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M.S. Historic Preservation

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.

Index

Preservation Technology Laboratory

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

Visit the Preservation Technology Laboratory website.

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.

Studio Reports

Browse the carousel to learn more about research completed through historic preservation studios, and visit the archive of digital publications from 2013 until present.

Podcast

The Historic Preservation Podcast features a series of conversations between Jorge Otero-Pailos, director of GSAPP’s Historic Preservation Program, and leaders in the field of historic preservation and heritage conservation. Subscribe to the podcast on SoundCloud.

Fall 2024 Courses

Course Semester Title Student Work Instructor Syllabus Requirements & Sequence Location & Time Session & Points Call No.
A4080‑1 Fall 2024
HP Elective Internship
Sarahgrace Godwin
NA
NA
FULL SEMESTER
1.5 Points
10599
A4510‑1 Fall 2024
Studio 1-Historic Preservation Studio
Andrew Dolkart, Kate Reggev
301 FAYERWEATHER , 200 BUELL
TU 2 PM - 6 PM + F 9AM-1PM
FULL SEMESTER
6 Points
10601
A6305‑1 Fall 2024
Advanced Studio III-Joint Historic Preservation/Architecture Studio
Jorge Otero-Pailos, Mark Rakatansky
TBD
M 1:30- 6:30 PM
FULL SEMESTER
6 Points
10602
A6730 Fall 2024
Traditional American Architecture
Andrew Dolkart REQUIRED HPI, H/T POST 1800 NW
209 FAYERWEATHER
TU 11 AM - 1 PM
3 Points
10600
A6740‑1 Fall 2024
Historic Preservation Theory & Practice
Jorge Otero-Pailos
Preservation Technology Lab
W 2PM-5PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10605
A6790‑1 Fall 2024
Thesis I
Paul Bentel, Sarah Sher
200 BUELL
W 9 AM - 11 AM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10609
A6856‑1 Fall 2024
Master Class
Preservation Technology Lab
M/ TU/ TH 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
SES A (9/23, 9/24, 9/26, 9/30, 10/1, 10/3)
10613
A6921‑1 Fall 2024
Machine Learning
Bilge Kose, Kivanc Kose
Preservation Technology Lab
W 5:30  PM - 7:30 PM
SES B
1.5 Points
10610
A6937‑1 Fall 2024
Visualization Techniques for Arch Preservation
André Jauregui, Halley Ramos
Preservation Technology Lab
W 5:30  PM - 7:30 PM
SES A
1.5 Points
10612
A6510‑1 Fall 2024
Neighborhood Preservation and Zoning
Carol Clark
WARE LOUNGE - 600 AVERY HALL
TU 11AM- 1PM
SES B
1.5 Points
10603
A6767‑1 Fall 2024
Preservation Planning and Policy
Erica Avrami
412 AVERY
TH 1 PM- 3 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10606
Pla6909‑1 Fall 2024
Advanced Studio III - Joint Historic Preservation/Urban Planning Studio
Erica Avrami, Shreya Ghoshal
TBD
TBD
FULL SEMESTER
6 Points
10614
A6768‑1 Fall 2024
Conservation of Architectural Metals
Richard Pieper
Preservation Technology Lab
M 10 AM- 1 PM
SES A
1.5 Points
10607
A6784‑1 Fall 2024
Conservation of Brick + Terra Cotta & Stone
Norman Weiss, Daniel Allen
Preservation Technology Lab
M 10 AM- 1 PM
SES B
1.5 Points
10608
A6934‑1 Fall 2024
Traditional Building Technology
Tim Michiels
Preservation Technology Lab
TH 9:00 - 11:30 AM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10611
A6886‑1 Fall 2024
Building the Engine: Industry + the African Urban Agenda
Fatou Dieye
505 Avery
TU 9 AM - 1 PM ( First class: F 1:30pm)
SES A
3 Points
14032
A6965‑1 Fall 2024
ADV V STUDIO – CLINIC
Bryony Roberts
TH 2 PM - 5 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10536
A4892‑1 Fall 2024
Data Visualization for Architecture, Urbanism and the Humanities
Jia Zhang
409 AVERY
F 9 AM - 11 AM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10576
A4047‑1 Fall 2024
Immeasurable Sites
Emanuel Admassu
408 AVERY
W 11 AM - 1 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10596
A6830‑1 Fall 2024
Difference and Design
Justin Moore
412 AVERY / ONLINE
TU 3 PM - 5 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
14028
A6927‑1 Fall 2024
Science + Technology Studies
Albena Yaneva
412 AVERY
M 11 AM - 1PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10533
A6929‑1 Fall 2024
The Reimagining of Lower Manhattan Post-Sandy
Michael Kimmelman
408 AVERY
W 9 AM - 11 AM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10534
Pla4444‑1 Fall 2024
The Future City: Transforming Urban Infrastructure
Kate Ascher
209 FAYERWEATHER
TU 1 PM - 3 PM
3 Points
14136
A6814‑1 Fall 2024
New Towns After Smart Cities
David Smiley
412 AVERY
TU 1 PM - 3 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
14029
Pla6272‑1 Fall 2024
New York Rising: How Real Estate Shapes a City
Kate Ascher
114 AVERY
F 11 AM - 1 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
10530
ARCHA6966‑1 Fall 2024
Le Corbusier Beyond Europe
Mary McLeod
409 Avery
TU 11 AM - 1 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
18002
ARCHA6967‑1 Fall 2024
Cities of Knowledge: Orientalizing Manhattan
Ziad Jamaleddine
934 SCHERMERHORN
TU 2:10 PM - 4 PM
FULL SEMESTER
3 Points
18102

Fitch Colloquium

2022 Fitch Colloquium: Preservation in China’s Future

Student Portfolios

Tonia Sing Chi ‘18 MArch/MSHP
Award-Winning Graduation Portfolio
Toniasingchi
Andrea Tonc ‘16 MArch/MSHP Award-Winning Graduation Portfolio
Andrea tonc portfolio update