Julie Dalga earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from Miami University in 2013. While at Miami, she had the opportunity to expand her leadership skills as the Vice President of Alpha Rho Chi, Architecture and Allied Arts Fraternity, as well as serving on the Campus Activities Council and interning at the Oxford Community Arts Center. Since graduating, she has worked at architecture firms in Atlanta and Chicago on a variety of projects that have helped to expand her design, technical and business skills. Julie is currently completing a Certificate in Historic Preservation from SAIC. She has realized a passion for creating spaces which retain the character and importance of existing structures, while realizing their potential through innovative programs and designs that continue to keep the structures relevant and of interest to the community for years to come.

Historic Provocation

“How can innovative approaches to historic preservation maintain the significance of existing structures while further allowing them to serve the needs of the surrounding community?”

My thesis examines the theories and ideas of historic provocation, the future anterior, and the possibilities of a counterfactual approach to the multiple historical narratives of the neighborhood and the history of the building of St. Anthony’s Hospital. As the current tenants within the hospital building vacate to a new location in the neighborhood, how can the historically significant building, which has served the predominantly working class community for the past century, relate the timeline of its past to the needs of the future? Through an analysis of the history of the building and its relationship to the community of South Lawndale and the City of Chicago, a new framework for historic preservation, historic provocation, can retain the existing connection between the history of the building and the community it serves.

 

©Julie Dalga
©Julie Dalga