A Future-Oriented Preservation

Atkin Olshin Schade Architects is exhibiting our innovative architectural preservation work at the 2018 Venice Biennale Exhibit hosted by the Global Art Affairs (GAA) Foundation. The exhibit, titled A Future-Oriented Preservation, will be displayed at GAA’s European Cultural Centre as part of the exhibition, TIME SPACE EXISTENCE from 26 May to 25 November 2018. The Centre is located at the Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy.

A Future-Oriented Preservation will feature two case studies: Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site (ESP) in Philadelphia, PA and Owe’neh Bupingeh in Ohkay Owingeh, NM. ESP was abandoned in 1971 and much of building remains in ruinous condition. A Master Plan, completed in 2015, and new Visitor Center, now in design, provide an introduction to the social experiment and the National Historic Landmark; the Master Plan calls for some portions of the building to be renovated while others are designated to deteriorate further, marking the passage of time.

The Owe’neh Bupingeh preservation project reinvigorates the plazas and dwellings of the central village of Ohkay Owingeh, one of 19 Native American Pueblos in New Mexico. The adobe homes have undergone seven centuries of growth, abandonment, and alteration. Western preservation asks how the village looked originally, when it had the greatest integrity, and how it should be restored to better represent the past, the people of Ohkay Owingeh recognize that no moment in time has greater significance than any other. Their “period of significance” is tomorrow.

Eastern State Penitentiary model on display showing the new Visitor Center 
Eastern State Penitentiary model on display showing the new Visitor Center