ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION
With a background in fine art and art history, I found my way to architectural conservation through an interest in traditional craftsmanship and a curiosity about the history of buildings and spaces. It is the intersection of the craft of a conservation treatment with an understanding of the significance and history of a place through research that I found captivating about the projects that I had the opportunity to work on.
Integrated Conservation Resources
As a conservator at ICR, I had the opportunity to work independently as well as on a team with conservators, architects and engineers to develop treatment recommendations for historic buildings.
UNITED NATIONS, NY, NY
The United Nations headquarters designed by Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and Sir Howard Robertson with Harrison & Abramovitz Architects.
Conducted conditions surveys of the north and south marble facades on the Secretariat and marble and limestone exteriors of the General Assembly and Conference Building.
Performed laboratory testing using the Brazilian tensile strength test (ASTM D3967-16) of marble cores, extracted from the Secretariat marble panels.
Conducted quality control of contractor repairs made to the marble limestone exteriors.
Photo Credits: Integrated Conservation Resources and Atkinson-Noland & Associates.
The Montgomery Monument, St. Paul’s Chapel, NY, NY
Commissioned by Benjamin Franklin in 1776, The Montgomery Monument commemorates the death of revolutionary war hero, General Montgomery. The monument is located in the east window of St. Paul’s Chapel and was designed by french sculptor Jean-Jacques Caffieri .
Conducted archival research of the monument.
Conducted cleaning testing on the marble and limestone.
Sourced replacement marble for severely deteriorated marble base.
Project managed the site work which included disassembly and reassembly of the monument, carving of lost features, cleaning and repair of the monument.
Photo Credit: Integrated Conservation Resources.
florida southern university, Annie Pfieffer Chapel
Designed in 1938 by Frank LLoyd Wright, the Annie Pfieffer Chapel was constructed of concrete textile blocks with small pieces of glass to add light and color to the interior of the chapel. The campus has the largest collection of FLW buildings in the world.
Conducted cleaning tests on the concrete blocks.
Created patch and fill mixes to match the existing concrete blocks in color and texture. Several mixes were made to account for the variation in finish of the blocks.
Photo Credit: Integrated Conservation Resources.
The New York State Pavilion
Philip Johnson’s New York State Pavilion (NYSP) was created as a temporary exhibition for the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Queens, New York.
My thesis while at the University of Pennsylvania’s graduate program in historic preservation, was on the conservation and presentation plan for the terrazzo floor map of New York State.
This work culminated in a post graduate certificate that focused on the removal and conservation of four terrazzo panels. The conservation was conducted in a booth as part of an exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art on the history of the pavilion called Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964/65 World’s Fair.
Photo Credit: Ezra Stoller Photo Credit: Tentoftomorrow.com Photo Credit: Bill Cotter Photo: Vintage Postcard
COnservation process
The tile was removed from the site and stabilized with a new backing to support the damaged terrazzo.
Loose debris and dirt was removed and each panel was cleaned with water and a gentle cleaning solution where necessary.
New plexiglass pieces for the roads, letter and numbers of the map were 3D printed. The missing elements were drawn in AutoCAD using a 1960 Texaco road map as a reference.
Patch fills were made with pigmented patch material so that the original terrazzo is visible but the overall integrity of the map image is recreated.
