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Barry Bergdoll curates modern architecture exhibit for Cutchogue New Suffolk Library

Traditional shingle-style homes are commonplace on the North Fork. The beach cottage aesthetic is befitting, but so, too, are homes built in the modernist style. A new exhibit at Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library, entitled “A New Wave of Modern Architecture on the North Fork,” explores that idiom, which is less commonly seen locally. 

Barry Bergdoll — an Orient resident who has also curated for the Museum of Modern Art — assembled the show, which will be on view at the library starting Friday, Sept. 7. The exhibit features works of modernism by seven architects and firms who have epitomized this new wave of modernism on the North Fork.

“This display is very exciting for our library because it is a very unique one,” said library director Rosemary Martilotta. 

The modernist style was first introduced to the North Fork in the post-war era, Mr. Bergdoll explained. It took him nearly a year to curate the homes in this exhibit, which are more recent interpretations of the aesthetic and are located from Orient to Laurel. 

“North Fork architectural history is very poorly researched after the Colonial period,” Mr. Bergdoll said. “I had to do a lot of digging around. What I hope will happen is people will come to the exhibition and tell me about examples that I did not find. I hope they discover things from me and I discover something from them.”  

The show features three-dimensional models of the homes as well as artfully reproduced renderings of the initial designs provided by New York graphic design firm 2 X 4. The show includes works by Studio A/B Architects and Resolution: 4 Architecture as well as William Ryall, Richard Gluckman, Allan Wexler and John Berg. 

An opening reception is planned for Friday, Sept. 7, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wine and cheese will be served. Mr. Bergdoll and several of the architects will be on hand to answer questions as well — an aspect of the experience he looks forward to. 

“I am used to really large exhibitions,” Mr. Bergdoll said. “This show is special because it is about my neighbors, for my neighbors.”

The exhibit will be on display through October. 

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Photo caption: This Orient home designed by William Ryall Architect is part of the exhibit. (Courtesy photo)