SCAD revises Historic Preservation curriculum
Written by Jennie Rivera
SCAD preservation students are investigating the real life problem of designing sustainable and affordable housing. The new rigorous course curriculum that is now offered through the preservation design department.
SCAD is revamping the previously-called historic preservation department through the inclusion of more studio courses. Now known as preservation design, students coming into this program are offered an extensive curriculum with design, economics, planning, science, business and history. The need to make the field more inclusive has encouraged a resurgence of design-style courses focusing more on community study and development to create affordable housing in the Savannah community.
The Historic Savannah Foundation was awarded a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and passed that grant money forward to SCAD, providing students the opportunity to go out into local communities and work hands-on in their field.
Junior preservation design student Evan Martin notes the importance of this first-hand experience, referencing his work as an intern for the Davenport House this past summer.
“Interning in the field is exciting. It is a lot of hands-on work, mostly outdoors conducting research, but the most memorable experience was getting a chance to look at historical archives,” Martin said. “It was interesting looking at the community’s roots, it really gives us some perspective when we are studying these communities and designing affordable housing in local areas in Georgia.”
“There is an impression that historic preservation is one of the causes of such issues [affordable housing],” Management of Programmatic Diversity from the NTHP Jacqueline Johnson notes. Affordable housing is a significant issue and it raises questions on how old structures, stationed in large historic building stocks, are being reused.
SCAD’s Preservation Design Department has begun to investigate this question, through their efforts in local areas such as the Victorian District, the Planned Historic District and, most recently, the Cuyler-Brownville Project.
