SCHEDULE
9th Biennial Meeting on Construction History
June 12-14, 2025
CONFERENCE SITE:
University of Virginia, School of Architecture
Campbell hall
THURSDAY, JUNE 12th
10:00 AM
Registration
11:00 AM
Welcome & Orientation to UVA
Ben Hays
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM.
Concurrent Sessions
Session 1. Historic technologies. 1:00 - 2:30 pm
ROOM 205
Moderator: Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla
Sandra Hernandez
Arches and vaults as elements of the architecture and power in the conquest of the territory of the General Captaincy of Guatemala. 1592-1785.
Andrea Bardon de Tena and Laura Gilabert Sansalvador
Mayan house construction. The evolution of the type in the Highlands and the Lowlands.
Miguel Guzmán
Construction logic in precolonial Andean societies. Circularity, renewal and rituals in Initial Formative
Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla
Reinterpreting Carpintería de Lazo: A Digital Approach to the Mexican Manuscript of Fray Andrés de San Miguel.
Session 2. Labor histories. 1:00 - 2:30 pm
room 220B
Moderator: Linda Reeder
Shaheen Alikhan
Shipbuilding in Pieces: Custom carpentry aboard slaving vessels on the west coast of Africa
Linda Reeder
“Women who Make Money in Odd Ways”: Female Contractors in the U.S., 1885-1920
James Walcott
Superintending Steamboat Construction Labor: James Howard and Company, 1846–1878.
Jeana Ripple
Brick Boundaries: Restricting Labor, Building Codes, and Affordability in Philadelphia
Session 3. Government and MILITARY. 1:00 - 2:30 pm
ROOM 220C
Moderator: Ernesto Bilbao
Raymond Rollings and Marian Rollings
Evolution of Military Engineering in the Defense of Port Royal Sound During the 16th thriugh 19th Centuries
Deborah Slaton
Coastal Defensive Fortifications at Gulf Islands National Seashore: An Evolution
Ernesto Bilbao
The General Secretary Headquarters of the Union of South American Nations (2008-2022) as a Black Box: Secretive, Seductive, Indestructible
Douglas Bond and Atlas Poole
Stone Masonry Aqueduct Construction and Assessment – A Case Study of the Evitts Creek Aqueduct, C&O Canal
2:30-3:00 PM
BREAK
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM.
Concurrent Sessions
Session 4. Knowledge transfer. 3:00 - 4:30 pm
ROOM 205
Moderator: Clifton Fordham
Clifton Fordham
Party Walls and Structural Vulnerability in a Philadelphia Building Collapse
Kate Whitney-Schubb
“Gill Systems”: Analyzing Irving Gill’s Concrete Construction Methods in Southern California
Tait Johnson
Mixing Metals: Translating Expertise in Twentieth-Century Construction
Session 5. Historic typologies. 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Room 220B
Moderator: Robert Dermody
Michael Obrien
The First Buildings: Raising leadership and Community in a Freedom Colony Settlement
Edward Palka
The Unfulfilled Promise of Modular Construction in the United States: An Examination of Impediments to Adoption
Neal Vogel
American Band Stands & Shells
Robert Dermody
The Ames Building: Design and Construction of an Early American Skyscraper
Session 6. Demolition and restoration. 3:00 - 4:30 pm
ROOM 220C
Moderator: Rachel Will
Ann Dougherty
Crash, Pull, or Boom? 1970 Demolition of Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Hamtramck, Michigan.
Alafia Akhtar
Convent of the Sacred Heart School: A Tale of two Limestones
Rachel Will, Amanda Marshall and Nicole Declet
Ramova Theater Renewed – Once again a “Peaceful Place” Symbolizing Community
Rachel Will, Amanda Marshall, Nicole Declet and Mark Kuberski
Rising from the Ashes Before Falling to the Weather: An Analysis on Accelerated Deterioration Caused by Earth, Wind and Fire
4:30 - 5:00 PM
Walk to UVA Rotunda and Refreshments.
5:00 PM
Keynote Speaker
Designing the Academical Village: Thomas Jefferson’s Drawings for UVA
Louis Nelson
