Overview

Historic preservation addresses change responsive to the historic environment. At a time when society increasingly realizes the historical and cultural value of that inherited environment and what has been lost through the destruction of buildings, landscapes, and communities, the field of historic preservation has become central to the design, adaptive use, planning, and management of buildings, cities, and regions. By understanding the time dimension in human culture, it identifies history as an integrated component of the continuous change responsible for the material, psychological, and symbolic qualities of our environment. The Graduate Program in Historic Preservation provides an integrated approach for architects, landscape architects, planners, historians, archaeologists, conservators, managers, and other professionals to understand, sustain, and transform the existing environment.

The identification and analysis of cultural places and their historic fabric, the determination of significance and value, and the design of appropriate conservation and management measures require special preparation in history, theory, documentation, technology, and planning. These subjects form the core of the program, which students build upon to define an area of emphasis including building conservation, site management, landscape preservation, preservation planning, and preservation design for those with a previous design degree.

Through coursework and dedicated studios and laboratories at the School of Design as well as through partnerships with other national and international institutions and agencies, students have unparalleled opportunities for study, internships, and sponsored research. Graduates can look toward careers focused on the design and preservation of the world's cultural heritage including buildings, engineering works, cultural landscapes, archaeological sites, and historic towns and cities.

AREAS OF EMPHASIS 
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Site Management
The modern concept of cultural heritage is related to the development of contemporary society, its values and requirements. Using history and preservation as a basis for economic and environmental sustainability and development, training in site management requires knowledge of inventory, documentation, evaluation, public policy, finance, communications, and administration. Such work is normally undertaken in both the public and private sectors by various planning, historical, and regulatory agencies including governmental and non-governmental organizations, and by foundations, not-for-profit corporations, developers, and consulting firms.

Building Conservation
Conservation encompasses the material documentation, analysis, conditions diagnosis, testing, monitoring, and treatment of buildings and sites. It is the technical means by which the whole spectrum of preservation interventions can be ultimately accomplished on a broad range of issues. Work opportunities within this specialization include private and public institutions such as federal and state agencies, and private practice such as architectural and technical consulting firms.

Preservation Planning
No component of the historic environment can be beneficially preserved in isolation. By providing for the establishment of essential continuities while defining strategies for change, planning is a fundamental component of preservation just as preservation is a means to planning. This entails expertise in policy, law, and economics as well as in history and physical planning. Such work is normally undertaken in both the public and private sectors by various planning, historical, and regulatory agencies including governmental and non-governmental organizations, and by foundations, not-for-profit corporations, developers, and consulting firms.

Landscape Preservation
The preservation and management of cultural and historic landscapes require complex training in landscape history, ethnography, ecology, regional planning, and the materiality of the built and natural environment. As the physical result of human interaction with the natural world, cultural landscapes as common and designed places require preservation strategies that incorporate sensitive design with responsible conservation and management.

Preservation Design
Increasingly, many architectural problems require design professionals with special training in the creative and sensitive modification of existing structures and sites. For architects and designers who choose to broaden their professional expertise by preparing for such specialized practice, detailed knowledge of history and preservation theory and technology is essential for good design. This emphasis is available only to joint architecture and urban design degree/certificate candidates and individuals with design backgrounds. Selected courses are tailored to meet the interests and needs of individual students.