Fall 2014
Urban Regeneration in the Americas: Conservation & Development of Urban Heritage Sites
HSPV 703-301, Rojas
This studio-based course will focus on the challenges confronted by the conservation profession in preserving the urban heritage of small and mid-size cities in developing countries. This is a problem that is in the cutting edge of the research and practice of urban heritage conservation and has planning and design implications making it ideally suited to a multi-discipline studio approach. The preservation of urban heritage is moving to a new paradigm of intervention responding to an increasing interest in communities for preserving their urban heritage; growing development pressures on historic neighborhoods; the generalization of adaptive rehabilitation as a conservation strategy; and recent international agreements calling for expanding the role of the urban heritage in the social and economic development of the communities. The course is modeled on successful 1-CU spring studios conducted in recent years—the Gordion Site Planning Studio (2011), Parks for the People (2012), and the Regeneration of Historic Areas in the Americas (2012, 2014, 2016)—that are designed to attract students from across the School (especially CPLN, ARCH and LARP in addition to HSPV) and that fit easily with core studios and thesis projects. Students from multiple departments are encouraged to participate in the course; enrollment will be kept to about 12. The course will combine the methodologies of a seminar and a studio in ways that they support each other. The knowledge acquired through the seminar work will be put to use in a studio exercise whose objective is to design urban heritage conservation regulations for small cities in Ecuador working in close cooperation with government officials in charge of assisting municipalities in managing their urban heritage. The students will benefit from the experience gained by Ecuadorian conservators in preserving a World Heritage site: the historic center of Cuenca.
Professional Practice & Architectural Conservation
HSPV 713-301, Krotzer
This course is intended to introduce students to the professional practice of architectural conservation and illustrate how the technical knowledge gained through their academic studies is applied in the real world. It will include a discussion of the role of the architectural conservator within the larger preservation and restoration fields, as well as the concept of professional leadership. A significant portion of the course will be dedicated to project management--from writing a proposal to developing and implementing a work plan for a conservation project. The project management portion of the course will also review the typical progression of a project through design and construction phases, highlighting the role that the conservator plays in both. The course will include: lectures; site visits to current or recently completed conservation projects; in-class discussions and assignments related to typical tasks and challenges faced by architectural conservators in their daily professional life; and guest lecturers. Permission of department required to enroll. Please email Program Coordinator Amanda Bloomfield: amab@design.upenn.edu.
American Domestic Interiors
HSPV 531-001, Keim
This course will examine the American domestic interior from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries with emphasis on the cultural, economic, and technological forces that determined the decoration and furnishing of the American home. Topics covered include the evolution of floor plans; changes in finish details and hardware; the decorative arts; floor, wall, and window treatments; and developments in lighting, heating, plumbing, food preparation and service, as well as communication and home entertainment technologies. In addition to identifying period forms and materials, the course will offer special emphasis on historic finishes. The final project will involve re-creation of a historic interior based on in-depth documentary household inventory analysis, archival research, and study. Students will create a believable house interior and practice making design and furnishing choices based on evidence. Several class periods will be devoted to off-site field trips.
Topical Studio/Seminar: Interpretation in the Future Tense
HSPV 705-301, Staff
The interpretation of heritage places is a core concern of historic preservation professionals, no matter what their area of specialization. Explicit and implicit interpretation is embedded deeply in the field’s theory, history and contemporary practice. In contemporary practice, site interpretation is challenged to draw on traditional preservationist modes of practice (based in historical scholarship and formal analysis) as well as new ideas about representation, communication, visitor experience, and information design shared by other fields (including museum studies, art, exhibit design, educational psychology, community development/social justice, and digital media design). This hybrid seminar-studio explores next-generation ideas and practices of heritage place interpretation: first, by building on a thorough program of research and analysis of contemporary best-practices in site interpretation: second, by experimenting along lines suggested by new audiences and innovative thinkers and designers inside and outside the preservation field. The course will include a series of guest presenters from design, public history, management and other fields; exercises to analyze the theoretical bases, best practices and issues facing contemporary practice; and prototyping of new/experimental approaches in partnership with a HSPV-based research project underway with the National Park Service. Prototypes will be based at NPS sites in their Northeast Region.
Building Pathology
HSPV 551-001, Henry
This course addresses the subject of deterioration of buildings, their materials, assemblies and systems, with the emphasis on the technical aspects of the mechanisms of deterioration and their enabling factors, material durability and longevity of assemblies. Details of construction and assemblies are analyzed relative to functional and performance characteristics. Lectures cover: concepts in durability; climate, psychrometric, soils & hydrologic conditions; physics of moisture in buildings; enclosure, wall and roof systems; structural systems; and building services systems with attention to performance, deterioration, and approaches to evaluation of remedial interventions. Prerequisite(s): HSPV 555 or one technical course in architecture.
Historic Site Management
HSPV 606-001, Staff
This course focuses on management, planning, and decision making for all types of heritage sites from individual buildings to historic sites to whole landscapes. Course material will draw on model approaches to management, as well as a series of domestic and international case studies, with the goal of understanding the practicalities of site management. Particular topics to be examined in greater detail might include conservation policy, interpretation, tourism, or economic development strategies.
Historic Preservation Law
HSPV 671-001, Michael
Introduction to the legal framework of urban planning and historic preservation, with special emphasis on key constitutional issues, zoning, historic districts, growth management, and state and local laws for conserving historic buildings.
American Building Technology II
HSPV 541-001, Matero
Built works— be they barns or bridges, gardens or corn fields, palaces or pit houses – all embody something of their makers and users, and the prevailing social and cultural norms of the day. As a form of material culture, things-buildings and landscapes- are made and modified consciously and unconsciously, reflecting individual and societal forces at play. Since the physical fabric and its f alteration present one primary mode of evidence, their investigation provides a critical form of research, especially in association (and often in contest) with archival documentary sources and oral histories. This course will examine the theories and techniques used to investigate the morphological evolution of built works, sometimes known as “above ground archaeology”. Students will learn and apply methods relevant to the reading of architectural fabric. Methods of investigation will include absolute and relative dating techniques such as dendrochronology, finishes stratigraphy, mortar analysis, and various typological - seriation studies including framing, molding, fastener (nails and screws), and hardware analyses. Students are expected to use this knowledge in combination with the recording skills of HSPV 601 to record their assigned sites. Taught in the first half of the semester: 1/10/2018-3/2/2018
Documentation, Research, Recording II
HSPV 601-001/101, Matero
This course provides an introduction to the survey and recording of historic buildings and their sites. Techniques of recording include photography and traditional as well as digitally-based quantitative methods including measured drawings and rectified photography. Emphasis is on the use of appropriate recording tools in the context of a thorough understanding of the historical significance and function of the site.
Theories of Historic Preservation II
HSPV 661-301, Staff
Theories of historic preservation serve as models for practice, integrating the humanistic, artistic, design, scientific and political understandings of the field. This course examines the historical evolution of historic preservation, reviews theoretical frameworks and issues, and explores current modes of practice. Emphasis is placed on literacy in the standard preservation works and critical assessment of common preservation concepts. In addition to readings and lectures, case studies from contemporary practice will form the basis for short assignments. Professional ethics are reviewed and debated. The instructor’s permission is required for any student not registered in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. Note that the course is organized in two parts; the first half, on the basics of preservation theory, is taught in the fall semester while the second half takes place in the spring semester and engages advanced topics. This course is taught in the second half of the semester: 3/12/2018-4/25/2018
Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites + Landscapes: Impossible Ruins
HSPV 747-401/ANTH 508, Matero, Erickson
Archaeological sites and landscapes have long been considered places of historical and cultural significance and symbols of national and ethnic identity. More recently they have offered new opportunities for economic and touristic development in both urban and rural settings. With a unique set of physical conditions including fragmentation, illegibility, extreme environmental exposure and material deterioration, as well as contested ownership and control, their conservation, management, and interpretation as heritage places require special knowledge and methodologies for both heritage specialists and archaeologists. This seminar will address the history, theories, principles, and practices of the preservation and interpretation of archaeological sites and landscapes. The course will draw from a wide range of published material and experiences representing both national and international contexts. Topics will include site and landscape documentation and recording; site formation and degradation; intervention strategies including interpretation and display, legislation, policy, and contemporary issues of descendent community ownership and global heritage. The course will be organized as a seminar incorporating readings, lectures and discussions on major themes defining the subject of ruins and archaeological site conservation. Readings have been selected to provide exposure to seminal works in the development of theory and method as well as current expressions of contemporary practice. This will set the background for the selected case study site which will provide students the opportunity to work with primary and secondary materials related to archaeological and ruin sites: excavation reports, stabilization work, conservation and interpretation plans, etc. Students will study specific issues leading toward the critique or development of a conservation and management program in accordance with guidelines established by UNESCO/ICOMOS/ICAHM and other organizations. This year the course site will be Fort Union National Monument, NM.