What is the Future of Cultural Landscape Preservation? [Symposium]

November 14-15, 2024 | Meyerson Hall, University of Pennsylvania | Recordings pending

The Urban Heritage Project and partners organized an in-person gathering on the state of cultural landscape preservation – in theory, policy, and practice. Building on a series of virtual events (see below), we convened a series of discussions and presentations by academics and practitioners to delve into the critical aspects of preserving cultural landscapes today, including the challenges and models for future work. 

The practice of cultural landscape preservation presents big opportunities to expand the reach of preservation. Cultural landscape thinking reckons with the complexity of places continuing to evolve through time and space, and challenges professionals to bring historical, scientific, social, and design intelligence to bear on the future of these places. As both an established idea and as a critical means of reform, cultural landscape ideas and practices have unrealized potential and deserve deeper exploration. This symposium brought together a range of practitioners, scholars, and policy makers to examine the impact and the potential of cultural landscape work.

DAY ONE

Keynote session: Agendas for Change

Welcome: Dean Frederick Steiner, University of Pennsylvania

Introduction: Randy Mason, Urban Heritage Project - University of Pennsylvania

• Andrea Roberts, PhD, University of Virginia

• Robert Melnick, FASLA, University of Oregon

Session 1: Emerging Perspectives in the National Park Service Cultural Landscape Program

This session delves into the challenges posed by the rigid structure of cultural landscape reports in the National Park Service (NPS), particularly in accommodating intangible heritage within the confines of established frameworks like the National Register. NPS panelists will share insights into their innovative approaches, challenging and interpreting these structures to broaden the scope of cultural landscape preservation. The session will also explore how the NPS is actively working towards diversity in landscape management, both in terms of the landscapes themselves and the inclusivity of management practices. Panelists will envision the future trajectory of NPS practices, identify current limitations, and chart a course toward more dynamic and responsive cultural landscape stewardship.

• Allison Kennedy, Intermountain Region - National Park Service

• Noel Lopez, PhD, National Capital Region - National Park Service

• Julie McGilvray, National Capital Region - National Park Service

• Randy Mason, Urban Heritage Project - University of Pennsylvania (Moderator)

Session 2: Cultural Landscape Work in Design

This session will focus on what is new and next in design. Participants will delve into strategies employed in private practice that ensure the lasting relevance and effectiveness of cultural landscape work. The discussion will critically examine the contributions of private practitioners, as well as the challenges they navigate in nurturing long-term change in cultural landscape preservation projects.

• Kofi Boone, FASLA, North Carolina State University

• Laurie Matthews, MIG/University of Oregon

• David A. Rubin, FASLA, DAVID RUBIN Land Collective

• Thomas Woltz, FASLA, Nelson Byrd Woltz

• Catherine Seavitt, University of Pennsylvania (Moderator)

DAY TWO

Session 3: Indigenous Communities and Cultural Landscape Collaboration

This session explores alignments between cultural landscape approaches and the agency of Indigenous communities, through the lens of ongoing collaborations in the U.S. and Canada. Panelists will discuss the collaborative and inclusive methods that they have used to cultivate and co-create cultural landscape preservation projects across the country. The panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities that robust engagement offers cultural landscape practice, highlighting several successful examples done in collaboration with Indigenous communities. Among its topics, this talk will begin to define inclusion and collaboration in cultural landscape practice, offer guidance on how this approach is different from and similar to standard practices, and delineate steps on how we as practitioners can be more inclusive in our practices.

• Samantha Odegard, Upper Sioux Community Pezihutazizi Oyate

• Lisa Prosper, ERA Architects

• Brenda Williams, FASLA, Quinn Evans

• Jacob Torkelson, Urban Heritage Project - University of Pennsylvania (Moderator)

Session 4: Bridging Theory and Practice - What is New and Next in Research?

Academic and research partners will examine their role in challenging norms and evolving cultural landscape work. Panelists will illuminate the challenges faced and insights gained in their respective research, the limits of work products, and the benefits their perspectives offer beyond traditional cultural landscape formats/products.

• Manish Chalana, PhD, University of Washington

• Azzurra Cox, University of Pennsylvania

• Beth Meyer, FASLA, University of Virginia

• Thaïsa Way, PhD, FASLA, Dumbarton Oaks / Harvard University

• Randy Mason, Urban Heritage Project - University of Pennsylvania (Moderator)

Closing collaborative session: Articulating Futures for Cultural Landscape Preservation

This session enlists cultural landscape professionals to articulate agendas for change – in practice, research, and government stewardship. Workshop leaders will collectively create a list of questions ahead of time (on gaps in training; professionalism and roles of designers, historians, preservationists, et al.; policy change/innovation; new practice models, and so on). Participants will be divided into small groups led by workshop leaders, and small-group dialogues will be facilitated around these questions. In the latter half of this closing session, workshop leaders will present and discuss the findings of each small group.

• Gretchen Hilyard Boyce, Groundwork Preservation

• Sean Dunlap, Land Tangles

• Angelina Ribeiro Jones, National Capital Region - National Park Service

• Jenny Lauer, Nelson Byrd Woltz

• Megan McPherson, New South Associates

• Meg Frisbie, Urban Heritage Project - University of Pennsylvania

• Molly Lester, Urban Heritage Project - University of Pennsylvania

• Jacob Torkelson, Urban Heritage Project - University of Pennsylvania

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