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In the Spring 2022 Semester, 14 graduate students in historic preservation and architecture at the Weitzman School of Design addressed the thorny issues surrounding the conservation of modern built heritage.
The seminar, organized by faculty members Frank Matero, professor architecture and chair of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, and Irene Matteini, lecturer, began with a discussion about the definitions and challenges of the ‘recent past’ within the framework of contemporary conservation philosophy and practice and then moved into issues related specifically to the technology, performance, deterioration, and intervention of modern heritage as understood through historical and scientific inquiry. Lectures focused on a select number of common materials, systems, and practices that defined the latter 20th century: concrete, the curtain wall, and prefabrication.
Each student was required to identify a topic of interest related to the course focus for further research. Issues of modern architecture’s particularisms, reception, and sustainability were especially considered. You can browse each student's final paper topic below, as featured in an exhibition at the 2022 Docomomo US National Symposium.
José Hernández | Guastavino Turns Modern
Natalie Perri | Being Concrete About Concrete: Examining the Architect's Not-So-Virtuous Material
Drew McMillian | Curtain Wall Interventions for Energy Efficiency: A Carbon Life Cycle Assessment
Yi-Ju Chen | Preserving Japanese Modernism
Jane Nasta | Painted Desert Community Complex: A Case Study of Mission-66 Preservation
Qianhui Ni | Post-Tensioning Retrofit of Fallingwater
Cyrus Yerxa | Uses of Cinder Concrete in Floor Construction 1880-1950
Anyuan Ji | Thin Stone Veneer Case Study: Amoco Building and Finlandia Hall
Yixiao Hu | Yesterday's Tomorrow: History and Conservation of the 20th Century Plastic House