General Services Administration: US/ICOMOS Internship

Sylvia Augustina
Banda Aceh, Indonesia

completed a 2004 US/ICOMOS Internship with the

General Services Administration
Center for Historic Buildings
Washington, DC, USA

Tsunami Disaster Hits Home

Sylvia's hometown of Banda Aceh was destroyed by the December 2004 tsunami.  While Sylvia was still in the United States and escaped harm, US/ICOMOS and her fellow interns want her to know that our thoughts are with her and we hope her family is safe.  US/ICOMOS has established a Tsunami Heritage Recovery Fund to assist the affected areas with heritage preservation efforts.

Sylvia Augustina worked on several different projects during her internship with the General Service Administration's Center for Historic Buildings.  Her first project entailed a review of historic preservation technical procedures, comparing specifications outlined by the GSA, the National Park Service, the U.S. Navy, the American Institute of Architects, and Canada, focusing primarily on general masonry, wood, metal, and windows. She then made a general assessment of the the recommended procedures and outlined them in a draft brochure "Historic Preservation Technical Procedure's User Guidelines."

Her second project involved research and compiling draft material for the GSA's "2005 Public Building Heritage" poster and brochure series.  This work focused on three historic buildings in Erie, Pennsylvania (the Erie Library, Federal Court House and Post Office, and the Baker Building), all of which are located in the New Erie Federal Complex.

Her third project involved updating the GSA's database of Modernist buildings, gathering information from building managers and regional historic preservation officers in the Heartland and Mid-Atlantic Region's of the United States about GSA buildings constructed between 1949 and 1979.  This information was then input into the GSA Modernism Database.

This internship was sponsored by the General Services Administration's
Center for Historic Buildings, Office of the Chief Architect, in Washington, DC
with additional support from private donors.

Top: Bayard Whitmore describes the GSA's role in the preservation of historic Federal Buildings
to the 2004 Class of US/ICOMOS International Interns.
Bottom: 2004 US/ICOMOS Interns in the National Building Museum,
location of the US/ICOMOS offices and a GSA historic building.

The US/ICOMOS International Intern Exchange Program is funded by a variety sources.  Each of the host organizations in the U.S. contribute funds that cover a substantial portion of the costs for interns from overseas.  Grants from private foundations and individual donors support the internships for U.S. preservationists traveling overseas, with additional support from some of the overseas host organizations.  The 2004 overseas internships were supported by the Dorothy-Ann Foundation, Marpat Foundation, Keepers Fund for Historic Preservation, Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, and contributions from numerous individuals.