Co-curated with Thomas Mellins.

Throughout American history, no style has proven more enduring than the Colonial Revival. Powerfully connecting the present to the past, the Colonial Revival remains popular today, retaining its status as the American style. Surprisingly, New York City—the ultimate modern metropolis, endlessly changing and rebuilding itself in a rush to the future—has long been home to some of the world’s great revivalist styles of architecture and design, including the Colonial Revival. New York architects created social clubs, town halls, and post offices in the style. Designers and manufacturers produced popular examples of Colonial Revival furnishings, often in collaboration with collectors, museum curators, department store executives, and publishers who disseminated the images that define the Colonial Revival style across the country. New Yorkers also advanced the Colonial Revival through elaborate events staged during moments of both celebration and adversity. Accompanied by a 224-page catalog.

Mr. Albrecht and his co-curator conceived and developed the idea of the show and catalog, selected all artifacts, wrote the exhibition text and catalog, and assembled the design team.

---

Press
“One of the achievements of the illuminating exhibition
The American Style…is that it helps make the invisible visible.” Edward Rothstein, New York Times, June 13, 2011

“A small, unorthodox exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York…has a large agenda: to restore the reputation of a tradition discarded by modernists as irrelevant and expendable…” Ada Louise Huxtable, Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2011

Mr. Albrecht developed the concept and themes of the show, its organization, and he assembled its design team.

---

Credits
Co-curator: Thomas Mellins
Exhibition designer: Peter Pennoyer Architects
Exhibition graphics and catalog designer: Abbott Miller/Pentagram
Lighting designer: Anita Jorgensen
Installation photographer: Peter Mauss/Esto Photographics

Tour of 3 museums in Canada and the United States, starting at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2010

Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie explored the renowned architect’s work and philosophy. The exhibition guided viewers on a journey from Safdie’s groundbreaking Habitat for Expo ’67 in Montreal through his most recent projects in China, India, Singapore, and the U.S., showcasing his extraordinary career as a leading architect, urban planner, theorist, educator, and author. The exhibition was accompanied by a 144-page catalog.

Mr. Albrecht developed the idea of the show and catalog, selected all the artifacts, wrote the exhibition text, assembled the design team, and contributed a catalog essay.

> See exhibition catalog

---

Press
“The exhibition does not just reflect the global reach of Safdie’s practice, it goes on to explore Albrecht’s premise that the architect has an unusual ability to represent local culture and aspirations.”
Maria Cook, “Safdie’s World,” Ottawa Citizen, October 2, 2010

---

Credits
Exhibition designer: Office dA
Exhibition graphics and catalog designer: Pure+Applied
Installation photographer: Bilyana Dmitrova

Tour of 9 museums in Europe and the United States
2006–2010

This exhibition is the first-ever retrospective of Eero Saarinen (1910–61), one of the most prolific, unorthodox, and controversial architects and designers of the 20th century. Saarinen shaped America’s national identity during what publisher Henry Luce called “The American Century” with his designs for General Motors, Bell Labs, CBS, IBM, and the U.S. government.

> See exhibition catalog

---

Press
Reviews in Metropolis magazine and The New York
Review of Books.

“The current show and publication…are exemplars of scrupulous scholarship and handsome presentation.”
Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books, June 12, 2008

“Curator Donald Albrecht superbly describes what the architect did and how he did it…”
Jayne Merkel, Metropolis magazine January 2008

---

Credits
Exhibition designer: Roy Manttari
Exhibition graphic designer: Michael Beirut/Pentagram

An exhibition looking at the first building constructed
by avant-garde Los Angeles architect Neil Denari,
a condominium tower abutting New York’s new
High Line park.

Mr. Albrecht conceived the idea for the show
and co-organized it.

---

Credits
Co-curator: Thomas Mellins
Designer: Pandiscio Studios

Seeking to persuade the general public that sustainable, or “green,” design was both beautiful and affordable, this exhibition offered the Glidehouse, a full-scale prefabricated house—living room, dining room, kitchen, and bath—designed by California architect Michelle Kaufman. The house was equipped with on-the-market sustainable furniture, appliances, and decorative objects. The show also featured a materials resource room and a wide selection of models and drawings representing green houses from around the world.

---

Press
Featured in a CBS Sunday morning segment and in the Washington Post.

“Activism starts in the Glidehouse…a case study in the welcome wave of domestic architecture: affordable, highly design and factory-built. The airy dwelling also offers visitors an immersion in “green” living, California style.
Linda Hales, Washington Post, May 31, 2006

---

Credits
Associate curators: Christopher Hawthorne and Alanna Stang
Exhibition designer: Lewis, Tsurumaki, Lewis
Graphic designer: Pure+Applied

Through models, photographs, films, full-scale environments, and specially commissioned works of art, this exhibition told a multi-faceted story of the contemporary hotel from various perspectives.

Mr. Albrecht conceived the idea of the show and catalogue, selected all artifacts, wrote exhibition text, and assembled the design team.

> See exhibition catalog

---

Press
Feature article in Travel & Leisure.

---

Credits
Exhibition designer: Architecture Research Office
Exhibition and catalogue graphic designer: Alicia Cheng

An inaugural exhibition of the new, Richard Meier-designed Getty Center, this show chronicled in models, photographs, and actual building components the 17-year process of designing and constructing one of the most important arts complexes of the latter part of the 20th century. In addition to Meier’s contribution, the show explored the work of artist Robert Irwin, who designed the Getty Garden, and Thierry Despont, designer of the Museum’s decorative arts galleries.

---

Credits
Exhibition designer: Pat Whempner
Installation photographer: Scott Francis