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by Virginia Price
The close scholarship of practice that the VAF describes as fieldwork underpins much of the research VAF members practice as they work through images, objects, buildings and landscapes to better understand the past. Details of construction provide clues to a buildings story, while systematic assessments of fabric and form give structure to that story. This material evidence is often presented in scaled drawings, particularly if one site is the subject of study. When a neighborhood is the subject, the buildings relationships to each other, within the block, and to the street become the canvas.
Settlement patterns as well as specific materials, decorative features, and plans examined together lend insights into a citys social spaces. Aerial photography and maps are keys to viewing this kind of setting. These comprehensive pictures of place can be augmented by field drawings of specific buildings that are illustrative of the larger architectural landscape.
Field research precedes the annual VAF conference and distinguishes the conferences tour program. VAF Chicago is no exception. While the VAF now offers support for individual fieldworkers through the Ridout Fieldwork Fellowship, it is the VAFs continued commitment to an initiative in support of fieldwork for upcoming conferences that brought several VAFers to the Windy City last summer. The fieldwork initiative pulled an impressive group together. Becky Sheppard, Director of the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) at the University of Delaware, led the way with assistance from Gretchen Buggeln from Valparaiso University, Andrew Sandoval-Strausz from the University of New Mexico, and Arijit Sen from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
With characteristic aplomb and good humor, Beckys team ventured into the sanctuary, synagogue and streets of several Chicago neighborhoods. Guided by Gretchen, they zigzagged north, west, and south of the Loop, meaning the elevated train tracks that loop through the citys downtown and give the area its vernacular. Outside the Loop, they met on street corners on
DevonAvenue, working with Arijit Sen and finding culinary treats. They
rendezvoused with Andrew Sandoval-Strausz at the landmark Arch over 26th
Street in Little Village.