned mentors. After further studies in urbanism in Helsinki and early practice in London, he founded his own firm in the Netherlands in 1976. He co-founded DOCOMOMO International in 1988 and served as its first president; today he is its honorary president. Over a distinguished career spanning more than five decades, Henket has practiced, restored, and revitalized modern architecture around the world. Known for combining new construction with sensitive adaptive reuse, his work often balances social purpose, historical continuity, and environmental context. As professor emeritus at leading Dutch universities, he has mentored generations of architects and preserved the legacy (while sparking new debate) around modern heritage.