In Search of Black Bohemia: Reparative Preservation in Manhattan’s Tenderloin

This studio focused on Manhattan’s historic Tenderloin district, 1870 - 1920. The students explored the underrepresented stories of Black life and the respective spaces in the district, through socially- and spatially-oriented themes associated with the lived experiences of Black people. Using historic context analyses, students identified six intersecting issues (“Key Findings”) that contributed to community harm, survival, and resilience:

Systemic White Supremacy Being Black in White Space Black Agency and Claiming Black Space Displacement Black Institutions Seeded in the Tenderloin Encountering Black Spaces Today.

Applying the concept of restorative justice, students designed reparative preservation interventions to address this harm and to acknowledge the significant legacy of the Tenderloin:

PERMANENT SPACE St. Christopher Club Commemorative Basketball Court Community Center Airing Black Bohemia Silent Protest Commemoration 23rd Precinct Station – Restorative Justice Center

TEMPORARY SPACE: INSTALLATIONS Walking Tour: Tracing Lost Black Churches Worth’s Museum + Haymarket E.R. Williams: “The Well-Known Architect of New York”

OCCUPYING SPACE: EVENTS & PROGRAMS Resources for Community Boards 4 + 5 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School Program Roots & Blooms: Flowering Histories of West 28th Reclaiming the Narrative Concert Series Legacy In Play: Honoring Barron Wilkins

DIGITAL SPACE Adding Significant Places of Black History to Digital Maps Re-mapping Memory: Interactive Storytelling Maps

HP-UP Joint Studio, Fall 2024 Heritage, Climate, and the Built Environment: Traditions and Futures of Earthen Architecture in Kumasi, Ghana

As a joint studio engaging both historic preservation and urban planning students, the scope of this course was both past-and future-oriented. Understanding how built environment knowledge is transferred across generations, and how that transfer is challenged or enabled, informs our understanding of history and its influence on social-spatial dynamics today.

Earthen architecture served as the topic for this interdisciplinary interrogation. Structures built with raw earth are found across the globe. But the non-industrialized nature of earthen materials means that local knowledge is particularly important to both the conservation of heritage and the continued use of earth in construction. The climate crisis poses opportunities for re-examining and redefining the role of earthen architecture as both a constructive culture and a low-carbon technology.

The Asante Traditional Buildings (ATBs) in Kumasi, Ghana, served as a case study for interrogating the challenges of and opportunities for integrating traditional knowledge and contemporary innovations. Each ATB represents a long history of using earth not only for construction, but as a medium for spiritual practice and symbolic representation of beliefs. Each is embedded within a community whose history is integrally connected to its care and maintenance, and the practice of building with earth.

FREDERICK

Advisor: Paul L Bentel

Preserving the Past, Serving the Present: The Role of Contemporary Restaurants in Balancing Modern Functionality with Historic Preservation in New York City

This thesis explores the intersection of historic preservation and contemporary restaurant design, focusing on how adaptive reuse transforms historic buildings into dining spaces. In an era where commercial real estate faces uncertainty, particularly in post-pandemic urban contexts, restaurants have emerged as key players in maintaining the visibility and functionality of historic structures. Through a case study analysis of four restaurants – Hawksmoor NYC, Eleven Madison Park, Portale Chelsea, and Aqua NYC – this research evaluates how these functional establishments negotiate architectural adaptation, historical identity, and public engagement. Using a qualitative methodology incorporating archival research, site observations, expert interviews, and patrons’ perception analysis, the study assesses the balance between preserving a building’s historical integrity and meeting the functional demands of a restaurant. Key findings highlight that material authenticity, spatial synergy, and intentional storytelling significantly enhance a restaurant’s role in reinforcing public appreciation of historic buildings. However, challenges such as regulatory constraints, economic pressures, and evolving design trends often dictate the extent of preservation efforts. This research contributes to the discourse of adaptive reuse by demonstrating that restaurants are not merely commercial enterprises but active participants in urban historic preservation. The study’s findings offer valuable insights for preservationists, policymakers, and designers seeking to enhance sustainable and culturally resonant urban environments.

LILY GARCIA

Advisor: Bilge Kose

Pieces of a Park: Connecting Art, Cultural Heritage, and People at Mount Rainier National Park

The role of art in and about national parks is omnipresent, yet it remains a niche research area. This thesis seeks to further and nuance this area of research by placing the discourse within the purview of historic preservation. The primary argument of the thesis is that art helps socially construct the cultural heritage of national parks and ascribes values to them. These values then allow the public to connect, mentally and emotionally, to national parks, and, in that way, art advocates for their historic preservation. The three primary research questions are: (1) How does art influence the social construction of national parks as cultural heritage? (2) What values are ascribed to national parks through art? (3) How does art affect advocacy and contribute to historic preservation decisions?

To allow for in-depth research, one national park is primarily focused on. Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state serves as the case study and was selected based on its influence, representativeness, and lack of prevalence in current historic preservation scholarship. After theoretical background and a historical analysis, the works of three different kinds of artists at Mount Rainier are examined. The writings of John Muir, the photographs of Asahel Curtis, and the sketches of Dee Molenaar, all provide insight to how art socially constructs the cultural heritage of Mount Rainier National Park, ascribes values, and, in turn, advocates for its historic preservation.

ANNE MAXWELL FOSTER

Advisor: Tim Michiels

Passive Cooling Revisited: Assessing the Decarbonization Potential of Window Awnings for Existing Buildings in New York City

A rather simple piece of fabric stretched on a metal frame seems to hold remarkable potential to effectively reduce carbon emissions and significantly contribute to the decarbonization of historic buildings. Does it make sense to advocate far and wide for a seismic return of the whimsically colored and striped fabric window awnings of our recent past? What carbon reduction capabilities can we unlock from these lost shading devices? This thesis investigates the overlooked potential of window awnings as a passive cooling strategy for historic and older buildings amid accelerating climate change and the anticipated rise in both global temperatures and air conditioning use. The research reevaluates awnings not as a decorative attachment for thermal comfort, but as an historically-grounded technology with renewed relevance to reduce operational carbon emissions generated from mechanically cooling buildings. With an interdisciplinary approach that integrates architectural history, building science, trade-off analysis, and three-dimensional computer energy modeling, a feasibility study was completed to assess the impact of a contemporary awning installation on a Harlem, New York apartment house constructed in 1901. Energy modeling calculations demonstrated a potential savings of 98 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over a 15 year period. At scale, estimated across even a modest share of New York’s existing building stock, these savings represent a significant carbon reduction opportunity. Yet, despite demonstrated effectiveness and historical ubiquity, window awnings are largely absent from contemporary use, retrofit strategies, and climate-based incentive programs. This thesis argues that historic preservationists are uniquely positioned to champion the strategic reintroduction of awnings through awareness and policy reform, positioning them not as nostalgic embellishments, but as tools for passive cooling, energy efficiency, and decarbonization of the existing built environment.

CHARLOTTE FRANCES CRUM

Advisor: Andrew Dolkart

Open the Old Urban Fortress: Assessing Community Perception of Value in New York City’s Historic Armories

New York City’s historic armories, notable for their medieval fortress-like architectural design, grand street entrances into ornamented vestibules, and massive interior drill sheds with exposed truss roofs, rarely continue to serve military purposes and have since been adaptively reused or left vacant, risking potential demolition. While detailed architectural histories of these buildings have been published, their contemporary value as historic and cultural resources to their local communities has yet to be explored. This thesis analyzes New York City’s historic armories to better understand the methodologies through which preservationists can use quantitative and qualitative data to assess how communities value their historic and cultural resources. Data was collected from the public on two specific case studies (the Fort Washington Avenue Armory and the Bedford Union Armory) via interviews and an online survey to assess these views directly. Additionally, a spatial analysis was undertaken to identify potential patterns of reuse, vacancy, and demolition across all of New York City’s armories. The findings indicate that community-driven/informed adaptive reuse projects have increased the local perception of the value of historic resources in New York City’s historic armories, which in turn aids in the continued preservation of these buildings. By evaluating outcomes of completed adaptive reuse projects of armories in New York City, this information can be used to forecast the impact of future projects that center public use. Preservationists can use the data collection methodologies proposed through this thesis to understand how communities perceive historic buildings as an important part of their heritage.

ILLY AUERBACH

Advisor: Sarah Sher

Pushka, Candles, and a Roof: Heritage-Making at New Holy Jewish Burial Sites in Israel

This thesis examines the emergence of new Jewish sacred burial sites in contemporary Israel, focusing on graves of tsaddikim (righteous figures) that have transformed into pilgrimage destinations within a single generation. Unlike canonical holy places rooted in longstanding tradition, these sites arise through grassroots veneration, ritual repetition, and spatial improvisation—often before receiving formal recognition. The study introduces the concept of accelerated heritage-making to describe the rapid sacralization of space through popular devotion and material intervention, shaped by historical ruptures, demographic change, and shifting political conditions. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, site documentation, interviews, and media analysis, the thesis presents a comparative analysis of over a dozen sites, ranging from remote graves in the periphery to contested locations in urban settings. It explores how sacredness is produced through the interaction of human agents (or “saint agents”), built form, and symbolic narrative. Rather than anchoring itself in a single discipline, the research weaves together perspectives from anthropology, architectural theory, and heritage studies to ask how sanctity becomes legible through devotion, design, and power. Key analytical themes include the role of vernacular design in guiding devotional behavior, gendered patterns of access and visibility, the involvement of nonprofit organizations in managing and branding sanctity, and the tensions between Mizrahi religious culture and state heritage paradigms. The thesis argues that these burial sites function as laboratories for understanding how space becomes sacred, not only through belief, but through construction, maintenance, and contestation. By tracing the social, spatial, and institutional dynamics at play in the making of contemporary sacred geographies, the study contributes to broader discussions on heritage, identity, and religious authority in Israel. It also raises critical questions for preservation practice in contexts where sanctity is emergent, informal, and deeply politicized.

CONRAD GRIMMER

Advisor: Paul Bentel

Preserving the Hong Kong Corner House: A Modern Everyday Architecture

This thesis focuses on the development and future of the Hong Kong “corner house” typology – contextualising and analysing its development within Hong Kong’s postwar reconstruction, population growth, evolution in building regulations, influence of the Modern movement in Hong Kong and China, and vernacular infill by residents. Additionally, the thesis aims current threats towards the typology’s continued existence in the form of neighbourhood redevelopment and revitalisation, explore its importance to Hong Kong’s urban fabric, and situate the corner house within Hong Kong’s larger preservation ecosystem and its role as a part of modern built heritage.

Corner houses proliferated across a rapidly growing postwar Hong Kong from 1950 to 1965. A variation of Hong Kong’s typical postwar mixed-use apartment buildings, the corner house is a common sight across the city, particularly in Kowloon’s largely working class neighbourhoods such as Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan and Mong Kok. Recognisable by their cantilevered balconies that employ a distinct curve due to their placement on corner lots, and ribbon windows resulting from illegal enclosures, these buildings tell the story of a growing city. This typology is increasingly threatened due to their age and large-scale redevelopment efforts across Hong Kong, and its importance to Hong Kong’s modern built heritage is worthy of recognition.

MARIEKE VAN ASSELT

Advisor: Carol Clark

Repair Through Recognition: Historic Preservation and Public Housing Redevelopment

Over the last several decades, federal policy shifts have undermined the financial sustainability of public housing, leaving local housing authorities with limited tools to address aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance. This thesis explores the reparative potential of integrating historic preservation strategies into public housing redevelopment, with a focus on the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) use of the federal Historic Tax Credit through the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program. PACT is New York City’s implementation of the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, which enables the conversion of Section 9 public housing units to more stable Section 8 contracts. This transformation unlocks access to private investment and tax credit financing for rehabilitation. Using a restorative justice framework, this thesis evaluates the representational and procedural justice implications of these conversions, particularly when public housing developments are nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. Through interviews and case studies, this study argues that while PACT presents risks associated with privatization, it also offers an opportunity to recognize past harms and leverage preservation as a tool for equity in public housing development.

NICOLÁS MORAGA

Advisor: Kyle Normandin

Landscapes of Ruination: The assessment of Industrial Ruins Through Emergent Values. The Case of Chambeque Historic Site in Lota, Chile

Industrial ruined sites represent a complex heritage category, where material loss, landscape transformation and social reinterpretation challenges traditional approaches to heritage assessment and management. However, Industrial ruins not only implies physical deterioration, but also generates new emerging values associated with memory, ecology, social attachment and reappropriation. In this context, conventional heritage assessment methods tend to focus on material and architectural criteria, neglecting these dynamic and multi-scale aspects related with deindustrialized territories.

This study proposes a methodology to evaluate the ruined industrial sites, based on a specific case study; the Ruins of Chambeque Historic Site, in Lota, Chile, through an approach that integrates landscape evolution, material transformation and emerging values that arise in the process of ruin. Based on the contributions of Tim Edensor, Alice Mah and Caitlin DeSilvey, the method considers the aesthetics of deterioration, working memory, ecological regeneration and the potential for future uses and ruin management. It proposes a multiscale analysis comprising three dimensions: (1) the transformation of the industrial landscape over time, identifying losses and new spatial dynamics; (2) the characterization of the material ruin, its processes of change and spontaneous interventions; and (3) the identification of emerging values that allow new management strategies, from the curatorship of deterioration to the social reappropriation of space.

Through this approach, the study seeks to broaden the criteria for heritage valuation, proposing an evaluation model adaptable to other industrial sites in ruins. By integrating aesthetic, ecological and social dimensions in the valuation of industrial heritage, it opens the possibility of developing more sensitive and sustainable management strategies, capable of recognizing and enhancing the dynamic character of these spaces.

DREW CITRON

Advisor: Andrew Dolkart

Sites of Cultural Significance to the Abortion Rights Movement in New York City

This thesis topic weaves together several strands of preservation scholarship. First, reinterpretation of cultural sites wherein certain histories have been neglected; second, the movement to outline use and programming of activist and feminist architecture; and lastly, the spatialization of place when there is nowhere to go. I will explore these three pillars of postmodern preservation in order to highlight the dearth of study surrounding womens’ history in the Civil Rights Movement and abortion rights history in particular within New York City. The objective of this thesis is to expand the power of preservation as a field to protect the rights and safety of women, highlight and educate about histories we cannot afford to revisit. As abortion access in America becomes more and more constrained, this thesis acts as a defense of space and place, figuratively, within ebbing political tides and, literally, within the geographic bounds of New York City. Place matters, place memory matters, and preserving this history teaches us invaluable lessons for future placemaking, equitable access and continued women’s rights. In the current political climate, when a woman’s right to choose is once again extremely limited and threatened across the United States, drawing attention to the long and dynamic history of the abortion rights movement can affect social change and bring awareness to the general public. Although New York City has maintained its Pro-Choice legal status since three years prior to Roe v. Wade, to illuminate the struggle that took place for centuries before that and to connect this history with actual places and people, is a powerful preservation exercise. I draw attention to this invisible history by mapping sites of clinics, community organizing and activist spaces to illustrate the power of place. This thesis is an exercise in preservation of locations - some with architectural value, and some without - which have tremendous cultural value. In the context of this thesis, the architectural value or lack thereof is irrelevant to my definition of significance. There are currently no National Register listings nor New York City Landmarks designated for their contributions to this important history.

SOPHIE HASS

Advisor: Norma Weiss

The Color of Spirits: Investigating Haint Blue in the American Lowcountry

“Haint Blue” is believed to be a spiritually protective, or apotropaic, architectural finish said to have been initially created using indigo. The tradition of Haint Blue includes painting specific architectural elements, such as door frames and window frames, in varying shades of light blues, greens, and deep indigo-like shades. The color and its placement are believed to deter malicious spirits, known as “Haints,” from a building’s vulnerable areas. Such coatings are directly associated with the Gullah Geechee people of the American Sea Islands, who descended from enslaved African people. Despite Haint Blue’s assumed history beginning with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the color’s story is rarely mentioned in historic writings, academic texts, and scholarly studies. Neither a succinct nor an elaborate history of Haint Blue exists. The following thesis studies the history, myth, and composition of Haint Blue paint in the American Lowcountry, investigating the color’s origins in Africa and its development in the American Sea Islands; the research walks through all existing descriptions of Haint Blue in literature, discovering when it became a well-known term in the 1970s. Along with understanding the paint’s spiritual significance, the thesis conducts a novel scientific study of Haint Blue, working to debunk the centuries-old assumption that the color was originally made with indigo. The study determines that Haint Blue’s initial pigments were synthetic ultramarine and Prussian blue, not indigo. Ultimately, this thesis indicates the importance of studying architectural finishes, which preserve the histories and humanities of people who have too long been erased and excluded from historic and architectural narratives.

CECELIA LACLAIR HALLE

Advisor: Shreya Ghoshal

Toward a Preservation-Oriented Study of Nonresidential Cultural Displacement: A Case Study of Times Square’s Male Public Sexual Culture

Within the field of historic preservation, recent discussions have emerged surrounding the study of cultural displacement, that is, the erosion of long-standing, place-based cultural norms and practices caused partly by the closure of long-operating community institutions. This thesis considers a lesser-studied aspect of cultural displacement, examining how the phenomenon affects nonresidential publics. Such research may reveal histories of places that are absent or excluded from dominant preservation narratives. This thesis employs two qualitative methods—in-depth interviewing and online forum comment analysis—to establish an augmented preservation-oriented approach for studying nonresidential cultural displacement. The methods were applied to a historical case study, focusing on the erosion and stigmatization of place-based social, cultural, and sexual practices found within the gay male adult theaters of Times Square during the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project between approximately 1970 and 2005. To test both methods, in-depth interviews were conducted with public-facing advocates for the adult theaters in Times Square, and comments on online forums were collected and analyzed for their shared recollections of the same subset of theaters. The qualitative methods tested in this thesis were evaluated for their efficacy in identifying experiences of nonresidential cultural displacement. In-depth interviews were found to elicit extended narratives, often touching on social-spatial-cultural dimensions of cultural displacement. In contrast, online forum comment analysis more readily identified physically observable neighborhood change. When applied together, the dual methodologies present a robust qualitative approach to assessing nonresidential experiences of cultural displacement. Through the thematic analysis conducted with datasets from both qualitative methods, this research also demonstrates how the study of nonresidential experiences of cultural displacement offers preservationists a nuanced and replicable method to identify, characterize, and interpret (counter)narratives from marginalized publics.

JERRY SCHMIT

Advisor: Andrew Dolkart

Metal, Mylar, and Mirrors: On the Significance of the Interiors of Kevin Roche

Are Late Modern and Postmodern commercial interiors worthy of preservation? How can a better understanding of these spaces help substantiate their significance as heritage? In light of increasing threats of renovation and demolition, this thesis explores these questions through the architectural interiors of Irish-American architect Kevin Roche, a prominent figure in Late Modern and Postmodern design whose interior work has recently faced preservation challenges. Contributing to ongoing discourse on the conservation of architecture from this era, the thesis focuses on Roche’s use of mirrored surfaces in the 1970s and 1980s, situating these design choices within the broader context of Postmodernism. To closely examine Roche’s work, this study traces his design evolution and systematic architectural approach, drawing on published literature and an interview with one of his former principals. It also considers concurrent cultural and labor shifts in the United States that shaped the work of Roche and his contemporaries. These themes are explored through case studies of three key buildings, supported by primary source material from the Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Associates archive at Yale University. Spurred by the recent demolition of one of Roche’s late-1980s buildings, this thesis argues that his later work is equally—if not more—significant than his earlier projects. His prolific use of mirrored finishes during this period reveals a thoughtful response to shifting material conditions, environmental concerns, and urban constraints, underscoring the lasting value of these interiors in the architectural heritage canon.

SHEREEN AL MATER

Advisor: Debora Barros

Preserving Saudi Modernism

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as we know it today, has a long and culturally rich history. That history has been safeguarded by the Saudi Ministry of Culture since its establishment, starting with the humble beginning of the Antiquity and Museums Agency of 1964. Over the past few years, not only did the Ministry of Culture expand, but it also generated new cultural disciplines to include under its governance. What started as a simple agency developed into eleven cultural commissions that one grand Ministry governs. Some of the new commissions include Film, Literature, Music, Theater, and Architecture. Not only did preservation efforts expand discipline-wise, but they’ve also expanded to render a more complete image of Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage. Dating back to the Antiquity and Museum Act, the focus was primarily on preserving vernacular architecture and archeological sites of importance. However, now that the focus has shifted, preliminary efforts have been extended to preserve the plethora of cultural disciplines that exist around the country. This thesis aims to analyze the preservation efforts targeted towards a specific era of architecture. That era is the one often referred to as the Leap, one of the most significant periods of architectural history and development in the country. The Leap, which was rendered a leap due to the surge in development following the commercialization of petroleum, birthed Modernism in Saudi Arabia. While the Leap brought about unique pieces of architecture, the significance of that architecture has been historically neglected in books that historicize the Modernist era, despite Modernism making its way into the Saudi landscape on the pens of American architects. This thesis aims to highlight the importance of Saudi Modernism by analyzing the current preservation policies, potential preservation challenges, and outcomes using the work of SOM and Yamasaki as a basis.

WENQIN MENG

Advisor: Sarah Sher

Preserving Authenticity: A TDCLH Framework for Xijiang Miao Village

This thesis introduces the Tourism-Driven Cultural Landscape Heritage (TDCLH) framework, a new analytical model to examine how tourism reshapes both tangible and intangible heritage in indigenous cultural landscapes. Using Xijiang Miao Village in Guizhou, China as a case study, it explores how tourism-driven development has transformed architecture, space, cultural practices, and community identity—raising critical questions about authenticity, commodification, and sustainable preservation. By integrating interviews, surveys, spatial analysis, and comparative global cases, the research offers context-sensitive strategies for balancing economic growth with cultural continuity, challenging conventional preservation approaches and advocating for a more adaptive, community-centered heritage management.