**Special Tour** Raymond Farm Center+ Nakashima Woodworkers Day Tour

The Preservation Alliance is excited to arrange a joint tour with the Raymond Farm Center and Nakashima Woodworkers in New Hope this Fall to view their new exhibition of Golconde - the first Modern and reinforced concrete building in India, built for the Ashram of Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. Learn the interconnecting stories of George Nakashima - woodworker, designer, and architect - and Antonin and Noémi Raymond, who pioneered Modern Architecture in Japan and South Asia and here in America- and the legacy of their work and friendship in the Greater Philadelphia region as well as internationally.

The Raymond Farm was originally a 18th and 19th Century Quaker farm. It became the home and summer studio of Noémi and Antonin Raymond in 1938 when the Raymonds renovated the Farmhouse in their unique fusion of Modernist/ Japanese design and craft. The Raymond's international careers, which spanned from the 1910s through the 1970s, included practicing architecture in addition to designing furniture, lighting and textile designs, as well as ceramics, flatware and ironwork. Working between their Japan and New York offices, the Raymonds established one of the most avant-garde design studios in the world. In Japan, Antonin would eventually become known as the "Father of Modern Architecture." Executive Director John DeFazio, AIA, will lead the tour at the Raymond Farm Center.

The George Nakashima Woodworker Complex, neighboring the Raymond Farm Center is located on a three-acre property consisting of their family home, workshops, and a series of outbuildings and experimental structures. The Nakashima family first came to New Hope in 1943, when the Raymonds assisted them in being released from the Japanese Internment Camp in Minidoka, Idaho, tragically created in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. George and his family lived shortly at the Raymond Farm before settling at what would become the Nakashima Woodworker compound in 1946. Over the years, George designed and expanded the complex adding buildings including the remarkable Conoid Studio, the Showroom, Arts Building, and many others. The studio continues George's legacy by preserving its unique works of architecture and producing George and Mira Nakashima's furniture designs. The tour at the Nakashima Woodworkers will be led by Creative Director Mira Nakashima, the daughter of George Nakashima. 

Golconde, The Introduction of Modern Architecture in India. 

Exhibition at the Nakashima Arts Building

After working briefly for Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel Tokyo, Antonin and Noémi Raymond remained. They started their architecture and engineering practice in 1922 and became trailblazers in Modern Architecture in Japan. 

After finishing his architectural studies at the University of Washington, Harvard, MIT, and at École des Beaux-Arts, George Nakashima traveled throughout Europe before coming to Japan to study his ancestral culture. He joined the Raymond Tokyo office in 1934. In 1935, the Raymonds were appointed to a project in Pondicherry- a dormitory building at the Ashram of Sri Aurobindo. With George as project architect and on-site construction manager, the Raymonds and Nakashima created the remarkable Golconde, the first work of Modern Architecture in India. The process of Golconde's construction and his experiences at Sri Aurobindo Ashram were instrumental in George's spiritual awaking that he would embody in his life's work. 

The exhibition includes construction drawings, architects’ letters and large-scale color photographs of the dramatic building and landscape; it will coincide with the reprinting of the second edition of the book, “Golconde, The Introduction of Modernism in India” (Actar Press) by Pankaj Vir Gupta, (Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia) and Christine Mueller (founding partner, Virmueller architects), creators of the original exhibition in 2005. The current exhibit was curated by Nakashima Woodworkers, with exhibit contributions from the Raymond Farm Center. 

Tour Itinerary:

10am - 11:30am Tour at Raymond Farm Center

11:30am- 12:45pm Picnic Lunch, drive to Nakashima Woodworkers

1:00pm- 2:00pm Tour at Nakashima Woodworkers

2:00pm- 3:00pm Self guided tour of Golconde Exhibition at the Arts Building

Meet at the Raymond Farm Center for Living Arts and Design at 6370 Pidcock Creek Road. New Hope, PA 18938.

Nakashima Woodworkers located at 1847 Aquetong Rd. New Hope, PA 18938

**Know before you go**

• A facemask and vaccination card are required at the Nakashima Complex. Please bring those items with you.
• Photography/ Video recordings are not permitted inside Nakashima buildings
• Please wear comfortable and easy-to-remove footwear, as the tour includes an outdoor walk on uneven terrain and grassy hills. We ask that shoes be removed before entering select buildings.
• The Raymond Farm Center and Nakashima Woodworkers are not wheelchair accessible. Some stairs are required during the tour. 
• Parking is limited. Carpooling is recommended
• These sites are not accessible by public transit. 
• Refunds are not possible for this tour. Reservations are transferable to friends and family if needed. 
• Preservation Alliance walking tours may use an audio system that transmits from a headset worn by the guide to earpieces worn by tour attendees. The equipment is thoroughly sanitized before and after each use. Tour attendees can also plug in their personal headsets or earbuds that use a standard headphone jack (Not compatible with Bluetooth or Apple earphones).

Space is extremely limited. Advance registration required.