Association for Preservation Technology Conference
November 2–3, 2009 | Los Angeles

This conference will include the Capturing the Past for Future Use: Integrating Documentation with Repair, Design and Construction Practice in Historic Buildings Symposium and Peterson Prize Ceremony both co-presented by the AIA Historic Resources Committee. The Peterson Prize Ceremony is made possible through the generous support of Marvin Windows and Doors.  Learn more about these HRC events.

Capturing the Past for Future Use
November 2-3, 2009 | Los Angeles

Join the AIA Historic Resources Committee for the two-day symposium “Capturing the Past for Future Use: Integrating Documentation with Repair, Design and Construction Practice in Historic Buildings Rehabilitation”, November 2 -3, 2009, co-sponsored by and scheduled in conjunction with the Association for Preservation Technology Annual Conference in Los Angeles.

National Preservation Conference
October 13–17, 2009 | Nashville

Historic Landscape Assessment Workshop
October 13-17, 2009 | Nashville, Tennesse

The AIA Historic Resources Committee and American Society of Landscape Architects members Cari Goetcheus and Chad Moffett will conduct a historic landscape assessment workshop at Centennial Park, the Tennessee Centennial Exposition Grounds, surrounding the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee.

Historic Building Assessment Workshop
October 15, 2009 | Nashville

The AIA Historic Resources Committee members Victoria Jacobson, AIA and James Malanaphy, AIA will conduct a historic building assessment workshop at the French Piano Building, 240-42 Fifth Avenue North in Nashville, Tennessee.

Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference
October 21-24, 2009 | Baltimore, Maryland
AIA Historic Resources Committee (HRC) members will present sessions at the 2009, Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference in Baltimore, Maryland October 21-24, 2009. AIA-HRC has been an active partner helping to develop educational programming and content for the Baltimore Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference. The educational sessions will be available Wednesday through Saturday and the exhibition hall will be open Friday and Saturday.

The AIA Historic Resources Committee education subcommittee reviews the educational program and field session submissions for each Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference and identifies several programs that will carry the AIA HRC logo as a means of noting those sessions that are likely to be of special interest to members of the AIA Historic Resources Knowledge Community.
On Wednesday October 21, you can attend a Conditions Assessment workshop at Orianda, the summer home located at Crimea, on the estate of the Winans Family, builders of the Moscow to St. Petersburg railway…Continue Reading

ACSA Announces 2008-2009 International Student Design Competition Winners
From the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the winners of the PRESERVATION AS PROVOCATION: RE-THINKING KAHN'S SALK INSTITUTE, International Student Design Competition...Continue Reading

Peterson Prize Jury Convenes
By Jonathan C. Spodek, AIA

On August 13th, a three person jury convened at the AIA Headquarters to review the 2009 Charles E. Peterson Prize submittals...Continue Reading

Library of Congress Announces Preservation News
By Dianne van der Reyden, Director, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

The Library of Congress Preservation Directorate has recently launched a new tool to keep interested parties up to date on all of our news...Continue Reading

A Summer in Jamaica
By Jessica Golebiowski and Gareth Morgan

The US/ICOMOS International Exchange Program places American and international young professionals in various locations where they work with local preservation organizations...Continue Reading 

Sustainable Rehabilitation Case Study Database
By Nakita Johnson, Public Policy Department, National Trust for Historic Preservation

There is a growing interest in the sustainable rehabilitation of existing and historic buildings. In an effort to compile useful information for owners, architects, preservationists, and others, the Public Policy Department of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is developing a 'Sustainable Rehabilitation Case Study Database' for historic buildings...Continue Reading

NCPE Intern Experiences at the Historic Preservation Training Center
By Tom Vitanza, AIA, R.A., NCARB, Senior Historical Architect, HPTC

The Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) is one of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service’s four training centers. Its mission is the safe preservation and maintenance of national parks or partner facilities by demonstrating outstanding leadership, delivery of quality preservation services, and development of educational courses that fulfill the competency requirements of NPS employees. The HPTC utilizes historic preservation projects as its main vehicle for teaching preservation philosophy, building crafts, building technology and project management skills.

HPTC supports the use of interns through a variety of NPS programs including the Historic Preservation Intern Program and the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) program...Continue Reading


Intern Experiences at the Historic Preservation Training Center
By Rebecca Cybularz and Erin McNicholl

While National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) interns at the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) in Frederick, MD, we worked with Senior Historical Architect Tom Vitanza. Overall our project was to assess and report on the conditions of various superintendents’ lodges from national cemeteries…Continue Reading

Letter from the Chair
By David G. Woodcock, FAIA, FSA, FAPT

This is my third letter as Chair of the AIA Historic Resources Committee’s Advisory Group, and that means that I am more than halfway through my term, and nearing the end of five years as a member of the AG…Continue Reading

Letter from the Editor
By James J. Malanaphy, AIA

The importance of volunteer efforts to the historic preservation movement cannot be emphasized enough. Since the very beginnings of the movement in 1850’s, when Ann Pamela Cunningham and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association rallied to save George Washington’s estate Mount Vernon, the unpaid efforts of untold thousands of volunteers have been required to preserve the significant historic buildings that are such an integral part of sustainable livable communities…Continue Reading

Cultural Landscapes of African-American Communities in Coastal South Carolina
By Cari L. Goetcheus, Assistant Professor, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, and
Dr. Patrick Hurley, Assistant Professor, Collegeville, PA

Since the early 1800s enslaved Africans and their descendants have practiced the tradition of crafting coiled baskets of natural materials they collected along the coast of the southeastern United States. Originally used to winnow rice grains harvested on plantations, by the early 1900s the baskets were sold to an increasing number of tourists visiting South Carolina…Continue Reading

Historic Sites Advocacy Team
By Sharon C. Park, FAIA, Chair AIA HRC HSAT

The Historic Sites Advocacy Team (HSAT) is a subcommittee of the AIA’s Historic Resource Committee (HRC) and is charged with responding to requests for assistance on endangered historic properties. The team is committed to identifying, understanding and helping to preserve the architectural heritage in this country and internationally...Continue Reading

Making Policy Symposium
By Robert Silman, ROBERT SILMAN ASSOCIATES STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS

Proceedings of the symposium held at Pocantico Conference Center (Rockefeller Brothers Fund) in November 2008 titled "Sustainability and Historic Preservation -- Making Policy"...Continue Reading

Historic Preservation Programs at the University of Southern California
By Ken Breisch, Ph.D., Director, Graduate Programs in Historic Preservation

Studies in Heritage Conservation at the School of Architecture at USC were inaugurated in 1993 when Jeffery Chusid established the Summer Short Courses in Historic Preservation. After fifteen years this class continues to meet every July for two and a half weeks of intensive field trips and lectures that explore the wide range of disciplines associated with preservation practice in the United States…Continue Reading

Sustaining the Existing Building Stock

During the 2009 AIA National Convention held in San Francisco this past May, the AIA Historic Resources Committee sponsored and presented a workshop titled “Sustaining the Existing Building Stock: the Greatest Challenge of Architecture 2030”.

The workshop faculty was led by Carl Elefante, FAIA, principal and director of sustainable design at Quinn Evans | Architects. His associates on the podium were Jean Carroon, FAIA, principal, Goody Clancy & Associates; Don Horn, AIA, director of the PBS Sustainability Program for the GSA Public Buildings Service; Ralph DiNola, Associate AIA, principal, Green Building Services Inc.; and Tristan Roberts, managing editor of Environmental Building News. This all-star team gave us more proof that the current downturn is good for traditional building.

The following article, Silver Lining, is written by Peter H. Miller, President of Restore Media, and contains a detailed summary of key concepts presented by the workshop faculty. This article originally appeared in the June 2009 issue of TRADITIONAL BUILDING, and is presented here with permission of the author….Read More


Window Replacement Myths and Facts

The Lousiana SHPO office has published an article accessible from the National Council of State Historic Preservation Officers debunking the most commonly held misconceptions about the replacement of existing historic windows with modern manufactured windows. The article is brief and very informative and can be used to help explain these important issues with property owners seeking to improve the energy performance of their historic buildings..Continue Reading

Places that Count Book Review
By Ashley R. Wilson, AIA, ASID

When preservaton architects nominate buildings and districts to the National Register or working within the parameters of Section 106 Review, they rely on the established parameters of age, integrity, significance to an event and architectural style…Continue Reading

The AIA Historic Resources Committee of Los Angeles Breakfast Meeting
November 9, 2009 | Los Angeles

The Historic Resources Committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects invites all members at the annual conference of the Associated for Preservation Technology International to attend a breakfast meeting on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, from 6:30 am to 7:45 am...Continue Reading 

2010 Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) Program Request for Proposals

The SDAT program provides technical assistance and process expertise to help communities develop a vision and framework for a sustainable future. An informational conference call has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, 2009, at 3 p.m. ET to discuss the RFP process and to address questions regarding the SDAT program. To help the team tailor the conference call to address your needs, send your questions and RSVP to communitiesbydesign@aia.org. Dial-in information will be sent directly to those who express interest. Please note that 2010 applications are due November 13, 2009.

Saarinen’s Bell Labs Waits to be Unshackled
By Michael Calafati, AIA, LEED AP, Chair, Historic Resources Committee of AIA New Jersey

The future of Bell Labs, located in suburban Holmdel, NJ – an hour’s drive from Manhattan, remains uncertain...Continue Reading


Simplify. AIA Contract Documents' user-friendly software makes it easy to write rock-solid contracts with a proven standard. Learn more.

This issue of Preservation Architect is sponsored by Marvin Windows.

Preservation Architect is prepared by the Communications Sub-committee of the AIA Historic Resources Committee. James Malanaphy, AIA, is the 2009 sub-committee chair and, Jonathan Spodek, AIA, is the 2009 Advisory Group liaison. The committee members are Kwendeche, AIA; Wendy Hillis, AIA; Michael Mills, FAIA; Ashley Robbins, AIA; Don Swofford, FAIA; Mark Thaler, AIA; Brett Roeth, Assoc. AIA; Raymond Plumey, FAIA.