This circa 1962 photo provided by the National Park Service shows buildings at the Petrified Forest National Park visitors compound, an example of modern architecture with their flat roofs, low silhouettes and large windows that opened up to the vast expanse of rainbow-colored desert. Spanning dozens of acres, the structures provided everything the park staff and visitors.

The buildings at Petrified Forest National Park are held up as an example of modern architecture with their flat roofs, low silhouettes and large windows that opened up to the vast expanse of rainbow-colored desert.Spanning dozens of acres, the structures provided everything the park staff and visitors would need: a gas station, restaurant, community building, maintenance shop, housing, even a two-room elementary school. The National Park Service entrusted the design to prominent architects Richard Neutra and Robert Alexander ahead of the agency's 50th birthday, and it's the only project of theirs still standing within the Park Service.The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently designated the Petrified Forest compound a national treasure because of its architectural significance.

Outside national park boundaries, saving midcentury modern structures has been a chore. There are plenty of examples that have been threatened by the wrecking ball, including a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Phoenix and Philip Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut.....Continue Reading

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