Course Syllabus

This course is open to students in GSAPP programs as well as students from other schools/departments. Please contact the professor if you are a non-GSAPP student interest in enrolling.

Syllabus PDF

This course uses the lens of cultural heritage to explore climate action and policy, and to interrogate how environmental, social, and economic issues compound climate adaptation and mitigation of the existing built environment.

The built environment is one of the most egregious culprits in relation to energy and resource consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, and landscape destruction. But shifts in the way we physically develop and regulate the built environment are not only driven by and associated with climate and ecological issues, they are inextricably linked to questions of social-economic equity, cultural identity and place-based traditions, and histories of inclusion/exclusion. In the face of climate change – including more extreme and frequent weather events, sea level rise and storm surges, desertification and deforestation, migrating populations and demographic changes, diminishing resources and global imbalances – we must alter the existing built environment to better serve society and the planet. Rather than compelling the future to conform to an unsustainable past, we have an affirmative obligation to spur innovation and transformation. Communities and landscapes recognized as heritage places are fundamentally valorized as elements of the built environment and prioritized for survival. As such, they can and should be models of equitable resilience and climate mitigation in the face of evolving contexts and conditions. Improved integration of heritage interests within a broader agenda for climate action, however, will require a new set of priorities and trade-offs that balance the range of environmental, economic, and social concerns with traditional preservation values.

Through an examination of history and theory along with inquiries into contemporary conditions and practice, this course will analyze the shared and conflicting values at the nexus of heritage protection and climate action. It will explore key issues on the horizon that the preservation field must confront, including but not limited to energy efficiency and decarbonization, circular economies in the construction industry, renewable energy production and cultural landscapes, adaptation in situ, climate-forced migration and planned relocation/managed retreat, and resiliency planning and disaster vulnerability. A particular focus will be placed on questions of environmental and climate justice, shared and evidenced-based decision-making, and the distributive effects on communities as the preservation enterprise engages in climate action through policy and practice.