Preservation Design Concentration Added to Master of Design Studies Program

Illustration by Tara Ferkel

These side-by-side views of the historic Velda Rose Resort Hotel in Hot Springs show a photo from the past and a rendering created by Lori Filbeck, a student in the Master of Design Studies program. The project was created for the spring 2024 "Adaptive Use and Preservation" studio, a required course for the Preservation Design concentration.

The Master of Design Studies degree program at the U of A is adding a fifth concentration of study — in preservation design — beginning in the fall 2024 semester. The U of A and the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design launched the Master of Design Studies in spring 2018, with enrollment beginning in fall 2019.

Other areas of concentration are resiliency design, retail and hospitality design, integrated wood design, and health and wellness design.

"We are excited to add the long-promised preservation design option to our menu of degree concentrations," said Associate Dean Ethel Goodstein-Murphree, whose own research and practice are focused in this domain. "Increasingly, historic preservation is understood as a social, material and environmental process, a way of engaging buildings and places of cultural significance to improve the made and natural environments and, equally, to enhance the quality of people's lives.

"The National Trust for Historic Preservation makes clear the cultural and practical values of heritage buildings and sites to local and national economies," she continued. "In parallel, the International Council on Monuments and Sites asserts that preserving and protecting the made and natural environments necessarily speaks to climate change, sustainable practices (including traditional practices), the interconnection between nature and culture in the management of heritage sites, and heritage recovery and reconstruction as 'tools of future-making.' The new concentration prepares design professionals to meet these contemporary challenges, all critical issues of concern for the state and the nation."

The preservation design concentration provides advanced study and specialization that will broaden and add value to opportunities for architects, interior architects and designers, and landscape architects in professional practice, including work in both the not-for-profit and public sectors.

Studies will emphasize critical issues of historic preservation practice that not only preserve and protect historic buildings, sites and cultural landscapes but also look forward to adapting and repurposing them to meet contemporary challenges of creating just and resilient communities and sustainable natural environments.

The curriculum emphasizes the preservation of mid-20th century and late-20th century architecture, interiors and cultural landscape resources — emerging issues of concern in the discipline — with a practical focus on Arkansas' historic made and natural environments.

In addition to practice-based learning in design studios, the concentration requires students to understand the history and theories of the discipline. A two-course sequence, History and Theory of Preservation Design I and II, establishes foundational ideas of the historic preservation movement and the professional practices through which they are engaged, including their history and evolution over time, and then confronts contemporary practices and issues, both domestically and globally.

Through the consideration of preservation after modernism, its new narratives and its essential connections to pressing matters of global conflict, climate change and social equity, students gain perspectives to shape the future of preservation design in both the made environment and cultural landscapes. Central themes that resonate through studio and required and elective courses include adaptive reuse of buildings and sites, planning and policy innovations, social and historical research, and the impact of preservation laws, public policies and advocacy in design and preservation practice. Future plans for the new concentration include work with the U of A Rome Center to develop opportunities for research and study abroad.

The Master of Design Studies in the Fay Jones School provides a post-professional degree for individuals seeking expanded design expertise and professional advancement. It is a one-year, three-semester program with multiple concentrations. Utilizing strengths across the U of A campus, each concentration combines course offerings with a professional residency to immerse students in these dynamic fields. Each concentration offers specialized knowledge on emerging and critical issues, extending design education in contemporary settings. The concentrations culminate with workplace experience in professional practices, business settings, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations.

Design professionals interested in preservation design, or any of the MDes concentrations, are encouraged to contact Associate Dean Goodstein-Murphree at egoodste@uark.edu.