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Published by Sitestudy.com, Chapel Hill, NC USA 5th edition, Copyright 2009 by Sitestudy.com
General Information
Sitestudy.com courses are not site-specific and can be used to study any site, anywhere in the world. Students may take any course as often as they choose. Sitestudy.com is registered with the AIA Continuing Education System (AIA/CES). Upon completion, AIA members will receive 4.5 Sustainable Design/HSW learning unit hours, which will be reported directly to the AIA/CES for them. Non-AIA registrants will receive a certificate of completion of 4.5 contact hours.
This coursepack has three functions:
• It is a study guide.
• It is a take-home exam.
• It is your permanent record of your site visit.
Step One: Select a Historic Site to Study
The history of civilization has often been best recorded in its built environments. Even when written records are lost, cities, neighborhoods and works by forgotten master builders are among the most telling creations of humankind. Each historic site is different from all others. It might be a room, a building, a neighborhood, a city, a ruin, a factory complex, or a campus. The built environment is always three dimensional, and always exists within a context. A combination of theoretical understanding and on-site analysis is the best way to study buildings, their history, and their relationship to the environment.
Through study of historic sites from both your own and other cultures can you learn how others have solved universal problems. You can learn from a wide range of construction strategies across time. You can become familiar with many design solutions to problems of scarcity of land, clean water or air. You must understand patterns of public transportation, historic preservation priorities, and innovative technology and materials. You can thus benefit the health, safety and welfare of the public. Your study must therefore encompass the following goals:
• To learn how the site's history may have impacted its form and function
• To learn how the site addresses its natural environment and the limits and possibilities of its geography and/or form-generating context
• To learn about the materials and technologies particular to an historic site
• To understand how the site differs from the context where the student practices
Why does studying an historic site help maintain your professional architectural skills?
Architecture provides shelter and humane and aesthetically graceful spaces for human activity. Through the built environment, architecture supports social well being in the world. Education of architects at every stage of their careers includes the requirement that they understand and learn from the work of other architects. Historical urban or rural contexts, spatial and tactile qualities, lighting conditions, true colors, varied cultural influences on design and human welfare issues should not be studied only in books. Studies in the field are necessary for maintenance of an architect's professional expertise because photographs, written descriptions, maps, blueprints, and moving images can never completely substitute for three-dimensional learning.
History adds a "fourth dimension" to your studies. By analyzing how buildings were put together in other times, architects learn to avoid mistakes made by others, and how to accomplish successes achieved before. Historic sites teach about many basic architectural ideas: principals of urban planning, relationships between transit and building function, contextual use of materials, technology and style, and the life cycle of building materials. You cannot thoroughly understand or learn from Pompeii, for example, without studying it in context. It is especially important to see how structures relate to each other and to open space, how individual buildings fit together and how time and nature have affected the original site.
Criteria for Selecting a Site
1. You must be prepared to spend at least 8 hours at your site.
2. You must have access to maps and written materials about the specific site you select which will enable you to know about its history.
3. The site must include some structural remnants of the original, or be carefully designed to have educational value (Williamsburg is ok; Dollywood is not).
Step Two: Research and Develop a Bibliography
History (required)
Obtain a guidebook or history, which includes information on your historic site.
Map/plan (recommended)
To understand your historic site, try to familiarize yourself with its basic "rules"; maps and plans are a good way to do this. If none exist, you may find it useful to make a thumbnail sketch of the "big picture" in your coursepack.
Other Reference Material (recommended)
Read about an aspect of your site, which led you to choose it. For example, if it is a famous ruin such as Pompeii, read about Roman history of that period. If it is noted for architecture of a particular period, such as Vienna's "Ring," read about Otto Wagner. If it is the work or home of a famous person such as Thomas Jefferson, read about Monticello. Articles, books, and CD-ROMs are all appropriate and valuable.
Step Three: Bibliographic References (at least one historic and two other sources)
These can be maps, books, journal articles, guidebooks, etc. At least one reference piece relating to the historical context/period of your chosen site should be used.
Step Four: Required Photographs of the Historical Site
Below is a list of suggested photographs. It relates closely to the next section of this study, which is a series of questions for you to answer. The questions are intended to help you think of the many issues that the photographs will document. Please print two copies of your photographs; keep the negatives and one copy of each print. Enclose one copy of the required photographs in an envelope. Be sure to identify each photo with your name, and remember to keep the negatives and one copy of all photographs. We cannot assume responsibility for any that may be lost in handling. You retain the copyright for all photos.
Period Specific Components:
1. Take as many photos as needed to convey the following elements in their historical context:
Exterior Elevations and site specific landscape
Public and Private Spaces
Walls
Ceilings
Floors
Stairs/Ramps
Balconies
Arcades/Loggias/Porches
Courtyards
Windows
Ornamentation
Colors (How is the palette achieved?)
Materials
HVAC Components (fireplace, window location, siting, landscaping, materials)
Plumbing systems (well, chamber pot, window)
Present Day Modifications:
1. Provide at least five photos to document changes made to incorporate HSW components into the historical site.
Elevators
Material Changes
Introduction of Electricity
Modern Plumbing
Fire Safety
Signage
Step Five: The Historical Site Study
Please click on the "Download and Print the Course Pack" link above to view the full course content.
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