George Smart

George Smart is an advocate for Modernist architecture preservation and the founder and CEO of USModernist, recognized as the world's largest nonprofit educational archive dedicated to the documentation, preservation, and promotion of Modernist residential design. Smart, known nationally as Mr. Modernism, spent nearly three decades as a management consultant for major corporations before a visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater inspired a new direction. This experience led to the creation of a website, which evolved into a community and ultimately a nationally recognized nonprofit organization. Smart also founded NCModernist, a companion organization focused on preserving the legacy of Modernist homes in North Carolina, a state noted for its concentration of mid-century Modernist architecture influenced by NC State's School of Design.

Under Smart's leadership, USModernist's team has documented more than 140 major 20th-century architects, researched over 25,000 Modernist houses, and scanned more than 5 million pages of architecture magazines dating back to the late 19th century. These resources are freely available to the public in searchable, downloadable form. The organization has received 20 honors for leadership in preservation, including national AIA Institute Honors for Collaborative and Professional Achievement. Smart holds an Honorary AIA designation from the American Institute of Architects, a distinction for someone who is not a licensed architect. His approach to proactive documentation—identifying endangered homes as soon as they become vacant—has helped prevent the demolition of many Modernist houses.

Smart is also the host of "USModernist Radio," a weekly podcast named by DWELL magazine as a top architecture and design podcast. He has led more than 430 episodes and interviewed over 750 guests in architecture and design. His talk, "The Accidental Archivist," has been presented at events including AIA National Conferences, Modernism Week, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, NY School of Interior Design, and the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture. Through his work, Smart communicates the importance of Modernist preservation to architects, preservationists, real estate professionals, and design enthusiasts, emphasizing that preservation begins with awareness of a building's location and significance.