Historic Preservation and Conservation Commons^™

Da Ste Zhivi I Zdravi: May You Be Alive And Well An Exploration Into Play, Ruination, And Preservation, Levana Elena Rashba

Senior Projects Spring 2023

My thesis explores unconventional architectural representation and themes through the lens of memory and play. I am drawn to the everyday, less heroic moments of architecture and to the celebration of lived life. I use the thematic structure of play throughout my project as a way to approach a site and rethink its space, history, and meaning. The surface is the site with which I am operating, inspired by motifs of weathering, pastiche, palimpsest, and collage to illustrate fractured memory and layered histories. These approaches manifest in a memory map informed by two walks I took this February with my …

“A Certain Brauch:” German-Georgian Palatine And Rhenish Immigrant Houses In Columbia County, New York And Their Vernacular Architectural Roots, Andrew J. Roberge

Senior Projects Spring 2022

In this archaeological and architectural survey of 18th Century Palatine and Rhenish immigrant houses in New York's Hudson Valley, specifically in Columbia County, I track the development of three houses from their earliest vernacular forms to those touched by the Georgian influence. The Georgian worldview, stemming from European Enlightenment ideals, began permeating colonial American society in the 18th Century. It's influence first began to touch the wealthy and elite most connected with mother Europe, and then trickled into more common society. I chronicle and analyze Germantown, NY's Reformed Sanctity Church Parsonage, Germantown, NY's Simeon Rockefeller House, and Clermont, NY's "Stone …

Towards A Revised Approach To Designing From The Outside In: Contextualizing The Preliminary Proposal For The Fourth Addition To Bard College Library, Aidan Galloway

Senior Projects Fall 2022

Before creating the new, architects are faced with the existing. An enormous oak tree might be within the bounds of the site you’ve been hired to build a house on. Do you cut it down, or leave it? A tall brick building might be next door. Do you imitate its scale, its materiality, its style, or do you create something that looks entirely different?

These kinds of questions, while perhaps always fundamental to architecture, were especially pertinent in mid-to-late-twentieth century debates surrounding “context” as architects like Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown challenged the conventions of “orthodox” Modern architecture. “Frank …

A Mass Of What's Departed: Analyzing The Influx Of Middle Class Homeowners And Luxury Development Sustaining The Housing Crisis In Former Brick Manufacturing Hub Kingston, Ny, Deirdre Frances Irvine

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Time Is A Construct(Ion): Heritage And Becoming In Quito's Historic District, Samuel Abate

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Cedar Hill: A Case Study In Preservation And Education In A Digital World, Lin Barnett

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Visit Cedar Hill (now Annandale-on-Hudson) as it stood over a century ago, reconstructed in virtual reality. This interactive project retells an important aspect of Hudson Valley History, its mill communities, which do not get preserved in the archeological record and are not as closely maintained as its neighboring communities of Bard College and Montgomery Place. The project analyzes the structures' changing purposes, as well as their changing architectural qualities, to trace the story of the hamlet's decline.

From The Church Of Disco To Waterfront Ruins: An Analysis Of Gay Space, Liam Nolan

Senior Projects Spring 2019

My senior thesis is an analysis of gay space from the late 1970s to 1980s New York, and I’m questioning how themes of private vs. public, accessibility, race, and economic status dictated where one searched for gay self-expression and community in the built environment. In order to understand how queer spaces functioned architecturally and socially, I’ve chosen to research two opposites: The Saint and the west side piers. The former was a private club in New York City from 1980-1988 and was considered to be the “Vatican of Disco” with a planetarium that could hold over a thousand men, two …

It’S Garfield’S World, We Just Live In It: An Exploration Of Garfield The Cat As Icon, Money Maker, And Beast, Iris B. Engel

Senior Projects Fall 2019

No newspaper comic character enjoys a larger international audience than Garfield. While newspaper comics have been infiltrating the homes of readers in the United States since the 1880s, Garfield has made more of an impact than any other. Brought into existence by Jim Davis in Muncie, Indiana in 1978, Garfield has now gone world-wide. Breaking Guinness world records for most syndicated newspaper comic strip, Garfield has made over 800 million dollars in comic sales alone, making it the largest grossing newspaper comic strip to date. Recognized globally, Garfield is an international icon. Despite these laudations, there has never been an …

Zhang Jinqiu's Museums In Xi'an: Interpreting The City's National And Cultural Identity Through The Design Of Contemporary Museum Architecture, Zijiao Li

Senior Projects Fall 2019

It took extra time for Xi’an to arrange and build its subway system, as it was interrupted by numbers of ancient sites and tombs underground. The government typically replaced the old with the new. It was not easy to commodify a ruined palace from the Han dynasty, rather than a brand-new building. Contradictorily, under the fast transitioning of architecture, those new creations barely embrace the soft power that is imperative for the city. Nevertheless, the best remediation is to build a museum that holds the relics, represents history, and has a stylish look. Additionally, the museum plays a crucial role …

Victorious Athena: The Cult And The Temple Of Athena Nike, Brynlie-Sage Johnston

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College.

Remembering Violent Pasts In Argentina And Chile: An Exploration Of Diverging Memorial Landscapes, Zara Ferro

Senior Projects Spring 2018

What can explain Argentina and Chile’s post-dictatorial divergence in modes of memorializing violent pasts, considering they underwent similar brutal dictatorships and essentially simultaneous transitions to democracy? While in Argentina, public memorials convey a sense of retribution toward the old regime; in Chile, these memorials emphasize reconciliation and a desire to move on from past violence. Looking beyond differences in their democratic transitions and the state of their economies pre- and post-dictatorship, this project identifies activism of human rights organizations as the primary variable for understanding different textures in the politics of memorializing in Argentina and Chile. In Argentina, the politics …

How To Dredge A Lake, Ana I. Bauer

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College.

Fences: Physical And Socio-Cultural Boundaries, Vanessa Baehr

Senior Projects Fall 2018

Fences, walls, and lines exist around the world, across many cultures, and are generally universally understood symbols of defense, inclusion, and exclusion. Barriers are created intentionally and their purposes vary. Fences can act as a tension or relief between public and private spaces. Physical barriers can been seen as metaphors for social dynamics and relations; boundaries can be reflections of both our internal and external landscapes. Incorporates fences / walls from a number of perspectives; historical, anthropological, archaeological, and cultural. Inspired by a reflexive moment in moving to a new town, buying a house, having a garden, and wanting a …

The [E]Motionless Body No Longer: Tracing The Historical Intersections Of Mental Illness And Movement In The American Asylum, Holly Adele Herzfeld

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Multidisciplinary Studies of Bard College.

Bard College Bell Tower Architectural Lighting Project, David Douglas John Bull

Senior Projects Spring 2016

The Bard Bell Tower is located in front of the Fisher Studio Arts Building, between the Bertelsmann Campus Center and the Anna Jones Memorial Garden. Until recently, the tower structure, built by students in the spring and summer of 1965, existed in a slow state of decay due to natural aging and disuse. It is an important piece of Bard’s history that has been ignored in recent years, which is something I set out to change. My Senior Project in Studio Arts is focused on restoring the Bell Tower by stabilizing the structure and implementing a permanent light installation of …

Architectural Constructions Of Memory & The Ruin In Post-1989 Berlin, Gilda Hanna Gross

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

El Valle De Los Caídos: Spain’S Inability To Digest Its Historical Memory, Michael Heard Johnson

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

"Disreputable Houses Of Some Very Reputable Negroes": Paternalism And Segregation Of Colonial Williamsburg, Nora Ann Knight

Senior Projects Spring 2016

This project attempts to intertwine the intentionally separated narratives of the foundation of Colonial Williamsburg and the narrative of Williamsburg's black community.