Second Annual Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny Lecture

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

7:00 PM

"Ruin and Reconstruction" in the Making of Historic Sites

Speaker: Richard Longstreth

Professor Emeritus of American Studies

The George Washington University

Professor Longstreth has an extensive career in the study of architecture, design, American culture, and in historic preservation activism. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1977, while living in a historic shingle building on Dwight Way. His first book, Four Architects at the Edge of the World (1983), included profiles of familiar locals such as Bernard Maybeck and Ernest Coxhead, and did much to introduce both the design community and the general public to the roots of Arts and Crafts design in the Bay Area.

We welcome him back to Berkeley for this talk which will focus on the processes and pitfalls of the interpretation and reconstruction of historic sites that have fallen into disrepair or ruin. In California this work began with Sutter's Fort in Sacramento, and it extends through the United States to places such as Fort Ticonderoga in New York State, which Professor Longstreth has studied extensively. He will also offer perspectives on the preservation struggles and choices many communities face as development confronts historic resources and local character.

Professor Longstreth has written on topics as diverse as Frank Lloyd Wright, and the evolution of supermarkets, malls, and drive-ins. He has served as the President of the Society of Architectural Historians, and as a board member of several preservation organizations and bodies, both non-profit and public.

Free, but reservations required via Eventbrite.

BERKELEY LECTURE LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED - EMAILED TO EVENTBRITE RESERVATION HOLDERS AND ALSO ON THE LEASE CONSULT BAHA WEBSITE (Berkeleyheritage.com) Event page for details.