Last month, six students from the University of Maryland’s Historic Preservation program presented the findings of a semester-long preservation studio to the Baltimore City Planning Department. Their study of Baltimore’s Old Goucher neighborhood aimed to demonstrate how preservation can inform a city planning process and help shape community organization practices.
Using a multi-layered approach that combined site analysis, historical research, GIS mapping and stakeholder interviews, the students produced a series of maps that trace changes in Old Goucher’s physical/social framework over the course of six decades. This allowed them to identify and track key characteristics of the neighborhood’s character: a rich mix of residential, commercial and institutional uses; a network of green spaces, centered on the old Goucher College campus; high quality and adaptable building stock; diversity of housing types and tenures; and economic and social diversity. The final report proposed recommendations for the neighborhood’s future that build on these historic features.
“The students’ analysis weaved together the scale of the house and block with wider developments in the city,” said Assistant Professor Michele Lamprakos, who led the studio. “They’ve created a mine of data not only for the neighborhood association, but for researchers and scholars who study the city.”
The students who developed the report, all second year Master of Historic Preservation candidates, are: Meredith Gorres, Daniel Hayes, Anne Ketz, Amanda Moore, Caitlin Sylvester and Alexander Toprac.