Architecture Commons^™

What Were School Officials Thinking: The Abandonment Of Historic Schools In Rhode Island, Carolyn Jane Reid

Historic Preservation Theses

This thesis, What were School Officials Thinking: The Abandonment of Historic Schools in Rhode Island, addresses the problem that historic schools are being abandoned in favor of new construction because based on the literature there is the perceived relationship between school facilities design and pedagogical outcomes, there are state and local policies that discourage the use of older or historic schools, and there is uninformed decision making. The purpose of this research was to determine the issues and policies that are most given as to why historic schools are abandoned in Rhode Island through a survey research methodology. This was …

A Return To Manning The Post: The Adaptive Reuse Of Publically Owned Fire Control Stations From The Second World War, Donald J. Sevigny

Historic Preservation Theses

This project examines the adaptive reuse potential of World War II-era fire control stations situated on public lands. The goal was to show the economic feasibility of reusing these derelict structures while simultaneously raising awareness of the scarce resources from our nation’s recent past. This has been done by conducting existing conditions assessments, forming scopes of work, attaining cost estimates, and creating cost analyses on three individual stations within two case studies in the northeastern United States. The cost analyses were based on Donovan Rypkema’s pro forma spreadsheet templates from the Feasibility Assessment Manual for Reusing Historic Buildings. Through this …

Interpreting The Standards: Design Professionals & Historicized Design, Alexandra D. Skerry

Historic Preservation Theses

Research Question: This thesis intends to discover how and why architects make design decisions for projects in historic districts. Subquestions are based on the methods of architects; differing opinions between preservation and architectural professionals; and the inconsistent interpretation of standards and guidelines.

Results: The researcher was able to analyze each informant and position them on a self-defined design spectrum. A visual representation of this spectrum can be found in Appendix D.

Practical Implications: The results of this study show a conflict that prevents Standard 9 from both allowing the progression of contemporary architectural theory in historic areas, and requiring a …