Fixing Preservation

Fixing Preservation
Randall Mason
University of Pennsylvania
Hanbury Lecture in Historic Preservation

Mon, Oct 20, 5PM
Campbell 153

In his lecture, Fixing Preservation, Randall Mason addresses the crises and opportunities facing the historic preservation field. The complexities of historic preservation are under appreciated — and the multiple lives of preservation as a curatorial, design, and social practice make "fixing" anything far from simple. This talk centers on the complex and sometimes contradictory functions of preservation in contemporary society, explored through historical research, theoretical argument, lessons from practice, and a future focus on governance and policy reforms. These constructive critiques will be the substance of a forthcoming book drawing on decades of teaching, practice, and research.

About the Speaker

Randall Mason plays several roles at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design: Chair of the Department of Historic Preservation, Professor of Historic Preservation / City & Regional Planning / Landscape Architecture, Senior Fellow at PennPraxis where he directs the Urban Heritage Project, and, Senior Fellow and Founding Faculty Director of the Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites. Educated in geography, history, and urban planning, his published work includes The Once and Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City (University of Minnesota Press, 2009), and Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States (edited with Max Page (Routledge, second edition, 2019). Mason’s professional practice includes projects at many scales addressing planning, preservation, and public space issues, commissioned by organizations including the Getty Conservation Institute, William Penn Foundation, Brookings Institution, the City of Philadelphia, and the National Park Service. He lives in Philadelphia and was a Rome Prize fellow in 2012–13.
 

Supported by the Hanbury Endowment.