The Fitch Colloquium Preservation East - West: Engagements, Exchanges, Entanglements Lisa Ackerman, World Monuments Fund Lee Ambrozy, New York University Grace Jan, Smithsonian Institute Vincent Michael, Global Heritage Fund Theodore Prudon, Columbia University GSAPP Anton Schweizer, New York University John G. Waite, John G. Waite and Associates Simon Warrack, Conservation Consultant The annual James Marston Fitch Symposium hosted by the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture Planning, and Preservation explores the question: Is there an East and West in Preservation? An examination of preservation practice in contexts of engagement between East and West seems to suggest there is dissonance between projected rhetorical positions and what occurs "on the ground." In these engagements is preservation largely enacted on a set of consensus and globally forged principles tempered by national or regional customs or primarily on indigenous principles? Or, is the spectrum of practice even broader and more deeply colored by local contexts? The symposium attempts to explore these questions with a series of case studies via presentations followed by discussions. Presentations 10:00 am Anton Schweizer: How to deal with short-lived splendor? The concept of originality in Japanese lacquered architecture 10:30 am Theodore Prudon: Preserving Modern Architecture in the East: Old Concepts, New Challenges 11:00 am Vincent Michael: Conserving Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century: East Meets West 11:30 am Lee Ambrozy: At the Midpoint: Negotiating Sustainability in the Old Town of Shaxi - Yunnan Province, China 2:00 pm Lisa Ackerman: More than Mortar Analysis and Measurement: the Art of Conservation Across the Globe 2:30 pm Grace Jan: Traditions and Cultures Matter: Reflections of a Conservator Training in Chinese Painting Conservation 3:00 pm Simon Warrack: Conserving what? Western conservation approaches and their impact on heritage in Asia 3:30 pm John G. Waite: Yin Yu Tang: an 18th Century Chinese House Meets American Preservation Technology About James Marston Fitch, 1909-2000 James Marston Fitch was architect and a Preservationist and founder of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University 1964 where he was a member of the faculty from 1954 to 1977. He taught and lectured widely and was a true internationalist -- studying and writing about preservation in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the former Soviet Union as well as the Caribbean and South America. The activist Jane Jacobs considered that Fitch "was the principal character in making the preservation of historic buildings practical and feasible and popular."

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