Preservation identity, ideals, and expertise : outcries outcasts and outcomes in preservation's livability debate
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Date
2005-06
Authors
Adams, Shawna
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Historic preservationists and other placemaking professionals act with the intention of
influencing the physical environment, or of the way in which people understand and relate
to their physical surroundings. They act purposefully to affect particular and desirable
outcomes, which have disparate impacts on the built environment and citizens' lives. Within the public sphere, desirable outcomes are often
understood in terms of the general public good or interest-or more specifically, in terms
of"livability" (Pacione, 2001). The ideal of livability serves as the objective and the
justification for placemaking policies and practices in the land use arena.
This study aims to establish a framework in which critical interrogation of the
preservation profession and its assumptions is both possible and integral to practice.
Analysis is subjective, self-reflective, and self-questioning: who are we as professionals,
what are our philosophies and ideals, and how do these philosophies both help and harm
the publics we serve? The study explores the manner in which the preservation community
acts on its concern for a more democratic and culturally inclusive sphere of activity and
how it establishes professional relevancy and legitimacy in what I refer to as the
"contemporary context." The study also considers which preservation outcomes are
desirable and undesirable, which desirable outcomes are deemed relevant, and how
desirable outcomes measure against one another in terms of their relative value and
significance.
Description
206 pages