September Newsletter 2013

Sep 18, 2013 by User Not Found

 
September 2013 Volume LVII, No. 9 / Society of Architectural Historians Newsletter
 

  SAH to Honor Architectural Excellence at Awards Gala
The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) will present four Awards for Architectural Excellence during its annual SAH Awards Gala on Saturday, November 9, 2013, at The Casino in Chicago. The awards will be bestowed on individuals and organizations in the categories of planning and sustainability, media, criticism and stewardship. The awards represent a unique coming together of architectural practice and academic study, honoring the contributions of those who shape and interpret our built environment. The gala benefits SAH and supports its mission to promote the study, interpretation and conservation of the built environment worldwide. Read More.
     
  Frank Lloyd Wright's Modern Human
SAH is partnering with the Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) to present the discussion “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Modern Human,” on November 10, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., at Northwestern University School of Law. The program is offered as part of the 24th Annual Chicago Humanities Festival, which will explore the theme of Animal: What Makes Us Human. MoMA curator Barry Bergdoll and architect Jeanne Gang will explore Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy in a conversation informed by and showcasing the newly available Wright archive, recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art and Columbia University’s Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. Dianne Harris, past SAH president and chair of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center Advisory Board, will moderate. Read More.
     

  2014 Sponsorship, Advertising & Exhibition Opportunities
SAH is pleased to announce sponsorship, advertising and exhibition opportunities for the 67th Annual Conference in Austin, Texas, April 9-13, 2014. SAH Annual Conference attendance has increased by 20% in five years (520 attendees in 2009 vs. 649 attendees in 2013). In response to this growth, SAH is introducing a new conference format and expanded programming. Reach architectural audiences in the forefront of their fields, as well as the general public interested in the built environment. Connect with architectural and art historians, architects, urban planners, landscape architects, museum curators, preservationists, students, and others, all whom have a passion for and dedication to the built environment.
     

  2015 Call for Session Proposals
At its 2015 Annual Conference in Chicago, April 15-19, the Society of Architectural Historians will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding. SAH will offer a total of 36 paper sessions over two days. The Society invites its members, including graduate students and independent scholars, representatives of SAH chapters and partner organizations, as well as future members to chair a session at the conference. Submit session proposals via email by January 15, 2014, to Prof. Ken Tadashi Oshima, general chair of the SAH 68th Annual Conference, at koshima@uw.edu and cc a copy to Kathy Sturm, SAH director of programs, at ksturm@sah.org. Read More.
     
  Call for Nominations to the JSAH Editorial Advisory Committee
The Society of Architectural Historians invites nominations and self-nominations for eight individuals to serve on the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians Editorial Advisory Committee for staggered terms of one to four years. JSAH features leading scholarship in the English language in all aspects of the history of the built environment. Ideal candidates have published substantially in the field and may come from any of the Society’s constituencies in academia, preservation, museum work or independent scholarship; institutional affiliation is not required. The Society seeks to form a committee that will collectively provide expertise across the discipline’s chronological and geographic subfields. Read More.
     
  Announcing New Content in SAH Archipedia
We are pleased to announce that SAH Archipedia recently expanded to include 1,371 new building entries. This includes all 857 entries from the revised edition of Buildings of Michigan by Kathryn Eckert (University of Virginia Press, 2012). You’ll also find 514 new building entries from a variety of other states that were delayed as we verified their latitude and longitude coordinates for the Google Earth maps that illustrate each building entry. Also added are 75 new photographs. Read More.
     
  Register for the Columbus Study Day
Register now for the SAH Study Day in Columbus, Indiana, on October 4, and learn how this thriving Midwestern town became the architectural mecca that it is. This day-long tour will be led by expert Henry Kuehn, past SAH director and treasurer, and will feature many important works of 20th-century architecture. This is an in-depth tour offering special access as some of the sites are not open to the public. Read More.
     

  The Right Textbook
SAH Blog Post by Kostis Kourelis
It wouldn't be late August, if I weren't gripped by the annual anxiety that I have chosen the wrong textbook for the imminent architectural survey starting in a few days. The year-long survey (ancient to medieval in the fall, Renaissance to late modern in the spring) is a staple of our teaching whether in departments of art, architecture or art history. This year's anxiety comes with the realization that I have taught a version of this survey continuously for a decade and in a range of public, private, small and large universities. But I also realize that I have never used the same textbook two years in a row. Read More.
     


Gold Coast’s Buried Relics: Artifacts from the Charnley-Persky House Dig
SAH Blog Post by SAH Metcalf Intern Christine Shang-Oak Lee
Visitors to the Charnley-Persky House Museum in Chicago have a chance to peek into the butler’s pantry behind the dining room on the first floor. Displayed in the cabinets are rusted pots and pans, medicinal bottles and jars, and shards of broken china dishes. These artifacts were discovered when the historic house and current headquarters of the Society of Architectural Historians was undergoing extensive renovation work in 2002. Read More.
       
  SAHARA Travel Fellow Report – Imagining the Nation: Influence of Nationalism on Architecture of Twentieth-Century Iran
By SAHARA Fellow Sahar Hosseini
Buildings and complexes recorded in this collection of photographs represent a period in Iran’s history when architecture was employed as a means to define, represent and negotiate national identity. Like several other countries in the region, Iran’s 20th-century political stage is marked by a modernist-nationalist regime that celebrated art and architectural heritage of Iran as an indication of its glorious past. Read More.
 


SAH Seeks Information About Members' Slide Collections
SAH is gathering information about our members' 35mm slide collections related to the built environment with the goal of finding a way to preserve them. We recognize that many such collections are increasingly endangered by loss, environmental damage or destruction. A study group led by SAH First Vice President Ken Breisch and SAHARA Editors Jacqueline Spafford and Jeffrey Klee has prepared an initial survey to get a better understanding of the variety, size and scope of members' slide collections to help create a plan for preserving valuable and unique materials and, ideally, digitizing and sharing them. Read more and take the survey.
 
   
Traditional Buildings Conference in Chicago
The Society of Architectural Historians will be exhibiting at the Traditional Building Conference, September 19-20, at The Chicago History Museum. SAH members Susan Benjamin of Benjamin Historic Certifications in Highland Park, IL, and Stuart Cohen, FAIA, of Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects in Evanston, IL, are included in the roster of speakers. SAH Director of Membership Anne Bird will have a membership booth in the exhibit hall. Read More.
 
   
SAH Membership Directory
Do you know you have the power to contact SAH members through our online directory? Our online directory is available to all SAH members who have set-up a login account and a password. Here are brief instructions for accessing the member directory:

1. Go to www.sah.org and login
2. Click on "Membership," then "Member Portal"  
3. On your Membership page, scroll down to “My Membership”
4. There will be a link there to access the Member Directory
5. Once on the Directory page, enter your search criteria, and click on "SEARCH" for the results; you can search by last name, affiliation, expertise, city, state, country, or any combination of listed fields.

Please remember that access to the SAH Member Directory is a benefit of SAH membership and is provided for the exclusive use of SAH members in fostering communication between members.
 
   
Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington Grand Opening
Construction on the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington is now complete, and final preparations are underway for its September 27 grand opening. Located on the picturesque and historic setting of George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington will serve as a worldwide repository for expertise about Washington, his achievements and his legacies. Read More.
 
   
Archiving the Digital: Current Efforts to Preserve Design Records
Design firms and collecting institutions are seeking solutions to manage and preserve born-digital architectural records. Is long-term access possible or are we still facing a digital Dark Age? This innovative conference co-organized by the British Architectural Library and the Victoria & Albert Museum brings together noted UK and international experts who are tackling the shared problem of managing long-term access to digital design records including CAD, BIM and 3D modelling. The 2013 conference takes place in London, October 17-18. Read More.
 
   
Chapter News
Registration is now open for the SAH Marion Dean Ross / Pacific Northwest Chapter's 2013 Annual Conference in Salem, Oregon, October 18-20. The theme is "The Willamette River Valley: Settlers and Founders." Read More

The SAH Chicago Chapter is offering a tour of St. Ignatius Prep School and its architectural collection and a visit to the Holy Family Church on September 28. The Chicago Chapter will also present the lecture, "Playboy Architecture: 1953-1979" with Beatriz Colomina on October 10. Read More.

 
   
Current SAH Opportunities 
H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship: $50,000 award to cover one year of travel for a recent graduate or emerging scholar. Deadline October 1.

SAH Award for Film and Video: The SAH Award for Film and Video was established in 2013 to recognize annually the most distinguished international work of film or video on the history of the built environment. Deadline December 1.

HABS-SAH Sally Kress Tompkins Fellowship: A joint program of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and the National Park Service's Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), this fellowship permits an architectural historian to work on a 12-week HABS project during the summer of 2014. Deadline December 31.
 
   
Other Opportunities 
Landscape Studies 2014 Book Prizes: The John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize is awarded to books published in the last three years that have made a significant contribution to the study and understanding of garden history and landscape design. The David R. Coffin Publication Grant supports the research and publication of a book in the field of landscape studies. Deadline December 1.

American Council of Learned Societies Fellowships: ACLS offers 13 fellowship programs that promote the full spectrum of humanities and humanistic social sciences research and support scholars at the advanced graduate student level through all stages of the academic career.
 
    
Members in the News
Places Journal Receives Graham Foundation Grant
Obituary: Nancy Miller
Obituary: Randell L. Makinson
 

 
SAH September Booklist
Read the September Booklist of recently published architecture books and related works. The booklist and exhibition catalog list are selected by Barbara Opar, architecture librarian, Syracuse University Library.