[Encore] Architecture + Advocacy in L.A.'s Sugar Hill
An Encore episode with a new update!A group of architecture students at the University of Southern California wants to do more than just design buildings. They want to work with communities to “un-design'' spatial injustice and leverage the power of residents in shaping their neighborhoods.In this episode, producer Willa Seidenberg talks with students Reily Gibson and Kianna Armstrong about L.A.'s Sugar Hill, an important neighborhood cut in half by construction of the I-10 Freeway. A nonprofit they co-founded, Architecture + Advocacy, worked with neighborhood partners on a community celebration and a design-build project.Reily and Willa walk and talk about Sugar Hill's history and legacy of activism, and Kianna shares how a new generation of architecture students is using heritage conservation (even if they don't call it that) to help neighborhoods affected by structural racism and gentrification.See episode page for photos, resources, and transcript.Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!
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36:18
Framing History through Photography
Photographer Sally Mann once said, “Photographs open doors to the past, but also allow a look into the future.” Photography is a key component of the historic documentation process. New graduate Sam Malnati (MHC/MUP ’25) delved into photography’s role in the field for her thesis, Contemporary Vision: Photography's Influence on Perception of Places in the Past. In this episode, producer Willa Seidenberg talks with Sam about the history of photography and its use in the Historic American Buildings Survey, the differences between film and digital photography for historic documentation, and how researching the thesis helped Sam slow down and look at her world.See episode page for photos, resources, and transcript.Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!
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31:43
Sharing Hidden History, from Place to Policy
In this “Where Are They Now?” episode, we catch up with Elysha Paluszek (MHC ‘10), senior associate, architectural historian, and preservation planner at Architectural Resources Group. She’s been highlighting hidden history since her master’s thesis, The Los Angeles African American Heritage Area: A Proposal for Development. At ARG, she’s worked on award-winning studies revealing how policy and practice shaped the built environment in West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Elysha chats with co-host Cindy Olnick about these projects and more, including her career path, the field’s evolution, and what she’d change with a magic wand.See episode page for photos, resources, and transcriptConnect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!
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31:22
After the Fires: What Remains
A month after the disastrous fires in the Los Angeles area, this special episode features a conversation among Save As co-hosts Trudi Sandmeier and Cindy Olnick, and producer Willa Seidenberg. Trudi reflects on the loss of her historic family home, her close-knit neighborhood, and the Will Rogers ranch, an integral part of her and her family’s lives. We discuss the city’s current state of grief and bewilderment, the understandable rush to rebuild along with the need to plan thoughtfully, and how we must focus not just on what we’ve lost, but what remains.See episode page for photos, resources, and transcriptConnect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!
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36:27
Everyday Urbanism in L.A.’s Koreatown
In this “Where Are They Now?” episode, we catch up with alum Junyoung Myung (MHC ’15), who followed yet another of many career paths in heritage conservation: research and teaching. His exciting work blends architecture, design, heritage conservation, and technology—from teaching undergrad architects about adaptive reuse, to training AI to identify architectural styles, and much more. He’s also finishing his doctoral dissertation, which explores how generations of Korean immigrants and Korean Americans created a unique ethnic urban landscape in Los Angeles. It builds on his master’s thesis, Values-Based Approach to Heritage Conservation: Identifying Cultural Heritage in Los Angeles Koreatown. Jun talks with co-host Trudi Sandmeier about working with residents to identify overlooked places of memory and meaning, using digital technology to advance the field, and inspiring the next generation of architects to embrace heritage conservation.Photos, links, and transcript on episode pageConnect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!
Why do we save historic places? For whom? How can heritage conservation advance equity, justice, and climate adaptation? This podcast explores these and other issues with students at the University of Southern California, for a glimpse of the future of the field.
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