DISCOVERY PROGRAM IN BUILT HERITAGE PRESERVATION

This program uses built heritage in the small Parisian suburban town of Sceaux as a pedagogical tool and laboratory to explore the challenges facing the fields of architecture and planning in France

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

• Provide theoretical foundations on historic preservation in France

• Provide hands-on, immersive instruction and exchange

• Emphasize the importance of French context while mobilizing an international community of professionals and academics

• Provide networking opportunities through local actors

• Offer workshops to develop skill sets for built environment-related fields

TARGETED PROFILES FOR INSTRUCTION IN ENGLISH

• International students currently studying in France, with interest in prolonging their stay to focus on a built environment-related course

• Individuals pursuing graduate degrees in architecture, historic preservation, planning, real estate

• mid career professionals with interest in developing greater knowledge of the field of built heritage-related fields

COURSE THEMES

• Understanding the perspectives of numerous property market actors

• Examining the importance of authenticity in historic monuments

• Differentiating conservation and restoration work from renovation and adaptive reuse

• Analyzing the qualities of all existing built forms regardless of their architectural significance

• Evaluating carbon footprint and energy efficiency

KEY TAKE AWAYS

• Knowledge of local context (historical, sociological, political, morphological, etc.)

• Visual observation and analysis skills: drawing, modelling, photography

• Research skills: library and archival resources

• Communication skills: interviewing and networking with local professionals, presenting workshop production to jury, portfolio preparation

• Orientation for further academic and professional experience in France and abroad

SCHEDULE FOR 2 OR 3 WEEK PROGRAM

• Monday through Friday, two 4-hour sessions per day.

• Morning session in Sceaux for seminars on heritage preservation case studies

• Afternoon session in the field to visit noteworthy sites of adaptive reuse

• Optional third week for individual projects/ research (with instructor supervision)

INSTRUCTORS/ GUEST SPEAKERS

• Local architects and planners involved in heritage preservation

• University professors in related fields

• Elected officials/ municipal planners

• Non-profit organizations with roles in funding and advocacy

• Local property owners

PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Jacob Simpson holds degrees in architecture (B.A. New York University, 2001) and city planning (MCP, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004; PhD, University College London, 2021).

Since moving to France from the United States in 2004, Jacob has been working in the Paris metropolitan region in the fields of planning, real estate and economic development, at the interface between public authorities and private investors. His experience advising foreign companies in their location decisions fueled his doctoral research on how different property market actors shape and define the quality of the built environment.

A long-time advocate for the preservation of architectural heritage, Jacob’s attention focuses on understanding the actors and industries investing in buildings recognized as “monuments historiques” by the French State. His recent publication for The Routledge Companion to Creativity and the Built Environment uses qualitative analysis to look at how a specific set of groups and individuals - frequently referred to in academic literature as "the creative industries" - invest in and associate with specific urban qualities in the Paris region.

Jacob has taught on various subjects from territorial marketing and planning policy to architectural and urban history at Sorbonne Université, l’Ecole d’urbanisme de Paris, l’Institut Français de la Mode and several American universities in Paris. He currently leads a workshop called "Perspectives on preservation: Exploring the who, how and why of Parisian planning practices" at Columbia University's Paris Global Center.

Through the Sceaux Summer School career discovery program, Jacob puts forth his role as caretaker of the Villa Trapenard to share the area’s restoration challenges internationally while involving the local community. He is an active member of several non-profit organizations including French chapters of the Urban Land Institute and Docomomo, La Demeure Historique and La Fondation du Patrimoine.

Jacob Simpson

linkedin.com/in/jsimps/

INTERESTED IN JOINING US?

WHERE?

• Program based in the town of Sceaux, 20 minutes from central Paris via public transportation (RER B)

• Seminars hosted inside Sceaux houses and public buildings

• Excursions throughout Greater Paris

STUDENT COST

• Roughly 1,000 € per week, including homestay program in Sceaux (chez l’habitant)

• Tuition to primarily cover instructor and guest lecturer fees

• Proceeds to benefit restoration work on the Villa Trapenard to further develop its vocation for education programs

WHEN?

• Applications closed for 2025

• 2026 session(s) TBC

FINANCIAL AID

One full-scholarship is available for a program assistant

ENQUIRIES/ TO APPLY

Applications to be submitted online before June 1st,

or until cohort of 10 students is formed

For more information please email the program coordinator at jts232@nyu.edu