Sectors

The sixty-point, two year Columbia program requires studio and course work and the preparation and defense of a thesis. In the first year, two studios develop basic capacities, first, to understand and argue for the significance of old buildings and districts, and, second, to organize and implement preservation plans. The studios are supported by required core courses in the foundations and sector sub-specialties of preservation as a discipline: design, history and theory, conservation and planning, including the law.

The second year is devoted to advanced courses and workshops in sectors of specialization, to electives from the Program, the School and the University and to the preparation of a thesis. Theses are expected to be substantial, publishable works of original insight, research and argument.

The Columbia Preservation Program offers sub-specialization in four sectors of historic preservation work.

Design Sector

Design concentrates on the development of skills in reading the meanings of old architecture and artifacts, understanding their public functions and creating, presenting and advocating programs for change. Specialized courses include the second year Design Workshop carried out jointly with the Third Year Advanced Architectural Design Studio and focused on the analysis and advocacy of proposals for the preservation and development of major modern monuments. Design workshops have addressed World Monuments in Mexico City, Chandigarh, Brasilia and Caracas. Design theses are in depth analyses of the meanings of historic architecture, artifacts and landscape and, for qualified students, opportunities for original design work.

History/Theory Sector

The history/theory sector concentrates on the development of a deeper understanding of the history manifest in historic architecture and of the theoretical justifications of efforts to understand and preserve it. Students are exposed to the complex intellectual issues facing practitioners, and asked to connect present day work to broader patterns in the history of ideas, buildings, and environments. Seminars and courses in the Program, the Architecture School and the University engage architecture, urbanism, landscape and related developments. History/theory theses pursue original research in the history and theory of historic preservation.

Conservation Sector

The conservation sector concentrates on laboratory and field work with traditional and innovative building materials and systems to develop resources and techniques for the analysis, stabilization and repair of historic buildings, artifacts and landscapes. Columbia's conservation laboratory is continuously available for testing, teaching and research. Field work includes hands-on exploration of historic resources in New York City and elsewhere. Conservation theses propose, test and correct new and old techniques of architectural conservation.

Read the Conservation Workshop reports:
Van Cortlandt House Museum Clues to the Past: An Investigation in Architecture (2007)
The Bartow-Pell Mansion (2006)

Planning Sector

The planning sector explores the full range of legal strategies, planning tools and incentives available for the protection of structures, districts and landscapes. Sector work seeks to increase the understanding of the connections between historic land development patterns and contemporary political and economic contexts. It introduces students to governmental and non-governmental entities involved in preservation and examines current legal and policy issues.

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Columbia University 1172 Amsterdam Avenue New York, New York 10027