Content in Context :: Place and Time :: Google Earth

ABOVE: modernism map mashup - A screenshot of Google Earth incorporating 1) data from the SEAA and NOPL 2) gathered by the Regional Modernism class in 2008 3) uploaded to GeoCommons and 4) layered over Norman's Chart of the Lower Mississippi by A. Persac, 1858 courtesy of David Rumsey Historical Maps.

Last week I was in Toronto participating in the Visual Resources Association annual meeting. I presented on NeoGeography and Pedagogy as part of the Engaging New Technologies Session. Hope to get the powerpoint edited with proper links and uploaded to slideshare soon. My presentation focused on some of the ways one can use Google Earth to explore architecture in context.

Recent content and functional additions to Google Earth enrich the exploration of place at different points in time. We can explore place through user-contributed photos (Panoramio) and panoramas (360Cities) as well as Google-created street level panoramas (Street View). The Panoramio / Street View mashup in Google Maps is gorgeous. It presents an index of thumbnails of Panoramio photos that are mapped to the same Street View location. Superb! One can explore contemporary perceptions of ancient Rome through the University of Virginia's Ancient Rome 3D gallery. If the cool reconstructions leave you longing for the romance of ruins, turn on the 360Cities layer and tour the interior of the Colosseum. Or take a trip to Venice and glide from one panorama to the next, a virtual tour reminding us that monuments do not exist in isolation. Engaging the Historical Imagery function allows one to select the satellite view from different dates according to available imagery. This is an invaluable tool for those of us involved in the mapping of the recovery of the city of New Orleans. Turn on the Rumsey Historical Maps layer and you can select a historic basemap. I would love to see more maps of New Orleans available as base layers, especially the Robinson Atlas of 1883.

I have a number of ideas of how I'd like to see the Google Earth developed in the future - but will save those thoughts for the next post.

DOCOMOMO New Orleans map

DOCOMOMO New Orleans map, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

This map was created with Loc.alize.us. It shows some of the buildings which DOCOMOMO Louisiana intends to submit to the national registry.

Loc.alize.us + Flickr

Loc.alize.us + Flickr, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Loc.alize.us is a "bookmarklet" that you can add to your bookmarks toolbar. Then, when you click on it when you are in one of your flickr photo windows.
Presto! map interface.
Click: search place
Enter: location
That's it. Your photo is geotagged and on your fickr map. It is also accessible in the loc.alize.us map which can be embedded in a website.

I found out about this cool tool in the GeoTagging Flickr group forum. go to:
loc.alize.us - All Our Flickr Photos on Google Maps!

NOVA.tulane.edu

Ponchartrain Expressway (1958), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

The Tulane School of Architecture is pleased to announce the presence of the New Orleans Virtual Archive online. This project was conceived during the Exodus of 2005. In June of 2006 we were awarded a generous grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts to preserve and create universal access to our slide collection of New Orleans. Nearly 3000 slides that were taken by faculty, staff and students over the past sixty years have now been digitized and catalogued in LUNA.

Special thanks our partners at Tulane Technology Services who have provided server support and to all who have contributed to this collection.

http://NOVA.tulane.edu

Preservation Matters: Keynote address by Robert Ivy

On January 31, 2009 the Tulane School of Architecture hosted the Preservation Matters symposium organized by Dean Kenneth Schwartz. In this introduction he outlines the two main purposes of the symposium. "First, to focus on preservation education issues and the future of preservation in an open exploratory way, while inviting everyone interested in this topic... to focus on what this means to Tulane University as a national research university in this amazing city. . . . Second is to recognize the extraordinary contributions by Gene Cizek - the contributions he has made throughout his distinguished career at Tulane as Director of Preservation Studies." Dean Schawrtz also introduces the panel, Erica Avrami, Daniel Bluestone, Eugene Darwin Cizek, Ned Kaufman, Stanley Lowe, Jorge Rigau and the Keynote speaker, Robert Ivy.

The editor of Architectural Record since 1996, Robert Ivy holds a Masters in Architecture from Tulane University and is a former student of Gene Cizek. He provides an overview of Cizek's extensive accomplishments and legacy. Ivy looks forward to discuss challenges to preservation in China and London. He then looks back and frames the history of architectural preservation in the context of iconic buildings that focus on a significant person, event or place.

Ivy reminds us of the rich history of preservation in New Orleans. (In preservation we are progressive!) In 1925 New Orleans was the first city to pass an ordinance to create a historic district - the Vieux Carré. He also recalls the dedication of citizens like Elizabeth Werlein of New Orleans and the role of Tulane University in the growth of our local movement. He reviews the advances made by Tulane alumni in the field.

• Richard Koch (1910) "the progenitor of the Historic American Building Survey in New Orleans"
• Samuel Wilson (1931) "scholarly, authoritative, erudite and accurate"
• A. Hays Town (1926) "headed HABS in Mississippi....and produced the first drawings that HABS produced"
• Bernard Lemann (1926) "created an inventory of historic sites...part of the 1967 Community Renewal Program....mentor to generations of Tulanians"

In the Vieux Carré: A General Statement Lemann voiced the importance of recognizing the tout ensemble - the relationship of the part to the whole. This marks the evolution of an attitude of preserving individual buildings to one of preserving districts and a more comprehensive understanding of place.

Ivy reviews the history of legislation which enabled the growth of the movement. He discusses the National Trust's Main Street program as transformative - linking commercial revitalization to the preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods. He credits New Orleans as a model community for preservation activity due to the combination of the high number of National Register Districts, efforts of the Preservation Resource Center, the enabling legislation and the commitment of individuals. Ivy's "democratization of preservation" is then the expansion of the dialogue and activity to a larger audience, "achieving the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people." He poses the question of representation. "Who is in charge here? Who guards the legacy? Who tells the story?"

Modernism, as exemplified locally in the Phillis Wheatley School, generally presents a problem to preservation. After the Second World War there was tremendous need for new buildings now. Some were excellent, worthy of care and recognition, while "others merely filled space." They present technical challenges due to the degradation of the physical fabric. They are often overlooked due to an "architectural myopia" - a condition that disables us from appreciating that which is too close.

Regarding sustainability, Ivy notes that the embedded energy of buildings is the greatest contributor to carbon emissions in the world. The percentage ranges by study -33% to 48% - more than transportation! This is increased by the energy required for demolition, hauling rubble and storing it somewhere "as a problem for the next generation."

New Orleans' architecture is generally well suited to its climate, utilizing convection, understanding how to pull a cooling breeze across a room. Extended roof lines shield walls from intense sun and rain. (see: Hoffman School) This responsiveness to site needs to be recognized and LEED needs to integrate its standards with preservation. Ivy suggests we are approaching a renewed Urbanism, an "Age of the City." He challenges the panel and audience to consider the following:

• What does Preservation mean now and for the future?
• Who is it for?
• What is the role of archaeology, science, economy, sustainability?
  

Special thanks to Tulane Technology Services for editing the video and hosting it on the Tulane YouTube channel.

Preservation Matters Symposium

Save Charity

Save Charity, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

http://www.vcpora.org/

LSU/VA Medical Complex - Is It Really a Done Deal?
Over 70 acres of lower Mid-City cleared.
Over 200 historic buildings demolished.
Over 1,000,000 square feet of downtown buildings abandoned.

Come hear why one of the biggest economic development projects proposed for the city is also one of the most controversial, and learn about the issues, the alternatives, and why this matters to every New Orleans neighborhood.

Wednesday, January 21
Bourbon Orleans Hotel - 717 Orleans St.
6:00—6:30 reception * 6:30—8:00 presentation

Speakers include:

Bill Borah, attorney and author
Walter Gallas, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Sandra Stokes, Foundation for Historical Louisiana
Bobbi Rogers, Lower Mid-City Resident

Sponsored by:
Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates
Foundation for Historical Louisiana
National Trust for Historic Preservation

ALL ARE WELCOME!