During the summer of 2024, The Friends of R.D. Pike Building, Inc., were contacted about a very exciting opportunity. The Historic Preservation Institute at SARUP-University of Wisconsin Milwaukee reached out to explain that they had some exciting news.
For decades, the Historic Preservation Institute at SARUP - UWM has been advancing the concept of full architectural engagement through the vehicle of building documentation. Groups of students have studied architecture and historic buildings while learning their future trades.
Years ago, through the support of generous local donors, the program began a “pedagogical move to laser scanning and photogrammetry. These new developments in technology became a more effective and accurate way to document, evaluate and ultimately advance architectural education.”(1)
The HPI’s continual move towards full automation in building documentation over the last 10 years has now placed the program as a national leader among architectural schools.
The Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation in conjunction with the HPI at UWM joined together to provide laser scanning services for this year's program, entitled “Saving Sacred Places”. We were floored when the UWM-SARUP leaders reached out and advised that the R.D. Pike Building was one of those sacred places!
During late summer, several students from the program visited us in Bayfield and they put that technology to work! Laser scans, drones and more were all employed. The results are simply awesome. We now have the most precise documentation possible of the building.
The outcomes will be used to help guide the renovation and ultimate restoration of the R.D. Pike Building and will be shared with the public during our 2025 season. The assistance it will provide with builders, contractors and other renovation partners will be simply invaluable. The students were awesome, and we learned a great deal from their visit. We were honored that this wonderful historic building on the Bayfield Peninsula was chosen as one of the Sacred Places!
On the last weekend of October 2024, these good works were featured at a Taliesin workshop in Spring Green Wisconsin. The students showcased their work on the Unity Chapel in Spring Green, the Holy Trinity Church in Prairie du Chien, the Calvary Cemetery Gatehouse in Milwaukee and our own R.D. Pike Building in Bayfield!
Taliesin(2) is a house-studio complex located 2.5 miles south of the village of Spring Green, Wisconsin. Developed and occupied by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the 800-acre (240 ha) estate is an exemplar of the Prairie School of architecture.
Today, Taliesin (which means “shining brow” in tribute to Wright’s Welsh heritage) is an extremely active and vital 501c3 organization. Taliesin is one of only seven UNESCO world heritage building sites in the United States.
We would like to express our warmest gratitude to Taliesin for hosting the workshop. Sincere thanks also to Matthew Thomas Jarosz, Director of the SARUP program, and of course to students Emily Leahy, Felipe Paez, Tan Saral, Michael Burrows, Elizabeth Hanson, Ethan Wagner and Katie Tyree, for their awesome scans, drawing and drone work. Simply outstanding results!
(1) William Krueger, Director of Documentation, Historic Preservation Institute, UWM School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
(2) Learn more about Taliesin - https://www.taliesinpreservation.org
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