C ol u m bi a Un i v e r s i t y Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Preservation News Spring 2014
Fitch Colloquium Though the James Marston Fitch Colloquium is always a significant event, this year holds greater importance as it will mark the 50th anniversary of Historic Preservation at Columbia University. Please mark your calendars and make your travel plans as you will not want to miss this celebration! The daylong colloquium on Saturday October 18 themed “The Urgency of Thought: Seven Ideas to Reimagine Preservation” will include a group of extraordinary speakers whose work anticipates and creatively engages the challenges that will define preservation’s next half-century, including urban expansion and collapse, environmental degradation, social inequity, digitalization, scientific knowledge, and the privatization of cultural heritage. GSAPP will host a cocktail reception following the colloquium. Additionally, we encourage each class to organize reunion dinners that evening. If any classes need assistance in contact information or recommendations, please contact our office: hp@arch.columbia. edu.
On the cover: The Red Hook Grain Elevator Terminal, the site of Monty Freeman’s design project for Studio II. Read more about the project on the “Studios” page.
From the Director Another successful year has ended for the Historic Preservation Program. We just graduated 20 students with diverse backgrounds and are thrilled to note that many have already found really good jobs in the field. Evidence of the diversity of our students and graduates is the fact that among the graduates were several with joint degrees in Architecture, Planning, or Real Estate (a first). The big news here is that we have hired a fourth full-time professor, Erica Avrami, who comes to us from the World Monuments Fund. Erica will be focusing on strengthening our preservation-planning offerings. She has already jumped right in to the exciting mix of projects at the GSAPP and will be involved with a joint Urban Planning/Historic Preservation studio project in Myanmar. The other notable development here at the GSAPP is the decision by Dean Mark Wigley to step down. Mark has been a huge supporter of the HP Program and he will be missed, but we all look forward to developing new ideas and new projects with a new dean. This fall will be a momentous time in the history of the HP Program, as we will begin the celebration of our 50th anniversary as the first preservation program in the United States. I know that it is hard for many of us who were students under Jim Fitch to believe that we have been a leader in preservation education for fully half a century. I hope that everyone has marked their calendar for the Fitch Colloquium on Saturday October 18th. This is the kickoff event for our celebration. The Colloquium will be followed by an alumni reunion cocktail party. Perhaps your class would like to get together for a reunion dinner after the party. Everyone here is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new class in the fall and I personally look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Colloquium on the October 18th. Andrew Dolkart Director, Historic Preservation Program
Faculty and Staff
Andrew S. Dolkart Professor Director of the Historic Preservation Program
Trisha Logan Assistant Director Historic Preservation & Urban Planning
Jorge Otero-Pailos Associate Professor Director of History and Theory
Charlotte Egerton Communications Coordinator Historic Preservation & Urban Planning
George Wheeler Associate Professor Director of Conservation
Leigh Smith Program Assistant Historic Preservation & Urban Planning Historic Preservation Program Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Columbia University in the City of New York 413 Avery Hall, 1172 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10027 http://www.arch.columbia.edu/programs/historic-preservation hp@arch.columbia.edu
Commencement 2014
A selection of the class of 2014 on graduation day, from left: Jennifer Pont, Chelsea Brandt, Director Andrew Dolkart, Emily Barr, Bill Morache, Beata Sasinska, Tianchi Yang, and Prashant Banerjee.
Wednesday, May 21 was a long awaited day for the 20 students who officially became Masters of
Science in Historic Preservation. Among the 20 graduates were two dual Architecture masters, one dual Urban Planning master, and the first dual Real Estate Development master. This group of talented students culminated their two, three, or four years at GSAPP with impressive thesis work for which several earned awards, listed below. Congratulations to the Class of 2014!
Best Thesis in Planning Max Yeston Neighborhood Conservation Districts: An Assessment of Typologies, Effectiveness, and Community Response Best Thesis in International Preservation JeeEun Ahn Cities on the Edge: Significance and Preservation of Hillside Squatter Settlements in Korea GSAPP Writing Prize Vincent Anthony Wilcke Extracting the Exhibited Interior: Historic Preservation and the American Period Room
Best Thesis in Architectural History and Theory Tianchi Yang Perceiving the Spirit of Manhattan’s Chinatown: A Study of the Evolution and Preservation of the Signage designed for Historic Chinese Association Buildings Best Thesis in Architectural Conservation Emily Barr Pressing Issues: An Examination of Current Terra Cotta Manufacturing, Products, and Use as a Replacement Material in Historic Structures
Peer to Peer Award Given in recognition of outstanding service to classmates, faculty, and school. William Morache William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prizes Granted on the merit of proposals submitted for travel abroad incorporating the study of architecture. Talene Montgomery Evaluating Preservation Priorities in Turkey Julia Barksdale Lewis Ha Long Bay: The Preservation of Fishing Villages in Vietnam
Student news
Pictured above: Jonathan Taylor presenting at HDC’s thesis event; Max Yeston (far left) with fellow lobby day participants in D.C.
Melissa Swanson (’14) presented a paper at the Association of North American Graduate Programs in Conservation’s 40th Annual Conference this April, hosted by Buffalo State University. Her paper, “The Performance of Consolidants of Three North American Sandstones,” was based on her thesis research. Max Yeston (HP/UP ’14) was competitively selected as one of five Advocacy Scholars by Preservation Action. Max received a scholarship to attend the Advocacy Week in Washington, D.C. in March. He was also recognized at the Capitol Hill Breakfast, in front of Members of Congress, staff, and Preservation Action members. His winning paper, “Places in Peril; Portland, ME” was based on his internship experience in the summer of 2012 with Greater Portland Landmarks. First-year student Angela
Wheeler also attended Lobby Day and accompanying Preservation Action events with Assistant Director Trisha Logan, who serves on the Preservation Action board. The event is always a great opportunity to students to learn more about advocacy and preservation legislation. The Historic Districts Council held an inaugural Graduate Thesis Presentation night in May at the World Monument Fund’s office in the Empire State Building. Four Columbia students and alumni presented, including: Julia Lewis ’14, Jonathan Taylor ’13, Julie Rosen ’12, and Lauren Hall Wallis, ‘11. Adjunct faculty member and HDC President Francoise Bollack moderated the evening’s discussion. The event also included work from students at Pratt. As theses are often not presented publicly or published, this event was
a fantastic opportunity to hear a sampling of the work being done on New York City preservation issues. The Inquiry:HP calendar wrapped up for the semester with a few notable speakers. Richard Guy Wilson from the University of Virginia and the Victorian Society delivered a lecture on Edith Wharton’s interior design aesthetic. Phyllis Lambert visited for our spring open house, discussing her book, “Building Seagram.” Additionally, our own Roz Li ’76 returned to GSAPP for a lecture on historic coral churches in the Philippines and the effect from November’s devastating typhoon. Thanks to Bill Morache, Zaw Myat, and Beata Sasinska for their hard work in planning this year’s lectures. Stayed tuned for the fall schedule, organized by new student leaders Alex Corey, Nick Kazmierski, and Sloane Taliaferro.
Studio II
Roosevelt Island One of the three sites for Studio II this year, students were tasked in creating a preservation plan for the island which faces development increase from the upcoming Cornell Tech campus. In Studio I, students are introduced to various documentation techniques – recording, drawing, archival research, photography. This culminates with each student making a case for the preservation of an individual building. In the spring, first-year students progress to Studio II, where they are challenged to solve a broader preservation problem. Historically these are timely issues and the research, documentation, analysis, and design undertaken is put to further use by the invested parties. This year’s projects were no different; the final proposals (which can be read online) reflect the creatively informed thinking of our students and the leadership of their instructors, Liz McEnaney (Roosevelt Island), Ward Dennis (Yorkville), and Belmont Freeman (Red Hook).
Preservation of Roosevelt Island The goal of this studio was to produce an indepth analysis of Roosevelt Island’s historic and social fabric, identify its assets and historic resources, and recommend ways to protect these resources in light of pending development pressure. In addition to presenting a depth of new knowledge about the neighborhood, the report identifies specific issues that affect the community’s historic fabric, most notably the new Cornell NYC Tech campus plan, and proposes solutions that respect and complement the existing social conditions and historic fabric of an area with vital housing and transportation needs. While preservation professionals, municipal authorities, and potential developers are among the intended audiences of this plan,
it is also, most importantly, addressed to the residents themselves. For this reason, our plan proposes new signage and an updated website to help local residents (and visitors) learn more about the value of the island’s historic resources. Within the context of broader redevelopment strategies, an enhanced and thoughtful historic preservation plan can help identify and foster awareness of heritage resources, and connect people more meaningfully both to the urban landscape and to one another. This study aims to provide a framework for responsible growth, and suggests the enormous potential of historic preservation practices within any future community revitalization initiative of Roosevelt Island.
Yorkville Preservation Plan The goal of the Yorkville Preservation Plan studio was to examine the past, present, and future of the Yorkville neighborhood and to create a comprehensive preservation plan for the area, taking into account such issues as cultural significance, zoning, community outreach and material conservation. For the purposes of this studio, we defined the study area to be from East 70th Street to East 90th Street, and from Third Avenue to the East River. The blocks south of East 79th and east of York Avenue were excluded from the study due to the significant presence of hospitals and a built fabric different from Yorkville. We recommend this area be documented at a later date as part of an East River waterfront study. The Yorkville Preservation Plan attempts to identify the unique historic aspects of Yorkville, and provide methods for how the neighborhood can best retain its character defining features in the face of change. This studio aims to provide residents of Yorkville and those interested in the neighborhood with a set of comprehensive recommendations that will protect the area’s unique heritage.
Red Hook Grain Terminal: An Adaptive Reuse Study Located along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, the Red Hook Grain Elevator was constructed in 1922, and worked to connect New York City to the Great Lake port cities in order to distribute and receive grain. However, decline in maritime trade resulted in the building becoming obsolete, and by 1965 it was completely empty and abandoned, standing as a relic of a once prosperous past. Following this, the building became a hotbed for drug use and violent crime, until the building and surrounding land was bought by the current owner, John Quadrozzi Jr., in 1997 in order to house an industrial park, known as Gowanus Bay Terminal, or GBX. Concerning the structure itself, the Red Hook Grain elevator is a large building of twelve stories, measuring 70 ft. wide and 430 ft. long, with its bulk composed of fifty four, 20 ft. in diameter, cement silos that sit atop a long, hypo-style hall. Above the silos sits a corrugated steel rooftop cupola, which held hopper equipment, used historically to sort grain. Over the past semester, our studio has researched the building, site and developed individual design proposals for adaptive reuse projects. With this project,
East 86th street and Third Avenue, Yorkville
1914
1961
2012 we have agreed upon the following points as driving influences in our proposals: attention to materials conservation, response to the site in a contextually appropriate and historically sensitive manner, encouragement of economic growth, be it industrial or otherwise in the Red Hook neighborhood, and addressing issues of ecological sustainability and storm resilience. Site image featured on cover.
Faculty News
The Docomomo US Board in Houston, which includes five Columbia alumni: Gunny Harboe (Chicago), Robert Thomas (Boston), Hunter Palmer Wright (Minneapolis), Theo Prudon (New York), and Flora Chou (Los Angeles).
Theo Prudon continued lecturing about the preservation of modern architecture throughout the semester. In February he gave a presentation at the Conservation Institute at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. That same month he gave the opening keynote at the symposium as part of Modernism Week in Palm Springs, CA. In March he chaired the Second Annual Symposium of Docomomo US at the University of St. Thomas in Houston (an early Philip Johnson design). One of the most successful sessions in the symposium was on architectural archives where Janet Parks talked about Avery Library’s drawing collections together with Christopher Alexander of the Getty and William Whittaker of the archives of the University of Pennsylvania. In
May he was made a fellow of the International Federation of Interior Designers and Architects at their General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Also in May he gave the opening talk about preserving modern architecture at a workshop in Columbus, Indiana. Jennifer Gray’s article “An Everyday Wilderness: Dwight Perkins and the Cook County Forest Preserve” was published in Future Anterior this spring. Additionally, her article “Social Practice and the Laissez-faire Metropolis” was published in Architecture_MPS last month. Jennifer also presented a paper called “A Practical Utopia: Sociology, Social Practice, and the Metropolis” at the Mediated Cities conference hosted by Ravensbourne University in London this April. She is also
collaborating with Chicagobased artist Jim Duignan, founder of the Stockyard Institute, on an exhibition called Proximity of Consciousness to be installed at Hull-House Museum this fall. Belmont (Monty) Freeman traveled to Cuba over spring break, as an advisor to the Museum of Modern Art on the Cuban content for a major exhibition on Latin American modern architecture, to open in Spring 2015. His essay "The Moment for Something to Happen," about the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (1967-1984) and the construction of its legacy, appeared in the online journal Places: Design Observer in January. Monty's firm, Belmont Freeman Architects, received an Honorable Mention in the
2014 Historic District Council Design Awards program for the Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center. The project entailed the renovation and enlargement of a historic 1906 bathhouse on West 60th Street. BFA was recently awarded the commission to renovate the Landmark - and still operating - Engine Company 25 fire house on West 58th Street. Monty participated in the opening of the Venice Biennale of Architecture during the first week of June. Storefront for Art and Architecture, for which Monty serves on the board, was named Commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion in Venice. Richard Pieper delivered a talk, “Aluminum’s Challenges for the Architectural Conservator” at the Aluminum: History, Technology and Conservation conference. The conference was presented by The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation, in partnership with the Lunder Conservation Center, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation Metal Working Group at the Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC this April.
Francoise Bollack’s book Old Building New Forms was selected as the winner of Mary Washington University’s 2014 Historic Preservation book prize. Bollack’s book was chosen from a pool of fourteen preservation books published this year. In addition to the prize, she is invited to deliver a lecture at Mary Washington this year.
Jorge Otero-Pailos delivered the Herb Stovel Memorial Lecture at Carleton University on March 22 as part of the Heritage Conservation Symposium. Jorge’s publications this semester included an essay contribution in On Self-Effacement: The Aesthetics of Preservation and a supplement to Rem Koolhaus’ Preservation is Overtaking Us, a book published by GSAPP. Jorge also published two articles: “Public Architecture After America’s Withdrawal: On the Preservation of US Embassies” for the exhibition catalogue of the US Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale and “Space Time 1964/2014” for a special issue of Log journal on “The New Ancients” coming out in June 2014. Liz McEnaney presented her BLDG BLOK project at the 2014 World Science Festival and talked about how new technologies like Google Glass can be used to tell the history of cities. Liz has also signed on as the Executive Director of the SS Columbia Project, an organization that is bringing a 1902 steamboat, now in retirement in Detroit, to New York and restoring it for service on the Hudson River.
Kate Wood will return to Landmark West! this summer as the organization’s President. She previously worked as the Executive Director for over ten years and has remained on the board since. Kate is also curating an exhibit on interior landmarks in New York City for the New York School of Interior Design. Two firstyear students, Alex Corey and Michael Munro, have helped with the research. Ned Kauffman, who returned to the faculty this semester, was a featured speaker at the New Jersey History and Historic Preservation Conference in June. Ned opened the conference with “Connecting Our Shared Past in Preservation” where he discusses the role preservation has played in New Jersey’s society within the context of the state’s 350th anniversary.
Erica Avrami Joins Full-Time Faculty This fall, the full-time faculty will expand to four members with the addition of Erica Avrami as the James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation. Professor Avrami is a graduate of Columbia College and received her MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. Her PhD is in Planning and Public Policy from Rutgers University, where her research focused on the intersection of sustainability planning and preservation. She will teach courses in preservation planning in addition to the popular seminar courses she previously taught, Sustainability and Preservation and International Issues in Preservation. We are incredibly excited to have Erica on board full time as she has been an asset to the program. She graciously answered a few questions for us about making the transition to full-time academia and the future of the program.
Since graduating from the HP program, you have led an impressive career, including over six years with the World Monuments Fund and completing your doctorate degree in Planning and Public Policy. What are you looking forward to most in the transition to full-time teaching? I feel very fortunate to have been able to work in a variety of professional capacities, while also keeping a hand in academia through my doctoral studies and adjunct teaching. Maintaining a dynamic exchange between practice and scholarship is important to a field like preservation, which engages a range of interrelated disciplines and technologies. Heritage-related theories, our understanding of history and stakeholders, as well as technical methods are all constantly evolving. So much can be learned by bringing the knowledge of other disciplines to bear on the preservation enterprise, and by ensuring a dialectical interplay between what we teach in the academy and what we practice in the field. As I make the transition to a full-time faculty member, I am most looking forward to reinforcing that dynamic with students, in the classroom and in field-based projects, as well as
in research activities. By using practical experience to inform our philosophical understanding of how heritage functions within society, and vice versa, we can better prepare the next generation of preservationists to address the challenges on the horizon and ensure that preservation plays an integral role in a sustainable future. How do you plan to incorporate your extensive international work experience into the curriculum? Working across borders and in different cultural contexts has been a tremendous privilege, affording the opportunity to engage with a variety of partners in a range of contexts – from post-disaster settings to ancient archaeological sites – as well as with construction typologies that are less common in the United States, such as earthen architecture. It has also been a humbling experience, as stepping beyond one’s backyard means confronting all the things one doesn’t know and questioning one’s understanding of the world. The field of preservation, with its many charters, standards, and regulatory guidelines, has normative tendencies. But we preserve architectural heritage because of its distinct qualities and the way it differentiates one built environment from another. The
difference in what we preserve is echoed in how we preserve, how different societies ascribe value to places of the past and make decisions about how to transmit those values to future generations. By employing international case studies in my courses and developing more overseas study and field opportunities for students, I hope to be able to use my past experiences as well as new opportunities abroad as important didactic tools. By looking at problems from a different perspective, in different social, economic, and environmental conditions, students can enhance their critical thinking skills and bring new knowledge to their understanding of US practice in a global context. You assisted with the thirtieth anniversary celebrations of the program and will be involved in this year’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Where do you see this program in the next 20 years? I believe preservation provides important benefits to society, but as a field we have not adequately demonstrated those benefits. As sustainability concerns mount and climate change compels significant changes in the way we manage the built environment, preservation will face tough
challenges. The field has made some notable progress in making the case for how historic buildings can contribute to economic vitality and environmental protection, and this is important research for rationalizing the work of the preservation. However, we don’t preserve simply because it makes financial or ecological sense. Fundamentally, we believe historic preservation is good for society, but the research on how it benefits individuals and communities is lacking. How does preservation build social and cultural capital and enhance community cohesion? What contributions can it make toward social justice? How does decision-making about shared heritage facilitate participatory discourse and civil engagement? My hope is that, over the next 20 years, the field of preservation grapples with these questions and more, to better demonstrate how its work benefits people, not just places. As the pioneer in preservation education in the United States, Columbia’s program should be forging this new frontier, and I hope I can play a contributing role in that exploration. Anne Sullivan ‘90, is one of 139 accomplished architects elevated to the prestigious AIA College of Fellows this year. The selection recognizes architects who not only succeed in their individual work, but also contribute to architecture and society on a greater scale. The 2014 fellows will join a select group of 3,000 out of AIA’s current 80,000 members. Anne will be honored at the 2014 National AIA Convention in Chicago this summer. She is currently principal at Sullivan | Preservation and the Director of the Historic Preservation program at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.
Alumni News
VAF attendees visited “Lucy,” the famous 65-foot wooden elephant in Margate, NJ built in 1881. Lucy was moved and preserved in the 1970’s and today attracts visitors both for the novelty architecture and views.
The Vernacular Architecture Forum held its annual meeting this May in Down Jersey, an old expression for the southern part of New Jersey. Janet Foster ‘83 was instrumental in planning the conference, including various tours of vernacular architecture along the Jersey shoreline. Four Columbia preservation alumni delivered papers: Anne Delano Steinert ’95, Gloria ColomBrana ’05, Jason Crowley ’13, and Emily Rinaldi ‘13. Emma Marconi ‘12 recently accepted a position as the Executive Director of CIVITAS, the not for profit dedicated to improving civic life in Harlem and the Upper East Side. We are proud for Emma’s success and look forward to her leadership of this storied organization. Phoebe Tudor ’89 is the Chairman for the Herman Park Centennial Celebrations in
Houston this year. Hermann Park has been a civic staple in the lives of Houston residents since 1914. The 285 acres offer public space and respite for the rapidly urbanizing community. Though the park experienced changing perceptions and rough patches, the founding of the Hermann Park Conservancy twenty years ago ensured the preservation and upkeep of this special place. As part of the celebrations, a Centennial Park Garden will open in October. The yearlong festivities also included an exhibit, gala, kite festival, and publishing of a book on the history of the park. Phoebe’s dedication to the city of Houston and her preservation background assuredly facilitated the success of the centennial celebration. Have updates or accomplishments to share with the HP community? Send to Charlotte Egerton (cce2119@ columbia.edu) for publication in the next newsletter.
End of Year Show
After the demanding end of the spring semester filled with final papers, studio reviews, and studio reports, first-year students still have one more task: the End of Year Show. Each Studio II group is given a space, budget, and basic guidelines to exhibit the work of their studio project. Every program in GSAPP participates in the End of Year Show which makes for an impressive collection of creatively curated work. The first-year studio groups began planning for the show in early April, yet the week prior to the show’s opening is always hectic. Though the semester is over, students spent one more week painting, designing, and physically constructing the exhibits in Wood Auditorium. Many spent hours in the GSAPP Fabrication Lab, a space HP students typically do not frequent! Their extra efforts were reflected
in one of the greatest HP End of Year Show exhibits in recent history (yes, we may be biased). The Red Hook studio mimicked the silo structure of the grain elevator in their installation, with each student’s designs printed on a silo. The Roosevelt Island studio’s exhibit encouraged public participation, with an interactive digital map of the island’s historic resources and a chalkboard wall for visitors to share their thoughts. Xenia Vyutleva & Jennifer Gray’s course “Architecture or Revolution” opted to create an additional exhibit for their class with print and digital media of the buildings studied. The Yorkville studio featured a film on the neighborhood produced by Civitas and narrated by Bob Newman, along with samples of the historic bricks found in the area’s buildings.