History / Preservation

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Mark Lamster examines Dallas's efforts to commemorate the tragedy. A new memorial is the latest example of the city's "ambivalent response to the events of November 1963."

November 21, 2013 - The Dallas Morning News

With thousands of historic landmarks in its possession, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plays a key role in protecting the country's historic heritage. A new study claims the agency is neglecting its duty.

November 20, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Archaeologists have discovered what may be "the earliest prehistoric town plan ever found in eastern North America" where the Metropolitan Miami project is to rise. Developers and local officials are discussing how to balance history with progress.

November 18, 2013 - NPR

Writer Kaid Benfield used a recent trip the American Society of Landscape Architects annual meeting in Boston to reflect on what that city can teach us about designing urban parks.

November 17, 2013 - NRDC Switchboard Blog

To meet America's health challenges, planning and public health are becoming reconnected across the country. But a century ago, the fields were "nearly indistinguishable". How did they become disconnected in the first place?

November 10, 2013 - AIArchitect

Buffalo is benefiting from a wave of "microdevelopment" driven by entrepreneurs and young urbanists with a belief in preservation as social activism. By rehabbing vacant properties one at a time they're hoping to turn around a city.

November 8, 2013 - The New York Times

As New York and New Jersey continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy, some residents choose to preserve the watermarks left on their homes and businesses as a way to commemorate their survival.

October 29, 2013 - The New York Times

"The Roaring 'Twenties", an interactive soundscape created by a historian of sound, technology and cultures of listening at Princeton, seeks to immerse people in the sounds of 1929 New York City, and demonstrate that noise pollution is nothing new.

October 27, 2013 - The New York Times

Charles Birnbaum, founder of TCLF, discusses the challenges with preserving and managing significant Modernist landscapes, lifting the veil on the field’s key contributors, and why its easier to love a landscape than a building.

October 21, 2013 - Charles Birnbaum

Recognizing the potential value of its historic homes and industrial buildings, but with few plans for reuse in the immediate future, the City of St. Louis is proposing to establish a preservation fund to mothball some of its 6,000 vacant buildings.

October 21, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Last week, the long saga over the preservation of Bertrand Goldberg's Prentice Hospital entered its nadir with the start of demolition. But could the intensity of the building's defense lead to a reinvigoration of preservation around Modernism?

October 16, 2013 - Next City

Melanie D.G. Kaplan examines a growing trend in adaptive reuse—the transformation of old and underutilized bridges into elevated parks, walkways, and engines of economic development.

October 15, 2013 - SmartPlanet

For those who think architectural history isn’t something to sniff at, a new exhibition at the California College of the Arts aims to convince otherwise.

October 14, 2013 - Archinect

This week the World Monuments Fund (WMF) published their biannual list of the globe's cultural heritage most at risk "from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political, and economic change." 67 sites in 41 countries made this year's list.

October 11, 2013 - Architect Magazine

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM) have reached a settlement with the City of Minneapolis to preserve and rehabilitate Peavey Plaza, ending a lawsuit brought by the groups to prevent demolition.

October 8, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

Told over four parts meant to evoke chapters in a storybook using films, photos, archive materials, text, and miniature games, this "Op-Doc" is a short masterclass in the 2,500-year global history of vertical living.

October 8, 2013 - The New York Times

In an illustrated essay, Chuck Wolfe contrasts the ideal form of the New England town with an abandoned French village, calling out the human infrastructure essential to successful urban places.

October 8, 2013 - myurbanist

Using high definition scanners, digital modeling, and Scan-to-BIM software, consultants and non-profits are helping to restore historic structures following natural disasters, and cataloging treasures before calamity strikes.

October 7, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

Who needs four years of costly undergraduate education in History (sorry Mom & Dad) when you can just consult John B. Sparks' "Histomap" of 1931. Writing in Slate's "The Vault" blog, Rebecca Onion looks at the 5-foot-long guide to world history.

October 4, 2013 - Slate

Mahatma Gandhi's utilization of non-violent civil disobedience to fight for civil rights is taught to school children around the world, but his views on the importance of biking and walking are less well known. Navdeep Asija investigates.

October 3, 2013 - The City Fix