Paul Rudolph, a giant of 20^th century architecture, spent the early part of his career in Sarasota creating the small houses that remain classics of 20^th century architecture.

The Sarasota Architectural Foundation will celebrate his centennial at its Fifth Annual Sarasota MOD Weekend with home and trolley tours, a film screening, art exhibition, panel discussion and a talk by former New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger.

“It’s all Rudolph, all the time,” says SAF president Christophe Wilson of the three-day midcentury modern architecture festival Nov. 9-11. Tickets are now on sale here .  

MOD Weekend will be jam-packed with events, including tours of Rudolph’s Harkavy Residence and Umbrella House, both in Lido Shores, and his Revere Quality House and Cocoon House on Siesta Key. An opening night party will take place at his Burkhardt-Cohen Residence on Casey Key (which was much later added onto by another internationally renowned architect, Toshiko Mori). A free “Unbuilt Rudolph” art exhibition will take place at Art Center Sarasota. Guest panelists will tackle the subject, “Reassessing Rudolph,” and the documentary, “Spaces: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph,” will be screened. Festival-goers can even participate in a yoga session under Rudolph’s iconic umbrella shade structure at the Umbrella House that Sunday morning.

Former longtime New York Times architecture critic Goldberger, now a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, is perhaps the main draw. He will give a presentation on “The Rudolph Legacy,” and will lead an exclusive trolley tour, limited to 30 participants.

SAF’s Wilson says that, by focusing on Rudolph, “We hope festival goers get a more broad-based understanding of his work here in Sarasota. Not every single structure [he designed] that exists will be open for one reason or another, but almost all of them will be. It’s all Rudolph, all the time.”