Master Thesis Showcase | USC School of Architecture

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Explore the vast range of theses completed by Master of Heritage Conservation (MHC) Program graduates.

Theses by Year Completed

Outstanding MHC Thesis Awards
2023: Emily Catherine Varley - Reconstruction Right Now: Conserving Vernacular Heritage in Beaufort, South Carolina as an Act of Reconstructing Preservation Practice

2022: Lindsay Mulcahy - Conservation 'On the Natch:' Maintenance and Remembrance at the Alcoholism Center for Women

2021: Rafael Francisco Fontes - Gaining a Foothold: Conserving Los Angeles’ Queer Eden(dale)

2020: Jackson Loop - "It's important to remember what started it:" Conserving Sites and Stories of Racial Violence in Los Angeles, 1943-1992

2019: Rongzhen Cai - Greening Historic Districts with Solar Roofs: An Exploration of Western Heights in Los Angeles

2018: Andrea Lorraine Dumovich - Seeing Beyond the Fog: Preserving San Francisco’s Cultural Heritage in the Clement Street Corridor

2017: Sarah Locke - Beyond Significance: Integrity Analysis Considerations for Modern Residential Tracts of the San Fernando Valley

2016: Leslie-Anne Flores Palaroan - Empowering Communities Through Historic Rehabilitation: Creating a Maintenance Plan for Public Housing Developments in Los Angeles

2015: Micaela Cortez Torres-Gil - Preserving California City: An Exploration into the City Plan Preservation of a Mid-Century, Master-Planned Community

2014: Daniel J. H. Herrick - SoCal Ski Hills: A Typological Analysis of a Cultural Landscape

2013: Andrew Robert Goodrich - Heritage Conservation in Post-Redevelopment Los Angeles: Evaluating the Impact of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles on the Historic Built Environment

2012: Laura A. Dominguez - Este lugar si importa: Heritage Conservation in Unincorporated East Los Angeles
2023
Emi Takahara - The Restaurant that Started It All: The Hidden Heritage of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf

Willa A. Seidenberg - Spa City: The Midcentury Spa-Tels of Desert Hot Springs

Katie Ahmanson - Here Lies Los Angeles: Uncovering Forgotten Women's History at Evergreen Cemetery

Brannon Marie Smithwick - Educating Generations: The Legacy and Future of the Allen-White School Campus, A Rosenwald School in Whiteville, Tennessee

Emily Catherine Varley - Reconstruction Right Now: Conserving Vernacular Heritage in Beaufort, South Carolina as an Act of Reconstructing Preservation Practice

Xiaoling Fang - Legacy Business Program Implementation in American Urban Immigrant
Neighborhoods: A Case Study of Little Tokyo and Chinatown, Los Angeles

Tennessee Gardner - The Lasting Significance of the Naval Defense Station in World War II San Pedro
2022
Nirali Sheth - A Silent Legacy: The Influence of Gin D. Wong's Work on the Los Angeles Built Environment

Haowen Yu - Examining Feng Shui as Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage

Zining Ye - Managing Change on Newbury Street: A Case Study Analysis

Hanyu Chen - "Our Bodies, Their Battlegrounds:" The Conservation of Comfort Stations in China

J. Guadalupe Flores - Deconstruction: A Tool for Sustainable Conservation

Erik Van Breene - Not So Little Armenia: Conserving Armenian Heritage Sites in Los Angeles

Zongqi Li - Beyond Intangible Cultural Heritage Designation: Protecting Jidong Shadow Puppetry

Lindsay Mulcahy - Conservation 'On the Natch:' Maintenance and Remembrance at the Alcoholism Center for Women
2021
Jamie Diana Feiler - Adaptive Reuse of Historic Buildings for Permanent Supportive Housing: Los Angeles Case Studies

Zitong Bao - Mapping Heritage Justice in the City of Los Angeles

Ani Mnatsakanyan - Reconstructing Eden: The Armenian Community of Yettem, CA

Shuxin Li - The Wuzhen Model: Analyzing a Strategy of Old Town Tourism in China

Rita Y. Cofield - Oakwood: Exploring the Tangible & Intangible Resources of a "Black Ethnic Enclave" in Venice, California – Early 1900s through 1960s

Marisa Spinella - Capturing the Layers of the Arroyo Seco Landscape: Documenting a Cultural Landscape Using Digital Storymaps

Dalia Mokayed - Heritage Conservation to Rebuild Cities After Crisis - Case Study: The Old City of Aleppo
2020
Rafael Fontes - Gaining a Foothold: Conserving Los Angeles’ Queer Eden(dale)

Kelsey Kaline - Mobilizing Heritage Conservation as a Tool for Urban Resilience: Linkages and Recommendations

Jackson Loop - "It's important to remember what started it": Conserving Sites and Stories of Racial Violence in Los Angeles, 1943-1992

Krista Nicholds - The Enduring Romance of the Rancho: Mission Viejo, 1964-1967

Julia Ressler - Adaptive Reuse and Boutique Hotels: A Case Study of the Superior Oil Company Building’s Conversion to the Standard Downtown LA Hotel

Kim Tashman - Weddington Golf; A Case Study in Cultural Relevance and Open Green Space

Peilin Wu - Interpreting Historic Murals - A Case Study Approach and Best Practices Used in Fengguo Temple

Yi Xiao - Using the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Framework: A Case Study of the Pico-Union Neighborhood
2019
Sean Morales - Money in the Bank: Three Case Studies in the Adaptive Reuse of Midcentury Bank Branch Buildings

Kasey Viso - Acoustic Heritage of Recording Studios: Physical Characteristics and Signature Sound

Rongzhen Cai - Greening Historic Districts with Solar Roofs: an Exploration of Western Heights in Los Angeles

Ingrid Pena - Saving Old Pasadena - Where Locals Took On City Hall and Won
2018
Stephanie Hodal - Illuminating the Grid: Historic Power Buildings of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Deepeaka Dhaliwal - Yuba-Sutter: A Case Study for Heritage Conservation in Punjabi-American Communities

Christopher Purcell - Celebrating Conformity: Preserving Henry Doelger's Westlake

Jerome Robinson - An Odyssey in B-Flat: Rediscovering The Life and Times of Master Architect Robert A. Kennard

Liangdi Shi - Beyond Chinatown: Identifying Significant Chinese Cultural Landmarks in the San Gabriel Valley

Christy Ko Kim - Lessons from Little Saigon: Heritage Conservation and Ethnic Enclaves in Orange County

Camille Elston - Conserving Compton: Identifying Potential Landmarks and Recommendations for Conservation

Rachel Trombetta - Beit Olam: A Home Everlasting — the Jewish Cemeteries of East Los Angeles

Margaret Roderick - Russell Forester, F.A.I.A: "Skin and Bones Architecture" in San Diego

Andrea Dumovich - Seeing Beyond the Fog: Preserving San Francisco’s Cultural Heritage in the Clement Street Corridor

Jonathan Kaplan - From Ramona to the Brady Bunch: Assessing the Historical Significance of Sites Used in Movies and Television Shows
2017
Lisha Yang - Would a Community Design Overlay (CDO) be a tool for revitalizing Los Angeles’ Chinatown?

Melanie Emas - Preserving Street Names in Los Angeles California

Laura MacDonald - The Iconic Millard Sheets Designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles, California: Reuse of a Mid-Century Modern Fraternal Building

Chris Conradt - The Early Career of Robert Henry Ainsworth: From Draftsman to Practitioner

Brandy Lusvardi - The Schindler Terrace, An Early Modern Garden: A Case for Conservation

Sarah Locke - Beyond Significance: Integrity Analysis Considerations for Modern Residential Tracts of the San Fernando Valley
2016
Lannette Schwartz - Conserving Historic Commercial Signs in Hollywood, California

Neha Tambe - The Vanishing Wadas of Pune, India

Osmar Alaniz - Historic Preservation in the United States Air Force: Exploring New Frontiers

Leslie-Anne Palaroan - Empowering Communities Through Historic Rehabilitation: Creating a Maintenance Plan for Public Housing Developments in Los Angeles
2015
Rosalind Sagara - Heritage and Collective Action: Examining Framing Processes in Two Locally Contentious Conservation Campaigns

Junyoung Myung - Values-Based Approach to Heritage Conservation: Identifying Cultural Heritage in Los Angeles Koreatown

Sara Delgadillo - Identifying and Conserving Pacoima: A Heritage Conservation Study of a Minority Enclave in the San Fernando Valley

Scott Watson - Clinton Marr: Bringing Modernism to the Inland Empire

Melissa Jones - Engaging Today’s Youth at House Museums: Forging a Vision for The Gamble House

Micaela Torres-Gil - Preserving California City: An Exploration Into the City Plan Preservation of a Mid-Century, Master-Planned Community

Katelyn Rispoli - Collaborative Conservation: How the Heritage and Environmental Conservation Movements Can and Should Unite for Progress

Maggie Wineland - To Answer a Need: The History, Significance, and Future of the Women’s Club House

Christian Taylor - Building on the Hillside: Community Planner and Architect Franz Herding (1887 – 1927)
2014
Sandra Shannon - A Survey of the Public: Preference for Old and New Buildings, Attitudes about Historic Preservation, and Preservation-Related Engagement

Stephanie Cisneros - Culture, History, and Gentrification: Conserving Latino-Oriented Legacy Businesses in San Francisco's Rapidly Changing Mission District

Dan Herrick - SoCal Ski Hills: A Typological Analysis of a Cultural Landscape

Lindsey Miller - Isolation and Authenticity in Los Angeles’ Arts District
2013
Ruth Wallach - Preserving Architect-Designed Functional Spaces; The Case of the Helen Topping Architecture and Fine Arts Library, USC

Jenny Cowell - Keeping a Historic Collegiate Stadium Viable: Best Practices for the Historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Rehabilitation

April Rabanera - Success Stories: An Exploration of Three Nonprofits Working in Preservation, Affordable Housing, and Community Revitalization

Andrew Goodrich - Heritage Conservation in Post-Redevelopment Los Angeles: Evaluating the Impact of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles on the Historic Built Environment

Colleen Horn - Sawtelle Reexamined: A Preservation Study for a Historic California Japantown

John LoCascio - A Different Kind of Eden: Gay Men, Modernism, and the Rebirth of Palm Springs

Isabel Rutherfoord - Defining the City of Gardens: The Conservation of Pasadena’s Bungalow Courts

Lenore Lowen - One Foot In The Past, One Foot In The Future: Japanese Cultural Identity and Preservation Law 1871-1950

Ivy Amable - Citius, Altius, Fortius: Filling a Void in the Identification and Designation of Historic Venues from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics
2012
Neha Jain - Conservation Practices in India – A Case Study of Jaisalmer Fort

Jonathan Froines - Society's Child: The Gardens of the Filipe de Neve Branch Library

Loretta Cimmarusti - Maintaining Historic Integrity and Solving a Rehabilitation Dilemma: The History of Hollow Clay Tile and an Argument for its Preservation

Heather Goers - A Life in Landscape: Howard Oshiyama and the Gardens of Buff & Hensman's King Residence

Laura Dominguez - Este lugar si importa: Heritage Conservation in Unincorporated East Los Angeles

George Credle - Claud Beelman’s Corporate Modern Style 1951-1963

Steven Treffers - The Dingbat Apartment: The Low-Rise Urbanization of Post-World War II Los Angeles, 1957-1964

Carla Sotelo - Cuerda Seca Ceramic Tiles: Explorations of Resist Formulas in Various Firing Ranges

Dana Marinin - Mussolini's Rome: How the City Changed with the Rise and Fall of the Duce

Mary Ringhoff - Life and Work in the Ryan District, Death Valley, California, 1914 - 1930: A Historic Context for a Borax Mining Community
2011
Ellen Knowles - A Unifying Vision: Improvement, Imagination and Bernhard Hoffmann of Stockbridge (New England) and Santa Barbara (New Spain)

Sian Winship - Quantity and Quality: Architects Working for Developers in Southern California, 1960-1973

Arash Kalantari - Persian Paradise Gardens: History, Elements, Influences

Huiqian Chen - Interpretation of significance and conservation approaches in evolving contexts: taking Lilong as an example

Cheng Yang - Mining the Intangible Past of Virginia City’s Chinese Pioneers: Using Historical Geographic Information Systems to Document, Visualize and Interpret the Spatial History of Chinese in the Mining Camp of Virginia City, Montana (ca 1863 - mid-20th century)
2010
Elysha Dory - The Los Angeles African American Heritage Area: A Proposal for Development

Debi Howell-Ardila - 'Writing Our Own Program’: The USC Experiment In Modern Architectural Pedagogy, 1930 to 1960
2009
Shayne Watson - Preserving the Tangible Remains of San Francisco’s Lesbian Community in North Beach, 1933 to 1960

Susan Zamudio-Gurrola - Housing Farm Workers: Assessing the Significance of the Bracero Labor Camps in Ventura County

Michael Gibson - Creating Sacred Spaces in the Suburbs: Roman Catholic Church Architecture in Postwar Southern California
2008
Sharon Smith - Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue's Military Commissions: Identity, Process, Importance and Stewardship of these Cultural Resources

James Strawn - Who’s Park: An Architectural History of Westlake-MacArthur Park
2007
Brian Zachary - The Enduring Evolution of Kuruvungna: A Place in the Sun

Marla Cowan - California’s Golden Chain Highway 49 of the Mother Lode: A Case Study of Historical Significance and Qualification as a National Heritage Area Corridor

Alison Jefferson - Lake Elsinore: A Southern California African American Resort Area During the Jim Crow Era, 1920s-1960s, and the Challenges of Historic Preservation Commemoration

Holly Kane - Arriving in Los Angeles: Railroad Depots as Gateways to the California Dream

Christine Lazzaretto - The Bungalow and the Automobile: Arthur and Alfred Heineman and the Invention of the Milestone Motel
2006
Judy Marks - The Freeman House : A Case For The Expansion Of Significance

Alice Gates - Community Redevelopment Through Historic Preservation: A Case Study of the Casa de Rosas

Kathryn Horak - Holiday Bowl And The Problem Of Intangible Cultural Significance : A Historic Preservation Case Study
2005
Jill Vesci - Preserving Modernist Architecture
2004
Vanessa Wexler - Planning For Preservation: Exploring The Designation Of Historic Districts In Monrovia, CA