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M.S. Historic Preservation

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Ziming Wang

Spring 2021 - GIS for Preservation
Bilge Kose

Whitney Bayers, Madeline Berry, Kevin Borja, Yu Chen, Madeline Entrikin, Xianqi Fan, Yaxin Jiang, Timothy O’Grady, Kenneth Warner, Kun Yang, Runpeng Zhao

Fall 2018 - Advanced Studio III - Joint Historic Preservation/Urban Planning Studio
Erica Avrami, William Raynolds

Bingyu Lin, Qian Xu

Fall 2019 - Advanced Studio III-Historic Preservation Technology Studio
Carlos Bayod Lucini

Seo Jun Oh

Fall 2019 - Advanced Studio III-Historic Preservation Technology Studio
Carlos Bayod Lucini

The Columbia Community: Promoting Inclusion Through Preservation

Studio Publication

Fall 2016 - Advanced Studio III - Joint Historic Preservation/Urban Planning Studio
Erica Avrami

Studio Publication

Spring 2017 - HP Studio II
Erica Avrami

Zhiyue Zhang, NinaLang

Fall 2018 - Advanced Studio III-Historic Preservation Technology Studio
Adam Lowe, Carlos Bayod Lucini

Micah Tichenor

Fall 2018 - Studio 1-Historic Preservation Studio
Andrew Dolkart, Kim Yao, Claudia Kavenagh

Drew Barnhart, Claire Cancilla

Fall 2019 - Advanced Studio III-Historic Preservation Technology Studio
Carlos Bayod Lucini

Valerie Smith

Spring 2021 - GIS for Preservation
Bilge Kose

Luxi Yang

Spring 2021 - HP Studio II
Erica Avrami, Morgan O'Hara

Overview

The M.S. in Historic Preservation Program curriculum educates students to create new, future-oriented roles for built heritage that promote inclusive and resilient communities. With a particular focus on adapting to climate change and promoting social justice, the curriculum integrates humanist, scientific, and technological approaches necessary for students to shape the future of the profession: including the reuse of buildings, the design of adaptation technologies, planning and policy innovations, social and historical research, materials science and digital computation applied to the 3D scanning, documentation, assessment, monitoring, and care of built heritage. The program frames preservation both as an experimental form of creative expression and as a critical form of collective action guided by philosophical, ethical, and critical thinking, supported by evidence of its benefits to society, and enabled by emerging technologies and policy tools. We teach preservation as a social, material, and environmental process; as a way of thinking and acting through buildings and places of cultural significance to improve the built environment and people’s quality of life. The program’s curriculum and academic activities express an ongoing commitment to anti-racist systemic change as reflected in its anti-racism statement of purpose and the 2021-2022 anti-racism task force summary report.

Founded in 1964 as the first Masters Program in Historic Preservation in the United States, the program embodies a pioneering spirit by continually questioning how the discipline actively responds to the changing social values and climate challenges associated with architectural and cultural heritage, so as to ensure that the historic built environment better serves present and future generations.

The program prepares its graduates in the theoretical and practical foundations of preservation so they can be agents of positive environmental, cultural, and social change. Students are drawn from multi-disciplinary backgrounds such as architecture, art history, history, urban planning, engineering, science, art, urban design, archeology, anthropology, sociology, philosophy and jurisprudence. Students bring to bear their respective interests on preservation. By focusing on historical, aesthetic, technological, environmental, social and political questions, the program cultivates deep engagement with the ideas and practices that constitute preservation, and the broad multi-disciplinary skill sets that it draws upon.

The program reflects a global outlook in its diverse faculty, alumni, visiting scholars, advanced researchers, as well as in the locales where students work. It emphasizes real-world engagement with buildings, sites and communities near campus and beyond. Through study and engaged research in New York and New Jersey, as well as countries such as Italy, Cuba, Ethiopia, France, Haiti, Mexico, Norway, and the United Kingdom students apply skills in the real world and co-create knowledge with multiple publics. Learning beyond the lab and classroom is likewise enhanced through faculty-led publications, studio reports, research, public lectures and events such as the annual Fitch Colloquium.

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People

Jorge Otero-Pailos, Program Director

Sarahgrace Godwin, Program Manager

Preservation Technology Laboratory

Jorge Otero-Pailos, Director of the MS Historic Preservation Program at Columbia GSAPP introduces the School’s newly renovated laboratory. Read more about the Preservation Technology Laboratory.

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Preservation Technology Laboratory

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M.S.HP Student Life Highlights, 2019-2020

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2018 Information Session on the Historic Preservation Program

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Documentation of Advanced Technology Studio III

Curriculum

Columbia’s Historic Preservation Program provides a comprehensive foundation in the discipline through place-based studios, field work, laboratory research, lectures, and seminars. The curriculum encourages students to apply theoretical concepts, critical thinking and problem-solving in real-life contexts. With core strengths in design and technology, planning and policy, and history and theory, the curriculum mirrors the disciplines preservationists must engage and collaborate with in the professional world. The course of study provides fundamental knowledge of the spectrum of the discipline, and then affords each student the opportunity to develop an area of deep focus through a one year thesis.

The centerpiece of the curriculum is a three-semester studio sequence, supported by core coursework. These interdisciplinary and cross-cultural learning experiences encompass skill-building in historical, social, and technical research, data collection and visualization, community and stakeholder engagement, formal and material analyses, condition surveys, planning and policy development, interpretive and adaptive design, and the formulation of evidence-based proposals for action. Exploring questions of research and interpretation, cultural identity and values, justice and equity, sustainability and resilience, creative expression and process, these studios position the work in the field within broader societal and environmental contexts, and within broader realms of critical inquiry.

During the summer between the first and second year, the Historic Preservation Program strongly suggests the completion of one or more internships or work experiences as part of a student’s education and career development, and provides support in identifying opportunities in New York and elsewhere.

A capstone of the curriculum is a student thesis. As a critical piece of independent research, the thesis allows students to augment their course and fieldwork to further develop specialized knowledge in an aspect of the preservation enterprise. Students develop their thesis work with the support of faculty to forge new lines of inquiry and practice, as well as to engage with members of the discipline as they launch their careers.

For those students who would like to like to specialize further or expand their studies, GSAPP offers dual degrees, allowing Historic Preservation students to jointly study Architecture (MArch), Urban Planning, or Real Estate Development.

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Sustainable Building Renovation in the Tropics
2019 Summer Workshop Instructors Belmont Freeman, Michael Adlerstein

Historic Preservation Showcase
2019 End of Year Show

Sustainable Building Renovation in the Tropics
2019 Summer Workshop
Instructors Belmont Freeman, Michael Adlerstein

Experimental Preservation Seminar: Scent
Instructors: Instructors: Jorge Otero-Pailos, Andreas Keller
Spring 2019
Final Review at the Intrepid Museum

Historic Preservation Showcase
2019 End of Year Show

Experimental Preservation Seminar: Scent
Instructors: Instructors: Jorge Otero-Pailos, Andreas Keller
Spring 2019
Final Review at the Intrepid Museum

Experimental Preservation Seminar
Instructors: Jorge Otero-Pailos, Andreas Keller
Spring 2017
Visit to Morgan Library with Master Perfumer Carlos Benaim (IFF) and Curator Christine Nelson

Experimental Preservation Seminar
Instructors: Jorge Otero-Pailos, Andreas Keller
Spring 2017
Smell collecting equipment above Golden Legend (1521), Morgan Library

Experimental Preservation Seminar
Instructors: Jorge Otero-Pailos, Andreas Keller
Spring 2017
Morgan Library Conservator Maria Fredericks discusses materials and adhesives in historic books

Faculty Adam Lowe and Carlos Bayod use Lucida to 3D scan surface of 14th century panel, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Advanced Technology Studio III
Instructors: Adam Lowe and Carlos Bayod
Scanning of San Baudelio de Berlanga, Spain

Advanced Technology Studio III
Instructors: Adam Lowe and Carlos Bayod
Scanning of San Baudelio de Berlanga, Met Cloisters, NY

First-year Historic Preservation Field Trip to Ellis Island

First-year Historic Preservation students start work on Ellis Island’s ruined hospital, a U.S. National Monument

Microscopy Workshop at the Highbridge Laboratory Facility

Historic Preservation students make molds in the Conservation Lab

Concrete, Cast Stone, and Mortar Class with John Walsh

Students visit the Museum of Modern Art Conservation Laboratory

John Walsh working with GSAPP Interns on Frank Lloyd Wright blocks at MoMA Conservation Lab

Historic Preservation Alumni event, New York

3D point cloud model of Avery Hall, outcome from 3D scanning and photogrammetry workshop led by Mario Santana Quintero

Michael Adlerstein takes the joint Architecture/Preservation studio to the United Nations in NY

Experimental Preservation Seminar: Scent
Instructors: Instructors: Jorge Otero-Pailos, Andreas Keller
Spring 2019
Final Review at the Intrepid Museum

HISTORIC PRESERVATION PODCAST

Columbia GSAPP · Historic Preservation Podcast - Season 2

Studio Reports

Visit an archive of studio reports completed as part of the M.S. in Historic Preservation Program here, and browse through highlights below.

Preservation as a Tool for Social Inclusion in Poughkeepsie, NY<br>Spring 2017

Yangon at a Turning Point: Progress, Heritage, and Community

Heritage, Education, and Urban Resilience: Building Alternative Futures in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Fall 2017

Heritage, Tourism and Urbanization in Lalibela, Ethiopia; Fall 2016

The Gingerbread Houses of Port-au-Prince

Eero Saarinen US Embassy in Oslo

Borders, Boundaries, and Exchanges Between People and Things Advanced V Studio; Fall 2018

GSAPP GLOBAL

NEW YORK-BASED STUDIOS

Browse the map below to view studio reports focusing on locations in New York.

Current Faculty

Spring 2023 Courses

Course	Semester	Title	Instructor	Requirements & Sequence	Location & Time	Session & Points	Call No.
A4080‑1	Spring 2023	HP Elective Internship	Sarahgrace Godwin	HP Elective		FULL SEMESTER 1.5 Points	11504
A4334‑1	Spring 2023	Modern American Architecture	Jorge Otero-Pailos	HP Required	WARE LOUNGE M 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 1.5 Points	11506
A4839‑1	Spring 2023	Building Conditions Assesment	Kyle Normandin		CONSERVATION LAB - 655 SCHERMERHORN M 2 PM - 5 PM	SES A 1.5 Points	11507
A6419‑1	Spring 2023	International Issues In Preservation	Erica Avrami	HP Elective	409 AVERY TU 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11509
A6689‑1	Spring 2023	Preservation in Cuba: Architecture, Planning, and Public Art	Angela Rojas	HP Elective	115 AVERY TU 9 AM - 11 AM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	14567
A6714‑1	Spring 2023	Experimental Preservation	Jorge Otero-Pailos	HP Elective	200 BUELL TH 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11512
A6750‑1	Spring 2023	HP Studio II	Erica Avrami, Shreya Ghoshal, Chat Travieso	HP Studio HP Required	301 FAYERWEATHER TU + TH 2 PM - 6 PM	FULL SEMESTER 6 Points	11514
A6753‑1	Spring 2023	Thesis II	Jorge Otero-Pailos	HP Required	BY APPOINTMENT	FULL SEMESTER 4 Points	11513
A6856‑1	Spring 2023	Master Class	Robert Hewison	HP Elective	CONSERVATION LAB - 655 SCHERMERHORN T/TH 6:30-8:00, F 2 PM -3:30 PM	SES B (3/20-3/31) 1.5 Points	11516
A4124‑1	Spring 2023	Modern Building Technology	Theodore Prudon	HP Required	PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY LAB - 655 SCHERMERHORN F 9 AM - 11 AM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11505
A6688‑1	Spring 2023	Making Invisible History Visible: Preserving Sites of Cultural Significance	Andrew Dolkart	HP Elective Architecture Elective	412 AVERY F 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	14566
A6702	Spring 2023	Investigative Techniques	Amanda Thomas Trienens	HP Elective	CONSERVATION LAB - 655 SCHERMERHORN W 1 PM - 3:30 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11510
A6705‑1	Spring 2023	Architecture & Development of NYC	Andrew Dolkart	Post-1800 N/W History & Theory HP Elective	200 BUELL W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11511
A6788‑1	Spring 2023	Conservation of Concrete, Cast Stone & Mortar	Norman Weiss, Heather Hartshorn	Building Science & Technology Elective HP Elective	CONSERVATION LAB - 655 SCHERMERHORN M 2 PM - 5 PM	SES B 1.5 Points	11515
A6414‑1	Spring 2023	Digital Heritage Documentation	Bilge Kose	HP Elective	CONSERVATION LAB - 655 SCHERMERHORN W 5 PM - 7 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11508
A4047‑1	Spring 2023	Immeasurable Sites	Emanuel Admassu	Urban Design Seminar Real Estate Elective HP Elective Architecture Elective UP Elective Urban Design Elective	114 AVERY W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11291
A4890‑1	Spring 2023	Conflict Urbanism	Laura Kurgan	Post-1800 N/W S/E History & Theory	300 BUELL SOUTH M 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11405
A4407‑1	Spring 2023	Methods in Spatial Research	Adam Vosburgh	Visual Studies	WARE LOUNGE F 9 AM - 11 AM	SES A 1.5 Points	11410
A4861‑1	Spring 2023	Footprint: Carbon and Design	David Benjamin	Building Science & Technology Elective Architecture Elective	409 AVERY TH 11AM - 1PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11468
A6675‑1	Spring 2023	Resilient Caribbean: Prototyping a Hub for the Dominican Republic	Nelson De Jesus Ubri, Vanessa Espaillat Lovett	Real Estate Elective HP Elective Architecture Elective UP Elective Urban Design Elective	115 AVERY W 7 PM - 9 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	18430
A6897‑1	Spring 2023	Principles and Praxis of Spatial Justice	Ifeoma Ebo	Real Estate Elective HP Elective Architecture Elective UP Elective Urban Design Elective	504 AVERY M 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	11294
Pla6816‑1	Spring 2023	JOINT MSRED/MSUP SEMINAR OPTION	Adam Lubinsky, Melissa Bindra	Real Estate Elective HP Elective Architecture Elective UP Elective Urban Design Elective	M 1:30-3:30	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	18431
Pla6818‑1	Spring 2023	ADV VI STUDIO / SEMINAR OPTION	David Gissen	Real Estate Elective HP Elective Architecture Elective UP Elective Urban Design Elective	M 1:30-3:30	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	18432
PLA6870‑1	Spring 2023	Sustainability and Energy Efficiency for CRE	Adrian Silver	Real Estate Elective	209 FAYERWEATHER TU 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM	SES B 1.5 Points	12012
A4063‑1	Spring 2023	Points Unknown: Cartographic Narratives	Joshua Begley	Visual Studies	WARE LOUNGE F 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	14552