Architecture Commons^™

Re|Fab : How The 10% Investment Tax Credit Can Aid In The Creation Of A Prefabricated System For The Rehabilitation Of Non-Designated Historic Structures, Nakita Ann Johnson

Theses (Historic Preservation)

Historically known as “the Workshop of the World”, Philadelphia was home to numerous industries that served as financial anchors for the neighborhoods surrounding them. However, due to a loss of industry these anchors have become dangerous, attractors of unsavory activity, and impediments to growth and safety. In order to reconnect the frayed social and economic fabrics that exist surrounding these buildings, a balance must be created between the building’s historic significance and the contemporary needs and potentials of the surrounding area. Although, many of these vacant buildings are old enough to be considered historic most are not historically designated. While …

A Technical Study And Conservation Proposal For The Glass Mosaic Decoration Of Villa Caparra In Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Yaritza Hernández

Theses (Historic Preservation)

This thesis examines the exuberant cement-embedded glass mosaic ornamentation of Villa Caparra, an early architect’s residence in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico in order to document the materials, methods of fabrication and installation; and, to analyze the present condition. The study will rely on archival records, in situ investigation, material analysis and physical testing with the purpose of developing a preliminary conservation plan for remedial and long term preservation.

Cultural Heritage In Conflict: World Heritage Cities Of The Middle East, Elvan Cobb

Theses (Historic Preservation)

Following World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the political and population dynamics of the Middle East changed dramatically. New national borders, defined either by western mandates or by local sovereignties, included peoples and architectural legacies from a variety of religions and ethnicities. Under the unifying pressures of national ideologies, the diverse groups of the Middle East that coexisted under the Ottoman Empire were often pitted against each other. These negative dynamics among people were expressed as conflicts involving the built heritage of the 'other.' These conflicts sometimes took center stage, sometimes occurred stealthily and under the …

Preserving The Neighborhood Theatres Of William Harold Lee, Mark Edward Donofrio

Theses (Historic Preservation)

The American cinema tradition faces pressures to adapt architecturally, economically, and culturally to the postmodern age as Hollywood-oriented megaplexes, the internet, satellite/cable television, and DVD mail delivery services such as Netflix compete with the communal neighborhood theatre. Consequently, each year numerous historic theatres are either demolished or gutted to provide more commercially viable alternatives, prompting the National Trust for Historic Preservation to designate historic American movie theatres as one of the “11 Most Endangered Places” in 2001. Without concentrated efforts to preserve and to adaptively reuse these endangered movie theatres, many theatre proponents argue that cinematic experience will soon become …

The Economics Of Rehabilitation For Affordable Housing Projects: Are The Secretary Of Interior's Standards For Rehabilitation A Significant Barrier To Project Completion, Helen Johnson

Theses (Historic Preservation)

No abstract provided.

New Neighbors In Old Neighborhoods: Explaining The Role Of Heritage Conservation In Sociocultural Sustainability And Gentrification, Charles William Lawrence

Theses (Historic Preservation)

Cities are struggling with their deteriorated urban neighborhoods. When reinvestment is promoted and new residents move in to these neighborhoods, some older residents are displaced by rising costs of living. This process is called gentrification. Critics have implicated heritage conservation as a cause of gentrification, stating that conservation programs select an exclusionary historicism separate from an authentic lower-class reality. However, in many cases heritage conservation tools are applied by individuals, communities, not-for-profits, and governments to anchor residents to their neighborhood in the face of gentrification. Several case studies are analyzed to determine how different neighborhoods have experienced gentrification and how …

Branding The Southwest: A Preservation Plan For The Fred Harvey Houses, Patrick W. Kidd

Theses (Historic Preservation)

No abstract provided.

Philadelphia Neighborhood Conservation: Using Public Policy To Protect Historic And Threatened Residential Neighborhoods, Lindsey E. Allen

Theses (Historic Preservation)

Neighborhood conservation is largely dependent on a municipality’s zoning code. Many tools for protecting neighborhoods are embedded into the zoning code, and residents should be able to rely on them to provide a basic level of protection to neighborhood character. Local historic districts are common regulatory tools that are added as an overlay district and have regulations and standards that supplement those provided by the base zoning districts. However, to utilize this more restrictive tool, neighborhoods must qualify based on a variety of criteria related to the significance of the area and the amount of historical integrity that remains in …

Implementing Archaeological Conservation During American Nation-Building Efforts, Meaghan Colahan

Theses (Historic Preservation)

This thesis seeks to define best practices for implementing the conservation of archaeological sites as part of a broader system of cultural heritage protection within the framework of United States nation-building efforts. The ransacking of the Baghdad Museum, plus the widespread looting of the Iraq’s archaeological sites, makes it clear that measures for cultural property protection within the United States government military framework deserve a critical analysis. First, the importance of protecting cultural property during armed conflict will be examined from a historical and military perspective. Next, previous American nation building attempts are discussed to give a sense of the …

Commemoration And Protest: The Use Of Heritage Trails To Connect Women's History With Historic Sites, Marissa J. Moshier

Theses (Historic Preservation)

Women's heritage trails employ the theme of women’s history to link historic sites across cities or entire states. As shifts in preservation practice have begun to promote greater diversity in the interpretation of historic sites, these trails serve as educational tools and initiatives for heritage tourism that create networks of women’s history sites. The trails also serve as public commemorations of women’s roles in American history and as protests against the absence of women in the interpretation at historic sites. Through case studies in Boston, New Jersey, Maryland, and upstate New York, this thesis considers the motives and goals of …

Certainty In The Uncertainty Of Venice: John Ruskin And The Daguerreotype Photographic Process, Crystal Leah Medler

Theses (Historic Preservation)

John Ruskin was among the first to embrace photography as a tool for preservation of historic architecture. His use of the newly invented daguerreotype photographic process in Venice, beginning in 1845, altered the way he documented architecture and aided in his mission to spread awareness of what he believed to be destructive restoration that was conducted throughout Venice in the mid-nineteenth century. Ruskin used the daguerreotype photographic process to produce a record of architecture in Venice which was his implicit form of preservation – an alternative to the destructive restorations he encountered. Ruskin's interaction with the daguerreotype changed his way …

Evaluation Of Cleaning Methods At The Fleisher Art Memorial Sanctuary, Alison K. Haley

Theses (Historic Preservation)

The thesis proposes to investigate cleaning methods for the differing material surfaces (stone and plaster) that are intended to appear uniform, as is the case for the south interior wall of the Fleisher Art Memorial Sanctuary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Effectiveness of cleaning methods is evaluated based upon uniformity of appearance, precision, and degree of damage to surface. Methods of measurement as well as damage thresholds have been established.

This project attempts to answer the following questions:

• What is the best approach to cleaning differing substrates in order to achieve a uniform result?
• What effect do these techniques have on the …

Alien And Distant: Rem Koolhaas On On Film In Lagos, Nigeria, Joseph Godlewski

School of Architecture - All Scholarship

This article appears in TDSR volume XXI, II, 2010.

The abstract below is from the article:

This article seeks to evaluate Rem Koolhaas’s investigations of the sub-Saharan megapolis of Lagos, Nigeria. The literature on Lagos produced by Koolhaas and the Harvard Project on the City has been both lauded and criticized by several sources. Less attention, however, has been paid to two documentary films chronicling their Lagos “research studio.” The central component of this article is a close reading of these two films. It concludes that the research studio is a potentially effective method for learning about cities, though what …

Sustainable Place Making: Australian Exemplars, Christopher Wren

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

This paper provides the background to the case studies that will be presented at the conference. It is aimed at providing a concise view of what constitutes a sustainable place and the important subtleties in achieving an active, walkable and safe environment that is diverse, humane and attractive to people.

Green Infrastructure And Ecological Networks: Teaching Landscape Planning In Collaboration With Municipalities In Helsinki Region Two Examples Of Vantaa And Sipoo, Kati Susi-Wolff, Virva Kajamaa, Kaisa Laine, Sirkku Huisko

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

The Bologna Declaration, a new European two-cycle degree system was adopted in Finnish universities in 2005 (The Bologna Process...2010). The W5W2 project (2007-2009) supported the implementation of the Bologna process in the Finnish Universities in order to strengthen their the positions in the European Higher Education Area and to strengthen quality assurance in universities and polytechnics (Five Years, Two Degrees…2010). The project has concentrated on cumulative learning. Knowledge should accumulate in the long-term memory during the studies. In landscape planning education the aim has been to pedagogically support this cumulative process.

Since 2005 there has been a co-operation between Aalto …

Olmsted Park And Parkway System For The 21st Century, Robert G. Shibley, Lynda H. Schneekloth

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

This story begins with Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision of new urban form -- of green space woven into a city fabric. When the city leaders brought Olmsted to Buffalo, NY in the 1860s to replicate the successful Central Park of NYC, he transcended the Central Park concept that he and Calvin Vaux had designed and implemented. Instead, he envisioned not a place, but a system -- a system of green that would be accessible to citizens throughout the city (Kowsky 1991). The Buffalo Park and Parkway System was Olmsted’s first experiment with bringing together a collection of spaces and uses …

Rethinking Greenways Design In Context Of Sustainable Development: Towards Landscape Synergism, Archana Sharma

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Greenways design and planning has been largely framed as a multi-functional, multi-objective approach to address socio-cultural and ecological concerns (Fabos,2004; Hough 2004, Steiner, 2002; Fabos, 1995, Ahern, 1995; Ndubisi, 1995; Forman,1995). Social well-being, identity and memory have been predominant socio-cultural concerns while biodiversity preservation and natural resources conservation have been key ecological concerns. These concerns have now been superseded by the more urgent concerns of sustainable development such as availability of energy resources, both food and fuel. Whether and how the design and practice of greenways meets these sustainable development challenges is the primary question raised through this paper.

The …

Planning For Change In The Boston Metropolitan Area (Usa): Exploring The Relationship Between Urban Greening And Socio-Economic Processes, Robert L. Ryan, Paige Warren, Susannah Lerman, Kate Taylor, Eric Strauss

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Global population growth is increasingly concentrated in urban areas, degrading natural resources and threatening long-term sustainability of both human and biotic systems. Even in a developed nation like the United States, urban areas are expected to double in population and land area over the next fifty years (UNFPA, 2007). In order to plan for a more sustainable urban future, there is a need to understand the relationship between the socio-economic forces that are driving land use and land cover change, and the resulting impacts upon the ecosystem state and structure of the urban forest (Colding, 2007). In particular, this study …

Improving Small Cities Competitiveness Through Greenway Planning And Design: Vila-Franca-De-Xira Case Study, Lisboa Metropolitan Area, Portugal, Luís Ribeiro, Teresa Dias

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Greenway concept as a strategy to support landscape planning and design has been addressed in research studies and publications worldwide (Fabos and Ryan, 2006). However, to fully understand the significance of greenways as a mean to improve cities landscape, the analysis of the design and implementation levels are crucial in order to assess its efficiency towards life quality and acceptance by local populations. This paper aims to further research the role of greenways on medium/small cities in Portugal, as a mean to improve their competitiveness.

Through the case study of greenway design and implementation in the city of Vila- Franca-de-Xira …

Sustainable Landscaping For Paradise: Persian Garden, Samira Pasha, Somayeh Rokhgireh, Ali Pooladi

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

This paper introduces the ecological design techniques used to ameliorate harsh environmental conditions in traditional Persian gardens. Hot and dry weather of the Plateau of Iran, scarcity of water and sand storms has shaped large scale decisions (location, water systems) as well as small scale considerations (choice of plants, incorporation of architectural elements and water channels). The gardens in return, impact environmental conditions in large scale (towns and villages) and small scale (walkways and buildings).

This paper discusses passive strategies used in Persian gardens to create comfort conditions with regards to temperature, humidity, and light. This includes introducing resource management …