PR-839 Historic Preservation Studio I: Heritage Documentation

5 Credits

The class focuses on the documentation of a New York City neighborhood selected by the instructor with the collaboration of the historic preservation faculty. Studio I is the central focus of the second semester and builds upon the many skills acquired by students in their first semester. This means that history, theory, law, planning, building technology, and materials are all part of the documentation process of the area that students will focus on. This course introduces the student to methods of documenting and interpreting the built environment, emphasizing hands-on involvement through the analysis of a neighborhood in New York City. It stresses research methodology, using library resources, public records, maps, historic documents, images, oral histories, and folklore as well as the interpretation of those findings. Its main goal is to provide students the necessary skills that will allow them to read and document buildings from several different perspectives, such as history, design, material, and evolution through time, through the use of the many tools that are available to preservationists. Studio I provides an important foundation that will be built upon in Studio II. This course also allows students to apply their theoretical knowledge and practice in a real-world setting.