Beginning in fall 2007, architecture students entering their fourth year may participate in the Preservation and Restoration Concentration. The concentration initially includes the following courses: Research and Documentation of Historical Buildings, History of American Architecture 1630-1915, Historic Preservation and Traditional Construction, and History and Theory of Preservation.
“The Preservation and Restoration concentration is a direction in which the School can lead and show how traditional designs are sustainable designs,” Dean Michael Lykoudis says.
Under the direction of Professor Krupali Uplekar, students have addressed three projects:
1) Analysis and Documentation of Copshaholm, the Oliver Mansion, a historically significant building located in downtown South Bend. The work completed in the students' report hopes to serve the Northern Indiana Center for History and their efforts towards preserving, restoring, conserving, repairing and appropriately maintaining this structure. Students focused on a thorough analysis both of the exterior and interior and provided detailed documentation that describes the conditions. (Right: A student surveys water damage at Copshaholm)
2) Documentation for the Revitalization of Downtown South Bend. Students prepared a strategy for the long-term sustainable development of downtown South Bend, Indiana. Students worked with South Bend city officials, planners and preservationists to create a proposed master plan for the downtown core.
3) Analysis and Documentation of St. Paul’s Memorial United Methodist Church, a historic landmark located in downtown South Bend. The students' report documents the structure as well as gives account to its history and influence. It also brings together ideas and recommendations for long-term sustainability including repairs and new functions that could be brought into the church to reintroduce it as an active component of South Bend.
