Grant deadlines
The Fitch Mid-Career Grant application is due September 15, 2012.
Applications for the Richard L. Blinder Award are due in the Fall of 2012.
Save the Date!
Following World War II, the United States and Europe sought to address the dire need for public and affordable housing through new building. The decades after war saw the development of many innovative design, construction and social arrangements. This legacy represents an important part of our collective architectural and cultural heritage but its preservation is plagued by many practical and social issues. By bringing together American and International experts, the Fitch Colloquium seeks to create a dialogue about the preservation of these buildings, which are at the intersection of social, physical, cultural and architectural values. Click here for a list of speakers and presenters.
The Fitch Colloquium is organized by the Columbia University Historic Preservation Program and co-sponsored by Docomomo US. The Fitch Colloquium is made possible by the generous support of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation, the Netherland-America Foundation, Preservation Alumni, and Prudon & Partners.
The Latest News From Fitch
April 18, 2012
Robert Silman is proud to announce that of the 12 buildings receiving Lucy G. Moses Awards from the New York Landmarks Conservancy on April 25, 6 had Robert Silman Associates as their structural engineers. These are: Central Park Police Precinct, Hamilton Grange National Monument, The New York Historical Society, Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, St. Patrick's Cathedral Rectory, and the TWA Flight Center.
February 13, 2012
Anat Geva (1997 Fitch Fellow) recently published Frank Lloyd Wright's Sacred Architecture: Faith, Form and Building Technology a comprehensive study of the sacred buildings built and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, representing different periods of Wright’s career (from 1886 to 1958), new building technologies, and application of his design concepts as demonstrated in his sacred architecture. This is a must read for anyone interested in Frank Lloyd Wright.
February 5, 2012
February 2, 2012
Click here to read Restoration Redux: Top architects are tackling historic buildings in surprising ways, a provocative new article by Jorge Otero-Pailos (2011 Fitch Fellow) that appears in the most recent Architectural Record.
February 2, 2012
Fitch Trustee Pamela Hawkes reports that Ann Beha has been named the Visiting Distinguished Professor of Design at CCNY's Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture. Ann will be lecturing on “Uneasy Alliance: Designing a Dialogue Between New and Old” at the School’s Sciame Lecture Series on February 23, 2011 at 6:30pm. She’s bound to be provocative, and would love to see you there!
February 1, 2012
Leopold (Lee) Adler II, an Historic Preservation Pioneer passed away on January 29, 2012. Click here to read about this legend. He and his wife Emma authored the book Savannah's Renaissance, which was supported with a grant from the Fitch Foundation.
January 17, 2012
On January 17, Pratt's spring lecture series, Keeping It Cool: Fighting Climate Change with Preservation, presented by Ned Kaufman (2009 Fitch Fellow), opens with a talk by Stephen Tilly, a leading thinker on preservation's role in the campaign against climate change. Please join them at Pratt Manhattan at 6 PM for this important talk. Subsequent speakers include Jean Carroon, Carl Elefante, and Lisa Kersavage. Each brings a uniquely well-informed perspective to a topic of central importance. Click here for to view the full series.
January 10, 2012
The Fitch Foundation warmly welcomes Ben Baccash, the new President of Preservation Alumni, as an exofficio board member. Ben Baccash is a Development Assistant at World Monuments Fund. Prior to joining WMF, he started and ran a historic preservation consulting business which facilitated local landmarks and community board reviews, executed symposia, and conducted research. Ben holds a BA from New York University in Urban Design and Architecture Studies and an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University, where he focused on preservation policy and land use law, with emphasis on the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and its enforcement procedures.
We'd like to thank Cleary Larkin, past Preservation Alumni President, for all her contributions to the Foundation as an ex officio member. Cleary, you'll be missed!
December 1, 2011
From right to left: Anne Van Ingen, former Director of the Architecture, Planning & Design Program and Capital Projects at the New York State Council on the Arts; Jerold Kayden, the Frank Backus Williams Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Paul Edmondson, General Counsel to the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and Tersh Boasberg, Adjunct Professor of Preservation Law, Georgetown University Law Center at the Fitch Forum.
TRANSCRIPTS NOW AVAILABLE! Transcripts from the Fitch Forum: 45 Years of Preservation Law held at Columbia University on February 5, 2011 are available below. The Fitch Foundation co-sponsored the event along with the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; the Law Department of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and Widener Law Review. Click here for more detailed information about the sessions and the speakers.
Preservation Law in 2011: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
A Tale of Three Cities: Challenges to Municipal Preservation Laws Across the Nation
New York City's Landmarks Law: Perpetually Young or Showing its Age?
Looking Ahead: Challenges and Opportunities for New York City and Beyond
Closing Remarks
Thanks to Ben Baccash for all his work editing the transcripts.
November 29, 2011
The Fitch Foundation's Winter 2011 - 2012 Newsletter is now available! Special thanks to Alan G. Brake and Catherine Gavin for all their help.
November 10, 2011
Columbia University's Historic Preservation Program Director and Fitch Professor Andrew Dolkart (2011 Fitch Fellow) recently published an article entitled, "The Fabric of New York City's Garmet District: Architecture and Development in an Urban Cultural Landscape", in the Vernacular Architecture Forum's journal, Buildings and Landscapes.
November 8, 2011
Fitch Trustee Theodore Prudon recently participated in the International Design Alliance (IDA) World Design Conference titled "Design at the Edges," held in Taipei, Taiwan. On October 3, he was interviewed by National Public Radio about the National Airlines Terminal (known as the Sundrome) as part of his ongoing work with DOCOMOMO-US.
October 17, 2011
Harvest Dome, a project by Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi (2011 Blinder Fellows) will premier on Sunday, October 23, 2011 at Inwood Hill Park Inlet in Manhattan. The installation featured discarded storm-snapped umbrellas that have been assembled into a giant twenty-four foot diameter, light-gauge spherical dome, that will float on the waters of the Inwood Hill Park inlet, as a physical revelation of the city’s accumulated waterborne debris. Click here for more information about this project, supported by Manhattan Community Arts Fund.
October 14, 2011
Kenneth Love's film Fallingwater premiered last night to a standing-room only crowd at the New Media Theater. Guggenheim Patrons, along with Trustees and Friends of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation gathered to watch the remarkable history of Fallingwater, the Edgar J. Kaufmann house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright between 1934 and 1937.
Robert Silman, Fitch Trustee and principal of Robert Silman Associates, the engineering firm which worked on the restoration of both Fallingwater and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, said: “The original footage of Wright and his client, Edgar Kaufmann a Pittsburgh department store magnate, expose the personalities of these two very strong-willed men. This film is a must for any devotee of modern architecture or Frank Lloyd Wright.”
The film was supported by the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation, The Edgar A. Tafel Living Trust, and the Laurel Foundation.
September 27, 2011
Not to be missed! The current issue of AIArchitect, the AIA's online magazine, features the 75th Anniversary of Fallingwater and includes a sneak peak of 2011 Fitch Fellow Kenneth T. Love's film, "Edgar Kaufmann, jr. on Fallilngwater", as well as an interactive story, "Wright Repairs," featuring Fitch Trustee Robert Silman.
The film will be featured as part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Friday Film Series. The film will be screened at the New Media Theater on October 14, 21, 28 and November 18 at 1pm and 3pm, and on November 4 at 11am. The screenings are included in the price of general museum admittance. Click on the photo below to see a 5-minute preview of the film.
September 12, 2011
Save the Date! Shawn Evans ('11) will present the preliminary findings of his Fitch-funded research project on Thursday, October 13th at 7:45 pm at the Lower Merion Conservancy in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Evans' lecture, Preservation of Native American Places will focus on preservation practices among the pueblo peoples. He will be joined by the Chief of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, Chief Bob Mexhalaniyat (Red Hawk) Ruth, who will discuss the indigenous heritage of Lower Merion and preservation activities of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. Photo Below: "View of [Ohkay Owingeh] Pueblo and North Plaza," 1877. John K. Hillers, photographer. Courtesy of the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution (NAA INV 06344100)
September 3, 2011
Frank Muhly, Jr.'s 1996 film James Marston Fitch: Pioneer in Preservation Education is now available for viewing on the Fitch Foundation website. SIt back and enjoy!
August 28, 2011
The Summer Newsletter is now available. Click here to view!
August 22, 2011
Preservation Alumni relaunched its website and now includes information about upcoming events, grant deadines, calls for papers, and more. The website's new "Notable Alumnus" series now features James Marston Fitch.
August 15, 2011
Save the Date! On Saturday, October 22nd Cleary Larkin, President of Preservation Alumni and Fitch Ex Officio Trustee, will speak about the restoration of the Beacon Theater in New York City as part of the Museum of the City of New York's symposium, Living with HIstory: Restoring, Redesigning, and Reviving New York's Landmark Interiors.
July 8, 2011
Dr. Sara Wermiel ('08) recently completed the manuscript for a book, “When Architects Were Engineers; Architect-Engineers in Nineteenth-Century America,” supported by her Kress Mid-Career grant. She is now seeking a publisher for this book and would be glad to send a proposal to interested publishers. Please contact Dr. Wermiel at swermiel@mit.edu. Please click here for more information about her project.
June 20, 2011
In association with the Edgar Tafel Trust, Kenneth Love has received a 2011 grant to reproduce, restore, and preserve his documentary Fallingwater: A Conversation with Edgar Kaufmann, jr. To read more about this project click here.
June 13, 2011
Fitch Chairman John H. Stubbs was appointed as Senior Professor of Architectural Preservation Practice and Director of the Master of Preservation Studies program in the Tulane School of Architecture. Click here to read more!
May 5, 2011
After a private viewing of the new Van Alen Books, New York City’s new center for architecture and design publications, friends of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation celebrated with recent Fitch Foundation grantees at the Van Alen Institute on May 3, 2011.
Congratulations to Laura Blokker, Shawn Evans, Ned Kaufman, Heather Knight and Jorge-Otero Pailos our new Fitch Mid Career grant recipients, and Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi, the Blinder Award recipients. To learn more about these projects, please visit our Grantees page.
May 4, 2011
Recent Past Preservation Network announced in its In its Spring 2011 Newsletter that it has taken ownership of the website, www.midcenturybanks, created by Kirk Huffaker ('07). The website features Kirk's Fitch-supported project, The Architecture of W.A. Sarmiento: Defining Downtown Banks at Mid-Century.
April 28, 2011
The New York Landmarks Conservancy honored Fitch Trustee Anne Van Ingen at its annual Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards held at the Church of St. Francis Xavier. Through her leadership at the New York State Council on the Arts as director of architecture, planning and design, Anne oversaw grants to the preservation groups throughout the state.
April 16, 2011
Join Ned Kaufman ('09) on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 as he addresses and explores the contemporary politics of preservation at 6pm in Buell East Gallery, Columbia University. His lecture, What if the public is Wrong?: Problems in the Politics of Preservation, is part of INQUIRY:HP, Columbia University GSAPP Historic Preservation Lecture Series. For more information, please click here to visit the INQUIRY:HP website.
April 12, 2011
Fitch Chairman John H. Stubbs has just published Architectural Conservation in Europe and the Americas, National Experiences and Practice, with co-author Emily G. Makas. Please see the book's companion website www.conservebuiltworld.com for more information on this title and the wider Time Honored Architectural Conservation Documentation Project.
March 29, 2011
The edited proceedings of the 2009 Fitch Symposium, The Preservationist’s Eye: Esthetics in Reuse and Conservation of the Historic Built Environment, are featured in the latest issue of CRM: The Journal of Heritage. Read it online now!
March 24, 2011
An article by Sara Wermiel ('08) that draws on material from her Fitch-supported research appears in the recently published book, Before Steel: The introduction of structural iron and its consequences (Niggli, 2010).
March 7, 2011
Marjorie Pearson ('99) discussed the history of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, its pioneering role in establishing and interpreting local landmarks regulation, and its ongoing legacy at the 17th Annual Historic Districts Council Preservation Conference on March 5th. Click here for more information.
February 5, 2010
The Fitch Foundation co-sponsored the Fitch Forum: 45 Years of Preservation Law, along with three other supporters: the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; the Law Department of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and Widener Law Review. The event was held at Columbia University on February 5, 2011.
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December 16, 2010
A new guide researched and written by Dan Marriott ('08) has been published to assist state and tribal historic preservation offices, as well as local governments and historic road advocates, with the historical background, strategies and tools to better identify and preserve our nation's historic rooad. The Preservation Office Guide to Historic Roads: Clarifying Preservation Goals for State Historic Preservation Offices, Establishing Preservation Expectations for State Transportation Departments is available online at: www.historicroads.org.
May 30, 2010
Congratulations to Laura Blokker, Heather Knight and Ned Kaufman, our new Fitch Mid Career grant recipients. To learn more about their projects, please go here: Fitch Foundation Grant Recipients.
