History and Theory of Historic Preservation

Readings

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Introduction: What is historic preservation?	Nora, Pierre. “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire.” Representations 26 (1989): 7-24. Page, Max, and Randall Mason. Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003, introduction and chapter 1. ISBN: 9780415934435. English Heritage. Power of Place: The Future of the Historic Environment. English Heritage, 2000. (PDF) Visit Virtual Reality Lab and Cyark
2	The roots of historic preservation in the United States	Page, Max, and Randall Mason. Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003, chapters 2-4. ISBN: 9780415934435. West, Patricia. Domesticating History. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999, chapter 1. ISBN: 9781560988366. Ruskin, John. The Lamp of Memory. New York, NY, 1885. Manifesto of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 1877. Hunter, Michael. Preserving the Past: The Rise of Heritage in Modern Britain. Stroud, UK: A. Sutton, 1996, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780750909518. Phillipot, Paul. “Historic Preservation: Philosophy, Criteria, Guidelines.” In Preservation and Conservation: Principles and Practices. Washington, DC: National Trust for Historic Preservation/Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982, pp. 367-82. ISBN: 9780891330295. Denslagen, Wim. “Restoration Theories, East and West.” Transactions/Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings 18 (1993): 3-7. Feilden, Bernard. “Introduction to Architectural Conservation.” Chapter 1 in Conservation of Historic Buildings. Oxford, UK: Architectural Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780750658638. Sansom, Joseph. “Description of an Indian Mound.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, p. 369. ISBN: 9780812218527. Anon. “Washington’s Examples.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, p. 372. ISBN: 9780812218527. Norton, Charles Eliot. “The Lack of Old Homes in America.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 373-374. ISBN: 9780812218527.
3	Preservation in the 20th century: History and policy	History Page, Max, and Randall Mason. Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003, chapters 5-8. ISBN: 9780415934435. Pressey, Park. “Preserving the Landmarks.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 376-377. ISBN: 9780812218527. Burns, Helen. “Colonial Williamsburg.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 378-380. ISBN: 9780812218527. Mumford, Lewis. “The Disappearance of Pennsylvania Station.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 381-386. ISBN: 9780812218527. Kirk, Russell. “Destroying the Past by ‘Development’.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 387-388. ISBN: 9780812218527. Contemporary policy National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. (PDF) National Park Service, National Register Evaluation Guidelines and Eligibility Criteria National Park Service, National Register Process for Listing National Register of Historic Places and National Trust for Historic Preservation Massachusetts Historical Commission and What You Need to Know about Listing on the National Register (PDF) The Venice and Burra Charters Matthews, Anne. “Making the List.” Preservation 50, no. 4 (1998): 65-66. Koolhaas, Rem. “Preservation Is Overtaking Us.” Future Anterior 1, no. 2 (2004). (PDF - 2.0 MB) Page, Max. “The Gerrymandered Lower East Side Historic District.” New York Daily News, April 26, 2001.
4	The politics of significance: The President’s House on Independence Mall, Philadelphia	Gaskell Miller, Tamara. “Editorial.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 129, no. 4 (2005): 369-370. Lawler, Edward, Jr. “The President’s House Revisited.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 129, no. 4 (2005): 371-410. Devine Fanelli, Doris. “History, Commemoration, and an Interdisciplinary Approach to Interpreting the President’s House Site.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 129, no. 4 (2005): 445-460. Deacon, Harriet. “Remembering Tragedy, Constructing Modernity: Robben Island as a National Monument.” Chapter 11 in Negotiating the Past: The Making of Memory in South Africa. Edited by Sarah Nuttall and Carli Coetzee. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780195715033. Guha-Thakurta, Tapati. “Archaeology and the Monument: An Embattled Site of History and Memory in Contemporary India.” Chapter 10 in Monuments and Memory, Made and Unmade. Edited by Robert S. Nelson and Margaret Olin. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780226571584. Green, James. Taking History to Heart: The Power of the Past in Building Social Movements. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000, chapter 6. ISBN: 9781558492424. Visit The Civic Engagement Initiative and the International Coalition of Historic Site museums of Conscience including the 2003 Conference Report.
5	Preservation and interpretation: the Emily Dickinson museum	Planning documents for the Museum will be distributed in class. Be sure to visit Emily Dickinson Museum advance of the trip.
6	The politics of significance II: Poe, McKim and the NYU law school project Guest speaker: Susan Lowance, Kohn Pedersen Fox	Hayden, Dolores. “Urban Landscape History: The Sense of Place and the Politics of Space.” In The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780262581523. Zerubavel, Yael. “The Politics of Remembrance and the Consumption of Space: Masada in Israeli Memory.” In Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space. Edited by Daniel J. Walkowitz and Lisa Maya Knauer. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004, pp. 233-252. ISBN: 9780822333647. Czaplicka, John. “The Palace Ruins and Putting the Lithuanian Nation into Place: Historical Stagings in Vilnius.” In Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space. Edited by Daniel J. Walkowitz and Lisa Maya Knauer. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004, pp. 167-188. ISBN: 9780822333647. Mehrotra, Rahul. “Constructing Cultural Significance: Looking at Bombay’s Historic Fort Area.” Future Anterior 1, no. 2 (2004). (PDF - 3.3 MB) Wellman, Judith. “It’s a Wide Community Indeed: Alliances and Issues in Creating Women’s Rights National Historical Park, Seneca Falls, New York.” Chapter 14 in Restoring Women’s History through Historic Preservation. Edited by Gail Lee Dubrow and Jennifer B. Goodman. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780801870521. Hoagland, Alison. “Industrial Housing and Vinyl Siding: Historic Significance Flexibly Applied.” In Preservation of What, for Whom?: A Critical Look at Historical Significance. Edited by Michael A. Tomlan. Ithaca, NY: National Council for Preservation Education, 1998. ISBN: 9780966272314.
7	If you can’t see it, can you preserve it? The danger of “integrity”	Ladd, Brian. The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press, 1998, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780226467627. Stille, Alexander. “The Culture of the Copy and the Disappearance of China’s Past.” Chapter 2 in The Future of the Past. New York, NY: Picador, 2003. ISBN: 9780312420949. Meade, Teresa. “Holding the Junta Accountable: Chile’s ‘Sitios de Memoria’ and the History of Torture, Disappearance, and Death.” In Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space. Edited by Daniel J. Walkowitz and Lisa Maya Knauer. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004, pp. 191-210. ISBN: 9780822333647. Carter, James. “Touring Harbin’s Pasts.” In Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space. Edited by Daniel J. Walkowitz and Lisa Maya Knauer. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004, pp. 149-166. ISBN: 9780822333647. Page, Max, and Steve Balkin. “Chicago’s Preservation Blues.” The Christian Science Monitor, December 28, 2000. Brookstein, Mark D. “When History is History: Maxwell Street, “Integrity,” and the Failure of Historic Preservation Law.” Chicago-Kent Law Review 76, no. 3 (2001): 1847-1885. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Bulletin 15 - Look especially at Part VIII.
8	Adaptive reuse: The Charles Street jail redevelopment Guest speakers: Pamela Hawkes and Wolfgang Rudorf, Anne Beha architects	History & Culture: Preservation
9	Preserving contemporary life: The ugly and ordinary and the high-style Guest speaker: Helene Lipstadt, MIT	Aponte-Pares, Luis. “Appropriating Place in Puerto Rican Barrios Preserving Contemporary Urban Landscapes.” In Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America. Edited by Arnold Alanen and Robert Melnick. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780801862649. Lopate, Phillip, Robert A. M. Stern, Theodore H. M. Prudon, and Witold Rybczynski. “What Should We Do with 2 Columbus Circle.” Preservation, Nov/Dec 2004. (Also read other articles about 2 Columbus Circle.) Page, Max, and Steve Balkin. “Chicago’s Preservation Blues.” The Christian Science Monitor, December 28, 2000. Rozhon, Tracie. “Old Baltimore Row Houses Fall before the Wrecking Ball.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 400-403. ISBN: 9780812218527.
10	Preserving modern architecture: The case of Aalto in Cambridge Guest speaker: David Fixler, Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, architecture and engineering	Woodberry Poetry Room: DOCOMOMO U.S. Issues Statement Online Forum: Aalto’s Woodberry Poetry Room Fixler, David N. “The Renovation of Baker House at MIT: Modernism, Materiality, and the Factor of Intent in Preservation.” APT Bulletin 32, no. 2/3 (2001): 3-11. Sherfy, Marcella, and W. Ray Luce. National Register Bulletin: Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Properties That Have Achieved Significance within the Past Fifty Years, 1998.
11	Reflections on contemporary preservation debates: the World Trade Center and New Orleans after Katrina	Readings on the World Trade Center and preservation after Katrina will be distributed in class. Tung, Anthony M. Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2002, chapter 5. ISBN: 9780609808153. Carrns, Ann. “How a Brand-new Development Came by Its Rich History.” In Building the Nation: Americans Write about Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. Edited by Max Page and Steven Conn. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 397-399. ISBN: 9780812218527.
12	Final presentations