Save-the-Date: Cement Age / Concrete Nation

Save the Date

October 4-6, 2024

200 years have now passed since the introduction of artificial Portland cement in 1824. 

No other building material since the Industrial Revolution has so transformed the built environment, ushering in the modern age. As the main ingredient in concrete, cement is the most widely used substance on Earth after water. It is also recognized as the third largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world. 

The technology and use of concrete in engineering and architecture have evolved greatly from its introduction in the 3rd century BCE by Roman engineers to its reemergence in the 19th century and prominence as the signature material of modern architecture and the development of 20th century cities. With over a century of building, modern concrete ‘heritage’ is now a critical topic of interest for design and preservation professionals alike.

Cement Age / Concrete Nation will offer an in-depth study of the origins of modern concrete heritage, its conservation issues and methods, and current demands for sustainability and ecological transition. Philadelphia, with its rich collection of  20th century concrete architecture and infrastructure, and its proximity to the Lehigh Valley, birthplace of American artificial cement in 1871, provides a unique setting for the celebration of this milestone in building technology.

The conference will be relevant to those interested in technical and construction history, 19th and 20th century architecture and engineering, and the conservation of concrete and related cementitious construction materials.

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Presented by

• Stuart Weitzman School of Design Department of Historic Preservation

• Association for Preservation Technology Delaware Valley Chapter

• Historic Preservation Education Foundation

• International Masonry Institute

Spring 2024 Call for Proposals: PiD and PiT

HPEF is currently accepting proposals for its Partners in Documentation grant program (deadline May 1, 2024) and Partners in Training (deadline June 1, 2024. Please visit the program websites for more information!

Partners in Training Now Open - Winter 2023

The Partners in Training program is now accepting new proposals. This grant is intended to provide support for training opportunities on technical topics associated with preservation technology. The deadline is December 1, 2023. Please reach out to the Program Manager with any questions and inquiries!

New Preservation Brief Quiz

Since 2016, HPEF has offered the opportunity to obtain AIA Continuing Education Learning Units by taking quizzes based on select publications in the National Park Service’s Preservation Brief series. Preservation Briefs aid architects, building owners, property managers, and conservationists, recognize and resolve problems common to historic structures, materials, and installations. The Briefs provide guidance rehabilitating historic buildings that are consistent with their historic character and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

HPEF is pleased to announce the addition of a continuing education quiz for Preservation Brief 17: Architectural Character—Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to Preserving their Character. The quiz joins ten other Preservation Brief quizzes all of which are open and free to the public. Some take the quizzes for continuing professional education through the AIA or other accreditation systems; others take the quizzes for their own development. If you are a preservation educator, please contact HPEF to discuss incorporating the Preservation Brief quizzes into your course.

Preserving the Recent Past 3 Conference - Los Angeles - March 13–16, 2019

The Historic Preservation Education Foundation, the University of Southern California School of Architecture/Heritage Conservation, the National Park Service, and the Getty Conservation Institute recently sponsored the Preserving the Recent Past 3 conference.

Three hundred and fifty preservation and conservation professionals, scholars, students, and fans of recent past architecture gathered on March 13–16, 2019 on the USC campus to share strategies and best practices for preserving post-World War II resources.

The conference website (prp3.org) and Instagram account provide additional information on the conference program, tours and activities.

Architecture Students Document the Historic Schweikher House

In the fall of 2016, graduate students in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Architecture’s ARCH 518-Recording Historic Buildings seminar are preparing drawings and other historic documentation on the historic Paul Schweikher House in Schaumburg, Illinois for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Led by Associate Professor Paul Kapp and supported by the Historic Preservation Education Foundation, the team is visiting the suburban site to record the building following a process established for documenting historic buildings by the National Park Service. At semester’s end, the students will submit their final package of measured drawings, field notes, photographs and other materials to the National Park Service’s Historic American Building Survey (HABS) as their entry into the Charles E. Peterson Prize Competition and for inclusion in the HABS archive at the Library of Congress, the nation’s largest collection of historic architectural, engineering and landscape documentation.

The brick, wood, and glass house was designed by Paul Schweikher in 1937 and built the following year as his residence and studio. Influenced by Japanese vernacular forms, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie designs, and 1930s European International Style models, Schweikher developed a unique structure blending modernism with attention to natural materials and engagement with the then-rural site. The Schweikher House is the only structure currently listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Schaumburg, a large and populous postwar Chicago suburb. The house is currently owned by the Village of Schaumburg and operated by the Schweikher House Preservation Trust.

In 2013, HPEF sponsored a similar project to document the 1949 Charles and Ray Eames House in Pacific Palisades in collaboration with the University of Southern California Heritage Conservation program, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Eames Foundation.

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University of Illinois students document the historic Schweikher House with HPEF support.

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Eames House HABS-Level Documentation Project on Library of Congress website

The modernist home of designers Charles and Ray Eames is now featured in the online Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) collection at the Library of Congress. The Eames House and Studio in Pacific Palisades, California, was designed by the couple in 1949 and for over twenty years served as a base for their prolific careers developing furniture, buildings, exhibitions, toys, and films that have come to define “mid-century modern.”

In 2013, a team sponsored by the Historic Preservation Education Foundation, the University of Southern California Heritage Conservation program, and the Getty Conservation Institute documented the home and studio with the support of the Eames Foundation. The historical architects, landscape architects, historians, and USC heritage conservation student interns developed a detailed historical narrative and thirteen high-resolution measured drawings including floor plans, elevations, and details of stairs and window modules. As with other HABS materials digitized and held by the Library of Congress, the drawings and narrative are freely available online for download and public use.

The project was part of an ongoing collaboration between the Historic American Buildings Survey and the Historic Preservation Education Foundation to expand the representation of post-World War II sites in the HABS/Library of Congress collection. For more information, visit the Historic American Building Survey/Library Congress collection.

Eames House HABS-Level Documentation

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Spring 2016 Partners in Training Supported Events

Historic Preservation Education Foundation’s Partners in Training program supported several events in Spring 2016.

The Montana Preservation Alliance hosted a workshop entitled “The ABCs and 123s of Schoolhouse Preservation” on June 4 in Red Lodge, MT. Addressing the basics of preserving small, rural schoolhouses the event demonstrated how to document and assess conditions, determine when to work with professionals or tackle hands-on do-it-yourself fix-ups, and how to find funding and volunteers. A second workshop was held in Helena, MT in September.

The Galveston Historical Foundation’s “Approaching Water: A Symposium on Strategies for Adapting Historic Buildings to Coastal Flooding”was held on June 16-17. Using four case study historic houses in flood-prone areas, the symposium explored a variety of mitigation strategies including reinforcement, structural elevation, and flood-proofing.

Since 2014, HPEF’s Partners in Training program has provided support for thirteen initiatives that increase technical preservation training and education.

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Lee H. Nelson Papers Presentation and Exhibition

Historic Preservation Education Foundation Intern Emily Vance presented a talk on the life and work of preservation pioneer Lee Nelson at the University of Oregon’s Special Collections and University Archives on February 26, 2014. Vance, a student at the University’s Historic Preservation Program, also opened an exhibition that she developed at the Knight Library featuring items from the Lee Nelson Papers. The presentation and exhibition extended Vance’s recently completed work on an annotated bibliography of the Lee Nelson collection held at the university’s archives. The detailed bibliography of Nelson’s papers will aid those interested in utilizing the collection and celebrate Nelson’s contribution to the field. The reception following Vance’s presentation and the ongoing exhibition are hosted by the Special Collections and University Archives at University of Oregon.

Throughout his long career as a National Park Service architect, Lee Nelson (1928-1994) helped nurture and shape the historic preservation movement in the United States. He was a co-founder of the Association for Preservation Technology International and led the investigation and documentation of Independence Hall and other historic sites. As Chief of the Technical Preservation Services in the National Park Service, Nelson established the Preservation Brief series and oversaw the publication of numerous other case studies and technical guidance. Lee Nelson’s papers, including historic structure reports, correspondence, published and unpublished research, pamphlets, articles, and images are held by the University of Oregon’s Special Collections & University Archives.
 

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HPEF Co-Sponsors Craft Skills Development Summit

The building industry and historic preservation community have recognized a systemic shortage of well-educated, trained, and experienced persons working in traditional crafts. These labor and skill shortages can lead to contract delays, higher costs, and a serious diminution in the quality of work on historic structures.

To address these issues and to identify successful initiatives and partners, the Association for Preservation Technology International and the Preservation Trades Network invited a broad cross-section of educators, contractors, designers, and regulators to participate in a Craft Skills Development Summit on April 23, 2013, in Washington, DC. HPEF is pleased to have co-sponsored this event.

Delegates at the Preservation Craft Skills Summit. (Photo credit: © J. Bryan Blundell)

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