Sisterhood Is Beautiful Trudi Sandmeier [0:07]: Hello! This is Save As, a podcast that glimpses the future of heritage conservation through the work of graduate students at the University of Southern California. I’m Trudi Sandmeier, Director of Graduate Programs in…
Tag: historic preservation
Building Resilient Communities Through Conservation
Pandemics, climate change, natural disasters, inequity, the perils of urbanization: cities worldwide are working to build resilience against a steady stream of existential threats. Resilience planning may include protecting historic places, but it typically overlooks the role of heritage conservation in helping communities prepare for, and recover from, the hazards they face. How does telling a community’s full story make it more resilient? Who should be at the table to make sure resilience plans include places that define and unite neighborhoods? Recent graduate Kelsey Kaline Neighbors shares these and other insights from her master’s thesis, Mobilizing Heritage Conservation as a Tool for Urban Resilience.
Heritage and Homelessness
How can heritage conservation help end homelessness? USC grad students in heritage conservation, architecture, and urban planning sought to find out. Using the city of Pasadena as their laboratory, the students and their instructor worked closely with Union Station Homeless Services and Pasadena Heritage. These partners came away with creative strategies and design concepts they can put to use right now, and that could serve as a model for other cities. The students came away with a deeper understanding of both homelessness and heritage conservation.
Conserving L.A.’s Queer Eden(dale)
Los Angeles has a rich LGBTQ heritage that’s been largely hidden. Recent graduate Rafael Fontes talks with producer Willa Seidenberg about why sites of LGBTQ significance are relatively hard to find, research, and designate. He discusses three case studies from his master’s thesis, Gaining a Foothold: Conserving Los Angeles’ Queer Eden(dale): the Harry Hay Residence, The Black Cat, and the Tom of Finland House. Each site reflects a different aspect of the city’s LGBTQ history, as well as the complexities in its conservation.
Preserving That Signature Sound
Have you ever considered sound a character-defining feature? Musician and recent USC grad Kasey Viso Conley certainly has. She knows why Nat King Cole, Janis Joplin, Van Halen, and countless other recording artists insisted on using specific studios to get a certain sound. It’s the physical environment of the studio, from acoustic tiles to echo chambers. Yet the transformation of recording technology has studios closing left and right. Why save these places when you can simulate their sounds at home with a digital plugin? How do you preserve pegboard that’s no longer made? Hear how Kasey explored these issues and many more in her thesis, Acoustic Heritage of Recording Studios: Physical Characteristics and Signature Sound.
Traces of Violence in the City of Angels
In this year of racial reckoning, our first Save As interview explores sites of violence against people of color. Recent graduate Jackson Loop talks with producer Willa Seidenberg about the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, the 1969 police raid on the Black Panthers’ L.A. headquarters, and the 1992 uprising surrounding the vicious beating of Rodney King. Examining sites associated with these events underscores systemic flaws in the current, top-down process of preservation–as well as solutions emerging from the ground up. Why is it important to remember painful history, and how can we do it when the physical presence is erased?
A Glimpse into the Future
Racial violence. Urban resilience. Acoustic heritage. Heritage conservation students at the University of Southern California are tackling some of the most important and innovative issues in the field, and we’re bringing their groundbreaking work to you. In this inaugural episode of Save As, the dynamic duo of Trudi Sandmeier and Cindy Olnick discuss how the podcast came about and what you can look forward to over the coming months. You’ll get a glimpse of a glimpse of the future of heritage conservation–new ways of thinking about what we save, why we save it, and for whom.