Abstract:

In the fall of 2016, a mixed-major cadre of students in an historic preservation class at Iowa State University traveled to London for ten days to participate in fieldwork at the soon-to-bevacated United States chancery at Grosvenor Square, Eero Saarinen’s modernist 1960 landmark. While the focus of the class was the tools and techniques for preservation documentation, the students’ perspective on their assignment quickly evolved, and the final project that emerged at the end of the semester reflected an experience that was broader, and far richer, than originally anticipated. While Saarinen’s chancery remained the focus of student activities, more revealing than the building itself was its changing urban context, as the American government prepared to vacate its long-standing home for a new chancery in a developing neighborhood south of the Thames. The students’ experiences and their class project suggest a potent form that preservation fieldwork might take in the future. This involves a shift from the study of the architectural landmark in isolation to a more holistic perspective that includes the broader neighborhood and its economic and demographic flows. In this particular case, the historic chancery’s capacity to anchor an “ethnic” neighborhood, the so-called Little America of Grosvenor Square, which had long been waning, became an opportunity for students to explore new ways of preservation and commemoration in a rapidly changing city.

摘要：

2016 年秋天，爱荷华州立大学历史保护班的一名混合专业的学生前往伦敦为期十天，在埃罗·萨里宁 (Eero Saarinen) 的现代主义 1960 年的格罗夫纳广场 (Grosvenor Square) 即将搬空的美国大法官处参加实地考察。地标。虽然课程的重点是保存文件的工具和技术，但学生对作业的看法迅速发展，学期末出现的最终项目反映了比最初更广泛、更丰富的体验预期。虽然 Saarinen 的办公大楼仍然是学生活动的焦点，但比建筑本身更具启发性的是它不断变化的城市环境，由于美国政府准备腾出其长期居住在泰晤士河以南的一个发展中社区的新大法官府。学生的经历和他们的课堂项目表明了一种有效的形式，保护田野工作在未来可能会采用。这涉及从孤立地研究建筑地标转向更全面的视角，包括更广泛的社区及其经济和人口流动。在这个特殊的案例中，历史悠久的大法官能够锚定一个“民族”社区，即所谓的格罗夫纳广场小美国，长期以来一直在衰落，成为学生在瞬息万变的环境中探索新的保护和纪念方式的机会。城市。学生的经历和他们的课堂项目表明了一种有效的形式，保护田野工作在未来可能会采用。这涉及从孤立地研究建筑地标转向更全面的视角，包括更广泛的社区及其经济和人口流动。在这个特殊的案例中，历史悠久的大法官能够锚定一个“民族”社区，即所谓的格罗夫纳广场小美国，长期以来一直在衰落，成为学生在瞬息万变的环境中探索新的保护和纪念方式的机会。城市。学生的经历和他们的课堂项目表明了一种有效的形式，保护田野工作在未来可能会采用。这涉及从孤立地研究建筑地标转向更全面的视角，包括更广泛的社区及其经济和人口流动。在这个特殊的案例中，历史悠久的大法官能够锚定一个“民族”社区，即所谓的格罗夫纳广场小美国，长期以来一直在衰落，成为学生在瞬息万变的环境中探索新的保护和纪念方式的机会。城市。