New Models of Practice: Historic Preservation Symposium • March 5 - 7
The University of Kentucky Department of Historic Preservation will host its fourth historic preservation symposium March 5 - 7. This year's symposium, "New Models of Practice," to be held in 209 Pence Hall of the College of Design, will feature prominent speakers from historic properties development, landscape preservation, urban design and restoration. Each of these leaders in the field will discuss the new challenges and opportunities confronting preservation.
The symposium aims to showcase how historic preservation continues to be important in shaping cities and rural landscapes.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that preservation presents among the most compelling cases for sustainable design," notes Dean Michael Speaks, of the UK College of Design. "Our symposium will focus on emerging preservation practices that seek to transform the challenges presented by the current economic crisis into opportunities for urban development.”
The UK Department of Historic Preservation, which offers a graduate program based on field study, research and community activism, is known for its work documenting and interpreting historic buildings and landscapes and advocating their restoration, preservation, reconstruction and rehabilitation. The department's annual symposium builds on the work being done by the program inside and outside the classroom, through offering a platform for national and international historic preservation leaders to discuss and educate professionals from the region and the public at large on relevant issues in the field today.
"New Models of Practice" begins March 5 with talks on historic preservation property management by speakers Bill Weyland and Tom Gilmore. Weyland, managing director at Louisville's CITY Properties Group, has led several projects at major Louisville landmarks including work at the Glassworks building, Louisville Slugger Museum and Bat Factory, and renovation of The Henry Clay. Gilmore is director of Los Angeles' Gilmore Associates, known for its acquisition and development of historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood.
The event continues March 6 with talks by Robert Z. Melnick, professor and former dean of University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts, and Rahul Mehrotra, professor of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founder and principal of Mumbai's Rahul Mehrotra Associates. Melnick will discuss historic landscape architecture. Published widely on theoretical and practical issues relating to cultural and historic landscapes, he has served as lead and consultant for several projects across the country, including ones in Hawaii, California, Oregon, Iowa, Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Mehrotra will talk about urban conservation. A leader in the field in India, he has been involved with urban conservation projects in Bombay and previously served on the advisory committee that advises the city's Municipal Commissioner on Conservation of Heritage Buildings and Artifacts.
The symposium will conclude March 7 with talks by Edmund P. Meade, principal and director of preservations at New York City's Robert Silman Associates; Scott Diaz, managing director of Houston's kubit; and Mark Hanna, laser scanner account manager at Indianapolis' FARO Technologies, all of whom will discuss different aspects of preservation technology. Meade's work includes the preservation of a 500-hundred-year-old stone church in Puerto Rico and restoration of the wood structure of Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms in New Jersey. Diaz's passion for cutting-edge technology brought him to the kubit world and has led to sustainable growth for the company. Hanna has more than 10 years of experience in land surveying and engineering and has an extensive background in precise field measurement techniques using total stations, GPS and laser scanning equipment.
All lectures associated with this historic preservation symposium are free and open to the public.
For a schedule of the events presented as part of "New Models of Practice," visit the UK College of Design Web site online at www.uky.edu/Design/updates/UK-CoD-NewModelsofPractice.pdf.
