2023 Fitch Preservation Colloquium | Atmospheric Heritage: Experimental Preservation Approaches between Art and Science
Join us for the 2023 Fitch Preservation Colloquium “Atmospheric Heritage: Experimental Preservation Approaches between Art and Science,” organized by Jorge Otero-Pailos, Professor and Director of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). The event will be moderated by Andrés Jaque, Dean of Columbia GSAPP; Carol Becker, Professor of the Arts and Dean Emerita, Columbia University School of the Arts; and Erica Avrami, the James Marston Fitch Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia GSAPP, and will take place on September 22 from 1:30–7:00 PM.
Preserving the atmosphere is widely considered today as a civilizational imperative, and the central pillar in humanity’s ability to meet the existential threat of climate change. Yet what is meant by the terms “preservation” or “atmosphere” in this case, and the potential opened up by bringing them into mutual proximity, is seldom seriously questioned or explored. New ideas are emerging out of this proximity, such that the atmosphere is humanity’s common heritage, sparking new interest in preservation among a variety of disciplines. The rich history of preservation’s successes in protecting the atmosphere is being rediscovered, including pioneering work to protect scenic views from development, reduce airborne pollution to increase visibility in natural parks, and controlling light pollution in night skies among others. In turn, preservation is also opening up to new interdisciplinary exchanges. Atmospheric heritage’s immense scale, fluid physics, socio-environmental impact and geopolitical significance is challenging preservationists to rethink basic assumptions such as what a cultural object is, where it ends, who is able to care for it, and what institutions can support and enforce its protection. In pursuit of this rethinking, preservationists are engaging with a new and broader range of disciplines. Among them, the Fitch Colloquium will focus on preservation’s productive exchanges with the earth sciences and contemporary art, exploring a range of experimental preservation practices engaged in atmospheric heritage.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required for all attendees.
