Vernacular Architecture Forum VAN Fall 2018

Letter from the Editor

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 08:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the Fall 2018 issue of VAN. In the news category, we have a special article about the renaming of a building at Washington and Lee University in honor of Pamela Simpson.

The Fall issue includes plenty of useful information such as calls for nominations for board members and various VAF awards. In addition, there is a call for papers for the upcoming annual meeting in Philadelphia in late May, 2019, an announcement of a VAF NE Chapter event in October, a job announcement and a call for abstracts.

The member news section is packed with updates from members about the great work they have been doing writing, researching, and teaching, as well as three profiles of VAF board members. There is a featured essay from the 2018 VAF Access Awardee and two field note essays, one from the University of Oregon and one from McGill University.

To round out the issue we have our bibliography packed with useful resources that span the disciplines that contribute to vernacular architecture studies.

Thanks as always for the contributions to the newsletter. Happy Reading!

Christine Henry, Newsletter Editor

Behind the Scenes and the Camera with 2018 Access Awardee Harley Cowan

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:50:00 GMT

by Harley Cowan

I am an architect by profession but an interest in film photography led to a research fellowship in HABS/HAER photo documentation. I attended University of Oregon’s Preservation Field School in 2017 and have been a historic preservation groupie ever since. I have worked with historians and preservationists to document and interpret heritage sites in the Northwest as well as lecture and demonstrate large format photography. Then in May, thanks to the Access Award, I traveled from Oregon to Virginia to attend my first VAF conference.

My wife Carrie is an elementary school teacher and the true history buff in our house. I did not do myself any favors by posting the riverboat journey and the evening reception at Mount Vernon on Instagram. Upon my return to Oregon, let’s just say that I was lucky to find that the locks on my house had not been changed. Next time, I doubt I will be headed to the conference alone.

I had never spent time in an American city with the sheer density of built history that was present in Alexandria--haunts of the founding fathers, people from history lessons, at every turn. And I appreciated the degree of access we were afforded, in what I understand to be true VAF nature, climbing into the attic of an apothecary or a crawling around the cellar of a tavern, seeing methods of construction, touching brick and timbers. Certainly as an architect, it was a pleasure to go behind the scenes. But more than that, it made the history lessons and those people real, palpable. The VAF conference is a marathon, full of content; with each event, at every bus stop, upon rounding each corner, we encountered the breadth and depth of American experience.

One warm evening, Sotterley Plantation encapsulated all of this, with its collection of fine and ordinary facilities spanning three centuries. We dined in the barn, walked through the fields and gardens, past farm sheds and corn cribs, a gatehouse, an outhouse, a smokehouse. I was glad that we had the luxury of time, to sit in the sun and watch it set, feel the air cool, and be present. It was a chance to wonder about the people who lived here and worked the plantation. What was this place like for them?

It is difficult to pack all of that into a single frame, but for me this photograph of the stair railing in the main house comes close. It is one character defining feature of the house, a privilege of wealth, class, and taste. Its design and craftsmanship are exquisite. Intricate in its detail and compound curvature, its method of fastening or joinery is wholly invisible.

Even less evident though is that this railing is the product of slave labor. Literally a shout away in the gulley next to this beautiful house is a humble slave quarters, no more than perhaps a hundred-fifty square feet, dirt floor, low ceiling, with a narrow, scrap lumber ladder to the sleeping room in the attic space above. As many as nineteen people, owned by the plantation, lived in this structure.

After the tours, the paper sessions, and the energetic, sometimes heated discussions that followed, my impression is that this is what makes VAF special: it’s for people who want the whole picture.

Harley Cowan

www.harleycowan.com

Instagram: @harleycowan

CALL FOR PAPERS: Vernacular Architecture Forum 2019 Annual Meeting, Deadline October 29

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:40:00 GMT

Landscapes of Succession, May 29 to June 1, 2019 in Philadelphia, PA.

Paper Proposal DEADLINE – OCTOBER 29, 2018

The Vernacular Architecture Forum (www.vafweb.org) invites paper proposals for its 38th Annual Conference, Landscapes of Succession, May 29 to June 1, 2019 in Philadelphia, PA. Papers may address vernacular and everyday buildings, sites, or cultural landscapes worldwide. Submissions on all relevant topics are welcome but we encourage papers focusing on different layers of settlement and use over time, exploring agriculture, maritime activities, industrialization, urbanization, suburbanization, as well as themes such ethnic identity, religious expression, and the creation of vacation and recreation landscapes. Additionally, the VAF is launching a multi-year program of inquiry into the distinctiveness of the VAF and the vernacular architecture movement. To this end, we encourage papers that consider this field over time. How does the wide range of VAF projects (tours, guidebooks, book and article awards, field schools, annual conference papers, publications, etc.) demonstrate how our questions, concerns, and methods have changed and evolved? Where do we see evidence of that history in our current work, and what might our future look like? Proposals might focus on a particular building type (i.e. houses, barns), a research strategy (fieldwork), political or theoretical convictions (Gender, Marxism, the Everyday, etc.), or particular approaches to presenting our work and engaging colleagues and the public.

Students and young professionals may apply for the Pamela H. Simpson Presenter’s Fellowships offering support of up to $500 to presenting papers at VAF’s annual conference.

SUBMITTING AN ABSTRACT

Papers should be analytical rather than descriptive, and no more than twenty minutes in length. Proposals for complete sessions, roundtable discussions or other innovative means that facilitate scholarly discourse are especially encouraged. At least one session will be devoted to Field Notes – shorter papers (five to eight minutes in length) that introduce new techniques, innovations, and discoveries in documenting vernacular buildings and landscapes. Proposals should clearly state the argument of the paper and explain the methodology and content in fewer than 400 words. Make sure to indicate if it is a regular paper proposal or a shorter fieldwork proposal or intended for the VAF distinctiveness session. Please include the paper title, author’s name, email address, a one-page c.v. You may include up to two images with your submission. Note that presenters must deliver their papers in person and be VAF members at the time of the conference. Speakers who do not register for the conference by March 4, 2019, will be withdrawn. Please do not submit an abstract if you are not committed to attending the papers session on Saturday, June 1, 2019.

THE DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS IS OCTOBER 29, 2018

The abstracts and c.v. should be emailed as a PDF attachment to the VAF Papers Committee Chair, Melissa McLoud at papers@vafweb.org. For general information about the Philadelphia conference, please visit the conference website at http://www.vafweb.org/Philadelphia-2019 or contact Michelle Weaver Jones, VAF Conference Planner, conference@vafweb.org.

All abstracts received will be acknowledged.

PAMELA H. SIMPSON PRESENTER’S FELLOWSHIPS

VAF’s Pamela H. Simpson Presenter’s Fellowships offer a limited amount of financial assistance to students and young professionals presenting papers at VAF’s annual conference. Awards are intended to offset travel and registration costs for students, and to attract developing scholars to the organization. Any person presenting a paper who is currently enrolled in a degree-granting program, or who has received a degree within one year of the annual conference is eligible to apply. Awards cannot exceed $500. Previous awardees are ineligible, even if their status has changed. Recipients are expected to participate fully in the conference, including tours and workshops.

To apply, submit with your abstract a one-page attachment with "Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship" at the top and the following information: 1) name, 2) institution or former institution, 3) degree program, 4) date of degree (received or anticipated), 5) mailing address, 6) permanent email address, 7) telephone number, and 8) paper title.

University of Oregon Field School Stays Close to Home

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:30:00 GMT

by James Buckley

The University of Oregon Pacific Northwest Field School (PNWFS) tried something new this year: after 24 years of rotating locations among many beautiful historic sites throughout the Pacific Northwest, the program stayed home this summer. Graduate students in the Historic Preservation Program spent the second week of September exploring and repairing Portland’s Cottrell House, a 1950 regional modernist home designed by John Yeon and owned by the University of Oregon. Yeon, a designer and environmentalist who received little formal architectural training, built this four-bedroom home on a heavily forested plot high in Portland’s Southwest Hills. The Cottrell House was the last house Yeon designed and it is across the street from his first - the renowned Watzek House (1937). The Cottrell House, designed for a family of five, is a departure from some of his earlier work but still encapsulates character defining Yeon features such as the use of native materials, framing and interplay with the surrounding landscape, and wide over-hanging eaves that create protected outdoor spaces. Key characteristics of this building deeply influenced regional and national architects designing residential structures in the 1960s.

UO students, working under the direction of Visiting Professor Chad Randl and graduate student Project Coordinator Allison Geary, worked closely with regional preservation practitioners to address conservation needs. The National Park Service provided instructors from Ebey’s Landing, WA and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to assist in projects such as stabilizing and preserving a stone patio and steps, testing and replacing deteriorated exterior paneling, refinishing a teak handrail, and resurfacing and repainting louvers. In addition to these hands-on projects, students learned about historic mortars, documentation, cultural landscape analysis, wood identification, and wood pathology. Local preservation professionals offered lectures each evening and students took a day long field trip to visit historic sites in the Portland area. A highlight of the week was the visit of former residents Marcy and John Cottrell-Houle, who joined the closing barbecue to view the completed work, share stories, and show a delightful home movie of the house under construction.

The Cottrell House was a new experience for the Field School program, providing a chance to learn about modern construction and materials and add to the range of structures the Field School approaches. The PNWFS is supported by a consortium of state agencies in conjunction with the National Park Service and the University of Oregon. For more information please visit https://archenvironment.uoregon.edu/hp/field-schools/pacific-northwest-preservation-field-school

McGill University Students build "bridges" in Tilting, Fogo Island, Newfoundland

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:27:00 GMT

ARCH514: 2018 Community Design Workshop

From August 10 to August 31, 2018, ten McGill architecture students and architect/carpenter Theodore Oyama participated in this design/build workshop coordinated by Professor Robert Mellin in the outport of Tilting, Fogo Island, Newfoundland. Students engaged in a collaborative design and construction project to provide access to "The Devil's Rocking Chair," a large rock on the edge of the rugged coastline near Greene's Point. Previously extremely challenging to access, the project involved the construction of a series of platforms or "bridges" as they are locally known that take visitors on a journey through a small valley leading to the stone. The path was carefully arranged to enhance the experience of the terrain and geology. This is one of the most remarkable locations in Newfoundland for its geological features, the intersection between light and dark igneous rocks, also with a few large metamorphic rocks from Baffin Island deposited during the last Ice Age. The project was initially inspired by Professor Ricardo Castro's chapter "A Ceremonial Path among Rocks, Sun, Wind, and Words," in the book Syndetic Modernisms (Piloto University, Bogota, 2012), describing a stone path at Punta Pite on the Pacific coast of Chile. Similar to the project in Chile, our project highlights the difference between the rough, irregular terrain and the smooth and comparatively fragile wooden bridges. Construction was difficult as much painstaking work was required to fit wooden elements to the stones. Ballast lockers containing heavy stones were installed under all the bridges to prevent wind-uplift, and also to resist heavy seas that occasionally break over these cliffs in winter storms.

For images of the landscape and constructions, please visit

http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/mellin/2018arch514/index.html

Building Named for Pamela Simpson

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:25:00 GMT

As reported in the Washington Post on October 11, 2018, Pamela Simpson has been honored by the dedication of a building in her name at Washington & Lee University, where she taught for many years. Pam was a past-president of VAF, co-editor of Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, and attendee of every annual meeting from our organization’s inception until her death in 2011. VAF annually sponsors Simpson Fellows—students and young professionals who deliver papers at our conference—in her honor.

Washington & Lee, like many institutions, is in the process of re-evaluating its history with slavery. One recommendation from a commission examining the school’s legacy was to rename certain buildings. Accordingly, the Lee-Jackson House, named after two Confederate heroes, was renamed the Simpson House in honor of Pam, who was the first woman professor to be tenured at the university. As one of her VAF friends said, “What a nice way to honor such a wonderful person.”

Meet Board Member Brent Fortenberry

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:20:00 GMT

I have always had an interest in everyday buildings, but Carl Lounsbury first introduced me to Vernacular Architecture studies as an undergraduate at the College of William and Mary. I attended my first VAF conference in 2007 in Savannah shortly after graduation and was struck by the diversity of scholars and professionals that the organization embraces. I believe the interdisciplinary profile of the VAF is one of its greatest strengths.

After William and Mary, my attention turned to buildings archaeology, with training at Bristol University in the UK for a Master’s in Historical Archaeology and then onto Boston University for a doctorate in Archaeology with a focus on the early modern Atlantic world. I began research in Bermuda working closely with the Bermuda National Trust. After lecturing at Boston University for two years, I shifted my focus towards vernacular buildings and historic preservation. I was lucky enough to enroll in the Clemson/College of Charleston Historic Preservation Program, where I worked with Carter Hudgins, Ed Chappell, and Willie Graham. After graduating I served as Associate Director of the Warren Lasch Conservation Center at Clemson and Adjunct Professor in the Clemson/CofC preservation program.

In 2007, I moved to Texas A&M where I am an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Associate Director of the Center for Heritage Conservation; I teach classes in Vernacular Architecture and Historic Preservation. I have active research in Bermuda, South Carolina, and Barbados.

I am excited to serve as new VAF board member and as chair of the Education Committee, where we are working to provide new vernacular architecture resources to students and the public. As a member of the 2020 VAF conference committee, I look forward to seeing everyone in San Antonio for good food and even better vernacular buildings.

Introducing Bibliographer Travis Olson

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:15:00 GMT

I feel as though I’ve been raised as a VAF member. I was first introduced to the organization by Anna Andrzejewski while an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I attended my first field school (co-taught by Anna, Tom Carter, and Janet Gilmore) measuring what were effectively people’s storehouses in 105 degree weather in Southwestern Wisconsin, and somehow I was hooked. Before long I was auditing classes in the then-fledgling Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Program organized by Anna and Arijit Sen of UW-Milwaukee, and in 2010 I attended my first VAF conference in Washington, D.C. Since then, I have attended each of the meetings (except, much to my great dismay, Jamaica) and this organization has taken me from the mouth of the St. Lawrence River to the valley fields of Sanpete County, Utah.

After graduation I spent a stint working in Southern Indiana, then joined the Center for Historic Architecture and Design at the University of Delaware for my Master’s Degree, followed by a few years working for the City of Philadelphia’s Parks and Rec Department as an architectural historian. This fall I returned to Madison, pencil and drawing board in hand, to embark upon my PhD coursework—making official my enrollment in the BLC. In every step of my career I have relied on the methodologies and ideas put forth by VAF scholars, and have turned to their words just as frequently outside of academia as within. It is in this spirit that I welcome the opportunity to step into this role, as bibliographer for the VAF, to care for and contribute to the document that celebrates those words.

Meet Board Member Zachary Violette

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:10:00 GMT

I am thrilled to join the board of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, a group which I hold dear to my heart, and which has been truly transformative in my professional life. As I shared with the board at a recent meeting, when I discovered the VAF in college -- serendipitously through an early iteration of the organization’s website -- it was like finding my people. Studying “old houses” had been a passion of mine since grade school, writing booklets and giving walking tours for my hometown historical society. Discovering that others were interested in buildings that were both old and common was a key revelation. Knowing that there was an academic discipline beyond the awkward fit of my history and art history classes was critical in shaping my career path. Finding the organization, in part, lead me to a PhD in American and New England Studies at Boston University, where I had the honor of studying with VAF stalwarts including Claire Dempsey, Jessica Sewall, and William Moore.

But I really learned how lucky I was to have VAF as my academic home at my first conference in Savannah in 2007. I was a precocious (but thoroughly terrified) first-year graduate student, giving my first real academic paper at Jessica’s suggestion, on the seeds of a topic that would eventually become my dissertation and now my first book. I will never forget the warm, humorous, and encouraging remarks and advice I received from the late Pamela Simpson, whose book on industrially-made architectural ornament had been instrumental at that stage of my research, but whose name I embarrassingly neglected to credit in my remarks. Each subsequent conference, my attendance at some of which was supported by the organization’s ambassadors fellowship, soon became the highlight of my year. The collegiality, conviviality, and passion for the built environment on display each time always raised my spirits, kept me at my work through the rough patches, and gave me an imagined audience of colleagues and friends that I always wanted to make pound.

For all of these reasons, and many more, I very much cherish the opportunity to sit on the VAF board – as well as serving as the organization’s communications chair and webmaster. In doing so I hope to give a little something back to a group that truly has given so much to me.

VAF-New England Field Trip Kensington, NH Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:05:00 GMT

Laura Driemeyer and Lynne Monroe will lead us in a field trip that will focus on the remarkably intact historic nineteenth-century center of Kensington, New Hampshire including a group of institutional buildings arrayed in linear fashion.

In the afternoon the tour will continue at an early 19th century private home located outside of the village district.

Details to follow!

Trips are a benefit of your VAF membership!

Mapping Mount Vernon Inspired Buildings and Sites

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:00:00 GMT

Calling all eagle-eyed VAFers! The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon has launched a new website based on Lydia Brandt's research on Mount Vernon "replicas" that crowdsources content.

Lydia would love to see what Mount Vernon look-alikes VAN readers can find!

Call for Nominations-VAF Advocacy Award, due January 4, 2019

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:55:00 GMT

The Vernacular Architecture Forum seeks nominations for the 2019 VAF Advocacy Award. The application deadline is January 4, 2019.

The VAF Advocacy Award recognizes exemplary efforts and achievements on behalf of our vernacular built heritage. The award honors individuals and groups for exceptional contributions toward the interpretation, appreciation, and protection of vernacular buildings and cultural landscapes, and recognizes outstanding initiative, commitment, and action to promote and protect vernacular resources. The award may be made in recognition of a specific effort or the nominee's long-term record. Awardee will be given two full registrations to the VAF conference and a certificate of excellence.

Eligibility:

Any public or private entity or individual in North America may be nominated.

Nominations:

Nominations should include the following:

A summary paragraph of the nominee’s advocacy effort or highlights of the nominee’s long-term advocacy work.
An up to 1000-word narrative of how the nominee’s work has contributed to the appreciation and protection of vernacular buildings and/or cultural landscapes. The description should include information about the vernacular resources and their history and emphasize the public outreach—such as curricula, websites, and public speaking—that is the basis for the nomination.
Description of people and organization partners that contributed to the advocacy effort.
For advocacy over a career, a timeline or chronology noting the highlights of the nominee’s advocacy.
Images of the vernacular resources that were the focus of the advocacy effort and events that contributed to the effort.
Links to websites or other relevant digital outreach developed for advocacy.

Submissions

Please submit nomination materials electronically in a single zip file OR as a link to a single downloadable file on a cloud drive to advocacy@vafweb.org. Should the file size exceed 50MB, please communicate with us at the same address. Likewise, if you must send a paper or hard copy of your documentation, please email us so that we may make alternate arrangements.

The application deadline for 2019 VAF Advocacy Award is January 4, 2019.

Electronic nomination materials should be submitted to Advocacy Award.

Hard copies should be sent to:

Jennifer Baughn

P.O. Box 571

Jackson, MS 39205-0571

Committee

Jennifer Baughn, chair

Eugenia Woo

Ritchie Garrison

Call for Nominations-Paul E. Buchanan Award, due January 4, 2019

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:51:00 GMT

The Vernacular Architecture Forum seeks nominations for the 2019 Paul E. Buchanan Award

The application deadline is January 4, 2019

The Paul E. Buchanan Award was instituted by VAF in 1993 to recognize contributions to the study and preservation of vernacular architecture and the cultural landscape that do not take the form of books or published work. Hundreds of studies, reports, documentation projects, restoration plans, National Register nominations, exhibits, video/digital media productions and public programs are completed each year without the benefit of distribution or recognition beyond the limited audience for which they were commissioned. Nonetheless, many of these efforts can serve to inform and inspire us all. The award is named for Paul E. Buchanan who served for over thirty years as the Director of Architectural Research at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Buchanan set the standard for architectural fieldwork in America and inspired many VAF members in the rewards of fieldwork. This award honors the valuable work that most of our members and professional associates perform.

Nominations

The Vernacular Architecture Forum seeks nominations for the Paul E. Buchanan Award.

Exceptional projects that set new standards or model innovative practices, completed in the last two years are eligible for consideration and may include, but are not limited to:

Architectural Recording Projects (including HABS/HAER/HALS)
Historic Structures Reports
Cultural Resource Surveys
Historic Designation Studies (including National Register and National Historic Landmark, or the equivalent)
Preservation or Conservation Plans
Restoration or Rehabilitation Projects that express the significance of the resource or illustrate novel ways the resource has been preserved
Furnishing Plans and Installations
Exhibits and Other Temporary Installations
Permanent Museum Exhibits
Visual Arts Presentations (e.g. drawing, painting, photography, 3-D media)
Film and Video Presentations
Computer Applications and Modeling
Educational and Interpretive Programs
Symposia, Conferences, and Public Events

Nomination materials should include:

Cover letter that explains the merits of the project and outlining the ways the project sets new standards or models innovative practices or otherwise contributes to the study and preservation of vernacular architecture or cultural landscapes.

Project documentation, e.g. copy of the report, audio-visual presentation, exhibition boards, etc. in a format that can be downloaded to the VAF Buchanan committee.

Please submit nomination materials electronically in a single zip file to buchananaward@vafweb.org. Should the file size exceed 50MB, please communicate with us at the same address. Likewise, if you must send a paper or hard copy of your documentation, please email us so that we may make alternate arrangements.

The application deadline for 2019 Buchanan Award is January 4, 2019.

Electronic nomination materials should be submitted to Buchanan Award. Hard copies should be sent to:

Catherine Lavoie

18615 Brooke Road

Sandy Spring, MD 20860

Committee

Catherine Lavoie, chair

Marianne Hurley

Willie Graham

Call for Nominations-Bishir Prize, due February 1, 2019

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:50:00 GMT

Does your work contribute to the study of vernacular architecture and cultural landscapes? Have you published a scholarly article on the subject in the last two years? You may be eligible for the Bishir Prize from the Vernacular Architecture Forum.

The 2019 Bishir Prize, named for longtime VAF member and influential scholar Catherine W. Bishir, will be awarded to the scholarly article published in a juried North American publication between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018 that has made the most significant contribution to the study of vernacular architecture and cultural landscapes. Articles considered for the prize should be based on primary research, break new ground in interpretation or methodology, and contribute to the intellectual vitality of these fields. Entries may come from any discipline concerned with vernacular architecture studies.

Please note that essays published as chapters in a book are also eligible if the volume is peer-reviewed, published within the time parameters specified, and the research presented in the essay is new. Anthologized collections are not eligible.

The deadline for nominations for the 2019 Bishir Prize is February 1, 2019.

To nominate an article please submit the following:

MS Word document providing contact information, publication data (name of book publishing company or title of journal, and date of publication), and a brief statement contextualizing the author(s) and article.
PDF copy of the article.

Nomination materials should be submitted to Dr. Margaret Grubiak at mailto:bishirprize@vafweb.org.

For more information, visit: http://www.vernaculararchitectureforum.org/Bishir-prize

Call for Nominations-VAF Board of Directors, due November 1, 2018

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:40:00 GMT

The nominating committee of the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve as members of the organization’s Board of Directors. Board members serve three-year terms. Individuals nominated this year, and subsequently elected, will begin service in June 2019.

The VAF is administered by a volunteer board composed of dedicated professionals and scholars from diverse disciplines who live and work in all parts of the United States and Canada. The Board meets twice a year, once during our Annual Conference in the Spring and again in the Fall. Board members are expected to attend these day-long meetings and participate in committee work throughout the year.

The committee also seeks nominations for the position of Treasurer to start in June 2019. Candidates for the position of Treasurer should be conscientious, detail-oriented, and have a basic familiarity with Excel. They need not have professional finance or banking experience. The Treasurer has a strong voice in influencing the administration and direction of the VAF.

Nominations should be sent to Jennifer Cousineau at jennifer.cousineau@pc.gc.ca or cousineauja@gmail.com by November 1, 2018. Nominees must be members of the Vernacular Architecture Forum. Please include a short letter (not exceeding one page) indicating the position for which the person is being nominated and describing their qualifications as well as a short vita/resume (not exceeding two pages). Self-nominations are actively encouraged

Job Opportunity, University of Oregon, Portland

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:30:00 GMT

Art DeMuro Assistant/Associate Professor in Historic Preservation

Historic Preservation Program

University of Oregon Portland

The University of Oregon (UO) School of Architecture and Environment invites applications for the Art DeMuro Professor in Historic Preservation, a full-time, endowed tenure-related position at the rank of assistant or associate professor at the UO’s Portland, Oregon location to begin September 2019. Candidates should have the potential to make a strong contribution in research, teaching, and service to the program’s nationally-recognized professional master’s degree program in the Historic Preservation Program and the affiliated architecture program. We especially welcome applicants who will engage a rigorous and innovative research/practice at the forefront of cultural resource management, heritage conservation, or building science.

For more information or to apply, go to: http://careers.uoregon.edu/cw/en-us/job/522270/assistant-or-associate-professor-of-historic-preservation

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Change Over Time journal, due January 4, 2019

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:25:00 GMT

Call for Abstracts

The journal Change Over Time: An International Journal of Conservation and the Built Environment, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, invites abstract submissions for the Spring 2020 issue.

9.2 SOUNDING HERITAGE | Guest Editor: Pamela Jordan

Material heritage is not constrained merely to what we see – what we hear conveys a broad range of information essential to shaping and recalling a sense of place. Sounds can enhance or dominate emplaced experience and be used to test, analyze, and sensorially reconstruct heritage. Yet the many roles played by sound remain largely unexamined in conservation practice. This issue seeks to draw together the various dimensions and neglected possibilities of sound in heritage towards their greater consideration in theory and practice.

In the context of specific sites, one might initially recall restorations of acoustically-designed spaces, such as concert halls or places of worship.¹ But the significance of sound is no less manifest in spaces without specific acoustic designs, be they individual buildings, cultural landscapes, or historic districts. It is the total sonic environment, including the daily sounds of people, machines, weather, and wildlife, that helps define a genius loci and serves as a primary vehicle for continuity and meaning through sensory experiences of the past.

Upon closer inspection, site interpretation often hinges on a sonic component, whether through direct communicative strategies such as recorded play-back and guided tours, or atmospheric interventions via particular sound introductions or noise control. While sonic re-enactments of extraordinary past events (such as a speech, protest, battle, or performance) can be a powerful place-based interpretive device, the use of sound can also significantly enhance our understanding of a site’s past material and spatial attributes. Archaeoacoustics can offer alternative readings of ancient locations by scrutinizing the relationships between acoustic properties and structures, landscapes, and activities.² Similarly, Deafspace concepts and other design-based considerations of sound can promote universal accessibility through new imaginings for collective navigation and communication thereby providing rich phenomenological historic experiences for all visitors.³

Sonic conditions can manifest particular conservation considerations as well, from physical deterioration caused by lower frequency vibrations, to detrimental effects on natural soundscapes, and aggressive development in otherwise historically isolated environs.⁴ A surge in measuring and modeling technology advancements has made complex conditions analyses increasingly possible, including acoustic simulations in virtual reality spaces, 3D ground-penetrating radar surveys, and digital psychoacoustic analyses of audio recordings. It is even possible now for audio recording archives to preserve all that remains of a building’s physical and sonic architecture.⁵

This issue of Change Over Time examines the impact and role of sound in the conservation of the built environment. Contributors are invited to consider ‘sound in heritage’ from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including, (but not limited to): acoustics, affective heritage, archaeology, architecture, conservation, design, disability studies, performance studies, psychology, tourism, and urban planning. Theoretical discussions, case studies concerning particular sites and/or technologies, evaluations of current practices, and policy discussions are welcome. Sound files, sonic visualizations, or web-based media will be considered in support of final submissions.

Abstracts of 200-300 words are due 4 January 2019. Authors will be notified of provisional paper acceptance by late January. Final manuscript submissions will be due mid-May 2019. For formatting and submission details see “Step One – Abstract” of the COT Author Guidelines at cotjournal.com.

Submission

Articles are generally restricted to 7,500 or fewer words (the approximate equivalent to thirty pages of double-spaced, twelve-point type) and may include up to ten images. See Author Guidelines at cotjournal.com or email Senior Associate Editor, Kecia Fong at cot@design.upenn.edu for further information.

1 Bissera V. Pentcheva and Jonathan S. Abel, “Icons of Sound: Auralizing the Lost Voice of Hagia Sophia,” Speculum, no. 92, S1 (October 2017): S336-S360.

2 Miriam A. Kolar, “Sensing sonically at Andean Formative Chavín de Huántar, Perú,” Time and Mind, vol. 10, no.1 (2017): 39-59.

3 Deafspace concept summary, available from: https://www.gallaudet.edu/campus-design-and-planning/deafspace [accessed Oct. 7, 2018]. Claire Edwards and Gill Harold, "Deafspace and the Principles of Universal Design," Disability And Rehabilitation, vol. 36, no. 16 (2014): 1350-1359.

4 J.H. Rainer, “Effect of Vibrations on Historic Buildings: An Overview,” Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, vol. 14, no. 1 (1982): 2-10. Robert Stanton, “NPS Director’s Order #47: Soundscape Preservation And Noise Management,” (Effective Date: December 1, 2000, Sunset Date: December 1, 2004). Available from https://www.nps.gov/policy/DOrders/DOrder47.html [Accessed Oct. 7 2018]. Kenneth King, S.T. Algermissen, P.J. McDermott, “Seismic and Vibration Hazard Investigations of Chaco Culture National Historical Park,” Dept. of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey, Open-File Report 85-529 (1985). Available at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1985/0529/report.pdf [Accessed Oct. 7 2018].

5 Lamberto Tronchin and Angelo Farina, "The acoustics of the former Teatro "La Fenice", Venice," Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, vol. 45, no. 12 (December 1997): 1051-1062.

Joseph Sciorra Donates Research to Library of Congress

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:20:00 GMT

Sciorra recently donated 35+ years of research to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress pertaining mostly to Italian Americans in New York City, but also other communities, on various subjects including vernacular architecture and more specifically the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Grotto in Staten Island, NY, the Lisanti Family Chapel in the Bronx, NY (both listed on the National Register of Historical Places), and the impermanent festive giglio tower in the USA and Italy. The donation includes approximately 27,758 items consisting of 26 linear feet manuscripts (field notes, ephemera, clippings, writings, research notes); 302 sound recordings, 400 photographs, and 16 moving images.

Amber N. Wiley named assistant professor in Art History at Rutgers-New Brunswick

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:00:00 GMT

The Rutgers-New Brunswick Art History Department is proud to welcome assistant professor Amber N. Wiley, who specializes in architectural history, urban history, African American cultural studies, and preservation. She joins Carla Yanni, professor, a scholar who writes about the social history of building types. The Art History Department in Rutgers-New Brunswick is accepting applications to its MA and PhD programs in Art History and in Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies. Please consider studying vernacular architectural history at Rutgers. For more information go to:

www.arthistory.rutgers.edu

or contact

cyanni@rutgers.edu

amber.wiley@rutgers.edu

Stella Nair co-authors article in Latin American Antiquity journal

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 05:50:00 GMT

Stella Nair co-authored an article “The Lost Half of Andean Architecture: 18th Century Building Traditions and Environmental Use at Chinchero, Peru,” (with Sonia Archila and Christine Hastorf) in Latin American Antiquity 29, no. 2 (June 2018): 222-238.

Milda Richardson publishes chapter in edited volume on Modernism

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 05:40:00 GMT

Milda B. Richardson. “The Nexus between Lithuanian Vernacular and American Modernism,” chapter in Modernism and American Mid-20^th Century Sacred Architecture, Anat Geva, editor (London: Routledge, 2018), 213-232. ISBN: 978-1-138-06280-1

Member Joseph Sciorra Publishes a Book and an Article

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 05:35:00 GMT

The University of Tennessee Press recently published a paperback edition of Joseph Sciorra’s book Built with Faith: Italian American Imagination and Catholic Material Culture in New York City (2015).

His article, co-written with Laura E. Ruberto, “Migrating Objects: Italian American Museums and the Creation of Collective Identity” was published in Altreitalie 56 (2018). Looking closely at U.S. museums dedicated to Italian American history and culture, as well as the now closed Museo Nazionale dell’Emigrazione Italiana in Rome, the authors “examine what happens when objects are removed from their previous sites of use and re-contextualized in the setting of eight Italian American museums, a process that involves privileging certain lived experiences and constructing authorial narratives of identity.”

Fall 2018 Bibliography

Christine R Henry — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 05:30:00 GMT

compiled by Travis Olson

Breisch, Kenneth A. American Libraries 1730-1950. First edition. Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks in Architecture, Design and Engineering. New York : Washington, D.C: W.W. Norton & Company ; Library of Congress, 2017.

Browne, Jemma, Christian Frost, and Ray Lucas, eds. Architecture, Festival and the City. Critiques: Critical Studies in Architectural Humanities, volume 14. New York: Routledge, 2019.

Camerlenghi, Nicola, and Georg Schelbert. “Learning from Rome: Making Sense of Complex Built Environments in the Digital Age.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 77, no. 3 (September 1, 2018): 256–66. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2018.77.3.256.

Chehab, Diane. Ellong, Epee. African Dwelling: From Traditional To Western -Style Homes. S.L.: Mcfarland, 2018.

Chiarappa, Michael J. “Working the Delaware Estuary: African American Cultural Landscapes and the Contours of Environmental Experience.” Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum 25, no. 1 (2018).

Chua, Lawrence. “A Tale of Two Crematoria:: Funeral Architecture and the Politics of Representation in Mid-Twentieth-Century Bangkok.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 77, no. 3 (September 1, 2018): 319–38. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2018.77.3.319.

Cowling, Camillia. “Gendered Geographies: Motherhood, Slavery, Law, and Space in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Cuba.” Women’s History Review 27, no. 6 (September 19, 2018): 939–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2017.1336845.

Earle, Thomas Blake. “Transatlantic Diplomacy, North Atlantic Environments, and the Fisheries Dispute of 1852.” Environmental History 23, no. 4 (October 1, 2018): 774–96.

Ferguson, Laura E. “A Gateway without a Port: Making and Contesting San Francisco’s Early Waterfront.” Journal of Urban History 44, no. 4 (July 2018): 603–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144218759030.

Gillin, Edward John, and H. Horatio Joyce, eds. Experiencing Architecture in the Nineteenth Century: Buildings and Society in the Modern Age. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.

Gow, William. “A Night in Old Chinatown: American Orientalism, China Relief Fundraising, and the 1938 Moon Festival in Los Angeles.” Pacific Historical Review 87, no. 3 (August 2018): 439–72. https://doi.org/10.1525/phr.2018.87.3.439.

Grossmann, Till, and Philipp Nielsen, eds. Architecture, Democracy, and Emotions: The Politics of Feeling since 1945. New York: Routledge, 2019.

Gyger, Helen. Improvised Cities: Architecture, Urbanization, And Innovation In Peru. S.L.: Univ Of Pittsburgh Press, 2018.

Hvattum, Mari, and Anne Hultzsch, eds. The Printed and the Built: Architecture, Print Culture, and Public Debate in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018.

Jasper, Sandra. “Sonic Refugia: Nature, Noise Abatement and Landscape Design in West Berlin.” The Journal of Architecture 23, no. 6 (August 18, 2018): 936–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2018.1505773.

Kolnberger, T. “Cemeteries and Urban Form: A Historico-Geographical Approach.” Urban Morphology 22, no. 2 (2018).

Lewi, Hannah. “Reconstruction in Retrospect: The Exigencies of Heritage Culture.” The Journal of Architecture 23, no. 5 (July 4, 2018): 711–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2018.1495356.

Lewis, Michael J. “Frank Furness and the Expandable Library.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 77, no. 2 (June 1, 2018): 138–45. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2018.77.2.138.

Ljungqvist, Fredrik Charpentier. “Linking European Building Activity with Plague History.” Journal of Archaeological Science 98 (October 2018): 81–92.

Lozanovska, Mirjana. Migrant Housing: Architecture, Dwelling, Migration. Routledge Research in Architecture. New York: Routledge, 2019.

Macaulay-Lewis, Elizabeth, And Matthew M. Mcgowan, Eds. Classical New York: Discovering Greece And Rome In Gotham. S.L.: Empire State Editions, 2018.

Mitchell, Paul. “Concentration Camp Buildings as Artifacts: The Archaeology of Buildings in the Mauthausen-Gusen Complex.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 22, no. 3 (September 2018): 553–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0439-9.

Neumann, Tracy. “Reforging the Steel City: Symbolism and Space in Postindustrial Pittsburgh.” Journal of Urban History 44, no. 4 (July 2018): 582–602. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144218759026.

Pelzelmayer, Katharina. “Care, Pay, Love: Commodification and the Spaces of Live-in Care.” Social & Cultural Geography 19, no. 7 (October 3, 2018): 853–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2017.1315446.

Pospisek, Patrick Allan. “‘General Grant Isn’t Coming Back’: Local Economics, Politics, and Historic Preservation in Galena, Illinois, 1964-1981.” Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum 25, no. 1 (2018).

Sansur, Rasha. “Painting Emotions: The West Bank Separation Wall as an Evocative Object and Graffiti as a Meaning-Making Process.” Material Culture 49, no. 2 (Fall 2017): 1–23.

Sniekers, Marijke. “Defining Dreams: Young Mothers’ Agency in Constructions of Space.” Social & Cultural Geography, June 23, 2017, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2017.1344872.

Stewart, John. Twentieth Century Town Halls: Architecture of Democracy. New York: Routledge, 2019.

Summer, Rebecca. “‘This Is Ivy City’: An Iconic Building’s Role in Gentrification and Neighborhood Identity in Washington, D.C.” Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum 25, no. 1 (2018).

Theodore, David. “Sound Medicine: Studying the Acoustic Environment of the Modern Hospital, 1870–1970.” The Journal of Architecture 23, no. 6 (August 18, 2018): 986–1002. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2018.1505770.

Villanueva, Joaquín. “Pathways of Confinement: The Legal Constitution of Carceral Spaces in France’s Social Housing Estates.” Social & Cultural Geography, May 18, 2017, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2017.1328526.

Windover, Michael. “Building Radio Publics in Post-War Canada.” The Journal of Architecture 23, no. 6 (August 18, 2018): 1046–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2018.1505769.

Wylie, Diana. “‘Part of Who We Are’: Using Old Buildings to Foster Citizenship in North Africa (Oran, Algeria, and Casablanca, Morocco). Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum 25, no. 1 (2018).

Yusaf, Shundana. “The Porous Shells of Radiophony, or towards a Theory of Radio Stations.” The Journal of Architecture 23, no. 6 (August 18, 2018): 1075–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2018.1505765.