Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Registration is under way for the Center for Heritage Conservation’s 10th Annual Historic Preservation Symposium, “Building on Green: Preservation and Sustainability,” scheduled Feb. 27 and 28 at the Texas A&M College of Architecture.
“This year’s theme is about implementing the greening of historical structures and how to do it sensibly,” said Robert Warden, CHC director.
Donovan Rypkema, principal of Washington D.C.-based PlaceEconomics, will kick off the symposium with a Feb. 27 public lecture in the Preston Geren Auditorium, located in Building B of the Langford Architecture Center on the Texas A&M campus.
Rypkema’s firm specializes in providing services to public and nonprofit sector clients involved in the reuse of historic structures and the revitalization of downtown and neighborhood commercial districts.
The symposium continues Saturday at Geren Auditorium with lectures from more national leaders from education and practice in the field of preservation and sustainability.
Saturday’s speakers will include Carl Elefante, a principal with Quinn Evans Architects Washington D.C. office.
“Architecture is such a multifacedted practice, but for me, it’s about one big idea: sustainable preservation,” said Elefante, who believes design is not formulaic. “It grows as a direct result of human interaction … in essence, it’s people making design happen.”
Gene Hopkins, FAIA, of Hopkins Burns Design Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will also speak. Hopkins, the official architect of the capitol of Michigan, has contributed to the restoration and adaptive reuse of many historic Michigan structures such as the 1915 Detroit Athletic Club, the Christman Company’s 1928 Mutual Building in Lansing and the 1887 Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
Elaine Adams, a senior consultant on the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Built Environment Team, will also lecture. Adams applies her specialized knowledge of passive solar design and the rehabilitation of existing buildings to her broad knowledge of historic preservation, energy conservation and green operations. She also lectures frequently throughout the United States, promoting building reuse and low-tech green building.
Another featured speaker, Robert Young, is an associate professor of architecture at the University of Utah who specializes in the stewardship of the built environment through the synthesizes of historic preservation, sustainability, and community revitalization. He’s the author of “Historic Preservation Technology: A Primer,” an introduction to the processes and materials for historic preservation. The book supplies the novice with technical information to plan and execute a restoration project.
Ronald Staley, senior vice-president at The Christman Company, where he founded the Lansing, Michigan-based firm’s historic preservation group in 1992 will wrap up the Feb. 27 lectures. He has directed multiple, high-profile preservation projects to their completion, winning national, state and local awards for teamwork, unique delivery methods and quality. He’s been honored by AIA Michigan as an honorary affiliate member and in 2005 was appointed as a Fellow with the Association of Preservation Technology International.
Friday’s lecture is free and open to the public; a dinner following Rypkema’s lecture Friday night, catered by Murphy’s Law at 206 N. Main St. in Bryan, is $38. The dinner is at the former Texas Furniture Company site.
Saturday’s lineup of speakers is $185: faculty are $35 each and students $25 each. Registration fees include breakfast and lunch.
To register for the symposium and for more information, visit the Center for Heritage Conservation’s website: http://archone.tamu.edu/chc/ or call Charla Cook, 979.845.0384. The registration deadline is Feb. 6, 2009.
