The topic of this creative project is a historic garden created in Muncie, Indiana, in the second decade of the 20th. century. The garden is presently in a state of decay. This study has traced the garden's history, examined its significance and described its present condition in order to outline a restoration proposal. The proposal has aimed at reestablishing the original formal organization of the garden, reconstructing the former planting scheme and suggesting a future use for the property.In addition, this study has briefly discussed the importance and unique difficulties associated with the preservation of historic gardens in comparison with the preservation of buildings and works of art. / Department of Architecture

This creative project has been initiated and researched out of the need for development of historic district guidelines for Anderson, Indiana's wonderous West Eighth Street and West Central Historic Districts. This study included the consultation, involvement and approval of the Anderson City Planning Department, the Anderson Historic Preservation Commission and district residents.In addition, this guideline document has intended to be used as a reference and resource tool in the legal development of district control of regulations and enforcement procedures. The purpose of this project has been to protect the integrity and maintain the character of Anderson's districts while providing education as to the importance and value of preserving our historical treasures. / Department of Urban Planning

My main objective is to reveal and illustrate the patterns and processes underlying the practice of ecological restoration in post-colonial landscapes. To focus my analysis, I asked what these patterns are, and how they inhibit or enable the Iwor (Ainu Traditional Living Space) Restoration Project (IRP). The IRP is a state-funded project aimed at improving the well-being of Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan. I used interviews, participant observation and text analyses to elucidate the dynamics at work in and around the project. My findings suggest that colonial and technological practices inhibit good ecological restoration practices in IRP by disengaging people, or more subtly preventing them from engaging with it. Colonially, structural and discursive marginalization maintains economic deprivation through denying progressive conversations about community empowerment. This process also reinforces subjective power relationships of Wajin, the ethnic majority, dominance. Technologically, I observed signs of Borgmann’s (1984) “device paradigm” that are both institutionally (e.g. government agencies) and materially (e.g. infrastructure and tools) driving the IRP toward technological restoration and away from focal restoration. This was particularly apparent in such instances where means and ends were inverted, or the government agencies were inaccessible to the Ainu participants. These patterns in turn make IRP less appealing for Ainu and other local peoples. However, I also found that the room for creativity and attention to human-nature relationships in ecological restoration allow creation of the new space where Ainu can assert their values more strongly. This is the Kotan Iwor where the space embodies both Iwor and iwor, two representations of Wajin and Ainu views of the “Traditional Living Space” respectively. My findings on Kotan Iwor (the traditional settlement restoration site) suggest that there is a significant potential in the ecological restoration practices because of the practice’s inherent capacity to bring people and the landscape together in a creative context. With careful attention to colonial, technological, and other dynamics, good ecological restoration practices have the potential to restore and improve the well-being of indigenous and non-indigenous community members alike. / Graduate

The growing realisation of national identity in the face of the threatening envelopment of globalisation has been one major inducement for the increasing practice of conservation of the world's built heritage. This study examines contemporary practices of heritage conservation, analyses their assumptions and theories, and critiques their guiding instruments, the Charters. It adopts a cross-cultural perspective to assess the merits, validity and agency of the most recognised Charters, to discuss their various adaptations, particularly in the Syrian context, and to reveal their Eurocentric focus and indifference to cultural concerns. The study also identifies the inadequacies of the Charters with regard to ethics and morality and proposes a code of ethics for urban conservation. The study focuses on the notion of authenticity that has been an issue of debate since the Nara Conference on Authenticity in 1994. Although arising from, and specifically aimed at, World Heritage Listing, authenticity is recognised as a complex issue dependent on cultural understandings. The study adopts the view that authenticity judgements are linked to a great variety of sources of information, such as form, design, materials, function, traditions, techniques, use, location and spirit that are context-related. It articulates a wide scope for conservation practices at the architectural, urban and archaeological levels, negotiating the breadth and depth of authenticity issues beyond mere fabric and function. The study promotes a dynamic view of authenticity, one that acknowledges socio-cultural change with its inevitable impact on the conditions and conservation of historic environment. The ethical code this study presents places the responsibility on the conservator to ensure the continued conservation and stewardship by the resident society. The study argues that both the Venice and Burra Charters, being the most recognised conservation instruments, are pitched at individual monuments. It critiques the widely held assumption that maintains applicability of these Charters to area and urban conservation. It draws attention to the paradox that while these Charters address the ethics of conservation their scope are limited to individual buildings, whereas the Charters concerned with urban and area conservation, like the Washington Charter, are inadequate with regards to ethical and cultural issues. By articulating a code of ethics for urban conservation, the study attempts to bridge a significant gap. The study draws on, and contextualises its arguments in, the rich and varied archaeological and urban heritage of Syria, a country that is still coming to terms with the practices, implications and problems of heritage conservation. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2004.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008-01-15. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-36). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-113). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2007. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-154).

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 10, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-68). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Montana, 2009. / Title from author supplied metadata. Description based on contents viewed on August 12, 2009. Author supplied keywords: native plant restoration ; nonnative seed ; road decommissioning ; road removal ; seed establishment ; soil bulk density ; water holding capacity ; watershed restoration. Includes bibliographical references.