This thesis explores the ways in which LGBTQ+ individuals in Philadelphia ascribe significance to various places based on oral history interviews and additional primary source material collected initially for the National Park Service Northeast Regional Office’s LGBTQ+ Heritage Initiative. By examining stories from LGBTQ+ individuals of places that matter most to them in Philadelphia, this thesis argues that historic preservationists can expand their definition of significance to include personal testimony and broaden their practices to better engage the communities whose histories they seek to preserve. / History

This thesis is an analysis of methods by which modern interventions uphold the existing architectural fabric of a historic place, thereby establishing a connection and legitimacy that should endure for the life of both the building and the setting. / Master of Architecture / Although there are several approaches architects may take when designing new structures in historic settings, this thesis studies two particular methods that offer the most promise of success and chance of survival for subsequent generations.

Architecture is a pathway to capture memories in the physical presence. Like a charm bracelet, a path leads you through individual segments, each telling their own stories. "Community Narratives for Architecture Spaces" investigates how to choreograph design strategies around the memories of the Christiansburg Institute, a historically African American school, and its cultural legacy. Materiality, lighting, and programming articulate specific memories within the spaces of this project. It is essential to have moments highlighting the past, present, and future while individuals maneuver through the site. There is a life cycle where things must end, and new opportunities can grow from them. This cycle can be beautiful yet ugly to navigate through. Architecture highlights the essence of this cycle by portraying how beginnings can be born from the old. An old site can be transformed into a new one, creating new memories and perspectives while preserving existing ones. Christiansburg Institute encompasses all of these beliefs. This design proposal honors the life cycle of the institute. / Master of Architecture / Historically African American school in Southwest Virginia for approximately 100 years. At its prime, it reached over 185 acres with over 14 buildings. It now stands with less than five acres and only one surviving building. This thesis is a design proposal to rejuvenate the current site in honor of its legacy and contributions bestowed to the African American community. Ethnographic storytelling documents the cultural identity of a group of people or a specific experience. Historically, storytelling has documented the history of African American communities. To directly honor the alumni of the site, I interviewed four individuals to discuss their memories of the school's spiritual and physical presence. Their stories will remain documented and help understand the Christiansburg Institute's space and its legacy. These recollections of memory were analyzed and dissected to influence the new design proposal. As an emerging designer, the relationship between social narratives, the role of an architect, and creating community space are imperative. Community members should have a voice in how the design process shapes their neighborhoods and buildings. Community Narratives for Architecture Space; Christiansburg Institute uses Christiansburg Institute as a case study to further explore the process of engaging the community with schematic development procedures. Ideally, these actions will influence future design and planning strategies to be more intentional and inclusive.

Historic preservation and urban renewal are often thought to be polar opposites. Where one seeks to preserve, the other generally seeks to destroy in order to rebuild. While the programs appear on the surface to be in opposition, this Thesis seeks to demonstrate that there is a fundamental connection between the underlying legal principles of historic zoning and urban renewal. To that end, the jurisprudence involving historic zoning and aesthetic regulations before and after the seminal urban renewal case of Berman v. Parker has been collected and analyzed. This analysis revealed that courts were hesitant to support aesthetic, and by extension would have been unlikely to support historic zoning, prior to the Supreme Court’s validation of urban renewal programs in Berman. For example, in 1949 the Supreme Court of Massachusetts stated that specifically stated that a zoning regulation cannot be enacted solely to preserve the beauty of a community. In Berman, however, the United States Supreme Court justified urban renewal on the basis that governments should be able to condemn and regulate property for the creation of a more attractive community. An analysis of the jurisprudence following Berman indicated that courts were more likely to uphold aesthetic or historic zoning ordinances. For example, in a 1955 opinion, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts cited Berman and stated that, because construction of aesthetically or historically incompatible structures could destroy the historic character of a town, historic zoning ordinances fell within the scope of the police power. In short, the cases identified by this Thesis ultimately indicated that Berman had an impact on the acceptance of aesthetic and historic zoning. Therefore, they suggest that the programs of historic zoning and urban renewal, while seemingly in opposition, share fundamental legal roots.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-244).

Over recent decades, the global focus on climate change and on conservation of resources has brought about a paradigm shift in the adaptive reuse of old and historic buildings. Adaptive reuse is now seen as a key factor in the conservation of land and environment, preservation of cultural identity, and reduction of urban sprawl. Increasingly, engineers, architects, and urban planners are making concerted efforts to realize the reuse potential of existing and outdated structures. Therefore, those involved in building design have studied the viability of adaptive reuse and generally favor the repurposing of old/historic buildings to suit new patterns of occupancy and use without disturbing the environment or increasing carbon footprints. Redesign and reconstruction through refurbishment, remodeling, renewal, repair and retrofitting is carried out to meet new requirements and provide performance that was not in the original design. Buildings are one of the largest energy users in the United States.[1] In total, buildings used around 40 percent of energy in 2015, which accounts for the largest share among forms of energy consumption. Many of the buildings are not energy efficient but do have historic value; while giving them a new purpose, their historic legacy can also be preserved. There are many challenges like program modification feasibility, structural issues and energy efficiency which need to be addressed during pre-construction and can be addressed by careful planning and innovative techniques. To understand the various challenges involving adaptive reuse, this study employs the Clark Hall at the University of Massachusetts to test the efficacy of design and performance interventions. Clark Hall was originally used for science classes and botany research and later was converted into painting studios. Presently the building structure is still intact, provides enough room for program modification, and has significant reuse potential. Therefore, Clark Hall is a suitable candidate for adaptive reuse as an academic office building that satisfies contemporary building standards and meets the growing demand for office space. Through this project, an attempt has been made to explore and understand the complexities and challenges as well as the various possible ways to change the function of Clark Hall from a defunct structure to a modern energy efficient and environmentally sustainable academic office building with measures for energy conservation through contemporary innovative design approaches. The research work begins with a background study of the building’s history and its different purposes, along with three precedent studies of contemporary and innovative design examples. It also identifies relevant local, federal, and state building and zoning regulations and incorporates existing energy-saving technologies and materials appropriate to Clark Hall. Keeping in mind the financial viability of project, an attempt has been made to control and bring down the operating and the maintenance costs by carrying out extensive energy modelling and simulations to support these recommendations. In conclusion, the final outcome of my project is a design plan for the adaptive reuse of Clark Hall as a new energy efficient and environmentally sustainable office building for the benefit and the use of University of Massachusetts Amherst that mitigates costs and improves design utility and aesthetics, while preserving its historic value. [1] According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “in 2017, about 39% of total U.S. energy consumption was consumed by the residential and commercial sectors.” https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=86&t=1. October 2018.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

Sustainable development practices and historic preservation efforts are imbued with contradictions, overlappings and shortcomings. Adaptive reuse is a tool for the sustainable preservation of existing building stock that bridges these approaches and more appropriately addresses the values of time, energy, place and community with respect to the built environment. Destruction of both material and abstract qualities can be circumvented by actively engaging a site, landscape or context through revealing and crossbreeding complex patterns, traces and perspectives. The value of a datascape is optimized when such a re-contextualization consists of both additive and subtractive manipulations and is flexible, continuous and regenerative. To avoid demolition and severing connections to the past and to extend the potential success of the development of the former Belchertown State School for the Feeble Minded in Belchertown, Massachusetts, I investigated ways by which the existing Auditorium Building and its relationship to the site could be re-contextualized. Since 1992, this defunct state-operated facility has been closed, transferred to the town and considered for economic development. Within the one hundred fifty-five-acre parcel that remains to be developed there are approximately sixty acres of forested areas and wetlands, a freshwater pond, and numerous abandoned school buildings in poor condition. The Auditorium Building, centrally located within the buildable area of the state school parcel, acted as a gateway into the campus and historically served as a gathering, performing and learning space for both school and Belchertown residents. In conjunction with precedent and programmatic research, I mapped patterns of State School site data which included not only existing, visible data but that which is historical, potential and invisible. The interpretation of these vectors, connections and boundaries served as a framework for re-contextualization and aimed to identify contextual attributes that require preservation, accretion or removal. The grafting of this data to the Auditorium Building and its surroundings exposed and affected various patterns of behavior that ultimately impacted its form, program and relationship to the landscape.

Preservation of and reinvestment in the built environment as a redevelopment tool has been used by cities and towns across the country, in many cases providing significant social, economic and environmental benefits. Potential social effects have often been the least explored aspect of sustainable development, especially with regard to preservation, yet they are often the most challenging, particularly given the potential for displacement. This thesis reviews literature where the issues of preservation, redevelopment and sustainability intersect. A set of best practices was developed that can be applied to other cities and towns to help balance preservation- and equity- enhancing activities. Another result of this research is the development of appropriate community indicators to provide means for measuring the effects of preservation on social equity. A selection of the indicators will be applied to two selected case studies (Northampton and Pittsfield, MA) to explore how such indicators can work as a measurement tool, how to best adapt them for a community, and their comparative strengths and weaknesses. The findings section addresses the data at both the fine and coarse grain – for the indicators and best practices as well as for the overall observations from the study process.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy