Building Tradition

Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA

From the editors of TRADITIONAL BUILDING, PERIOD HOMES, OLD HOUSE JOURNAL, and NEW OLD HOUSE, Building Tradition is a new podcast featuring interviews with industry leaders about traditional design, historic restoration/renovation; period inspired construction and the allied building arts. Join industry veteran, columnist and publisher Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA along with his special guests to hear about who's doing what to improve our built environment.

  1. 13 Oct

    Craftsmanship and Legacy with Neela Wickremesinghe

    Neela Wickremesinghe is the director of restoration and preservation for the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Neela manages a crew that maintains, preserves, and restores the mausoleums and statuary that dot these 478 bucolic acres. There are 580,000 “inhabitants” in the cemetery, including family plots adorned with marble, granite, and brownstone grave markers. Neela earned her B.A. in architecture and urbanism from Smith College and her M.S. in historic preservation from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Right out of school, she worked for an environmental review company, doing research for National Register nominations. She then combined her architectural history and historic preservation advocacy experience with hands-on training in the building arts, including a stint at Evergreen Architectural Arts, where she learned how to gild, paint, restore murals, clean stone, and do plasterwork. “At Green-Wood, joy comes from working on something new every day,” Neela tells us. “We might be resetting a marble angel knocked over by a fallen tree or cleaning the soot off a stone mausoleum. I am also teaching young craftspeople their building arts skills.” Green-Wood Cemetery created the Bridge to Crafts program to train students and emerging professionals in masonry restoration—stone cleaning, repair, and repointing. Many Bridge to Crafts graduates move on to preserve other important historic buildings and monuments in New York City. Neela exclaims, “We’ve had students who’ve gone on to clean the Brooklyn Bridge.” Green-Wood’s apprenticeship program embraces people who want to work with their hands—young people, mostly, who are curious and want to learn by doing alongside a veteran craftsperson. “This is a different type of program that allows a young person to figure out what they might want the rest of their life to look like.” Listen in on an inspiring conversation with Neela Wickremesinghe of the historic Green-Wood Cemetery restoration crew.

    Craftsmanship and Legacy with Neela Wickremesinghe

  2. 8 Sept

    Episode 42: The Building Arts with Steve Ballenger of Zepsa Industries

    Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews Steve Ballenger of Zepsa Industries. They discuss Ballenger's career in the building arts, his own learning trajectory and the opportunity for others to be craftspeople.

    Episode 42: The Building Arts with Steve Ballenger of Zepsa Industries

  3. 11 Aug

    Episode 41: Landscape Architecture with Lauren Barnes of Hoerr Schaudt

    Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews Lauren Barnes of Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects. They discuss Barnes' career trajectory, her job description, the Hoerr Schaudt company training program, the craft of horticulture and garden design that delights.

    Episode 41: Landscape Architecture with Lauren Barnes of Hoerr Schaudt

  4. 14 Jul

    Episode 40: Craftsmanship with Alan Stein and Nancy Vitris of Tanglewood Conservatories

    Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews husband-and-wife team Alan Stein and Nancy Vitris of Tanglewood Conservatories. They discuss the intersection of crafting by hand and machine, how they launched a craftsmanship training program in their local high schools and how this was the foundation for their own in-house apprentice program for Tanglewood Conservatories craftspeople.

    Episode 40: Craftsmanship with Alan Stein and Nancy Vitris of Tanglewood Conservatories

  5. 9 Jun

    Episode 39: Modern Traditional Architecture with Thomas Kligerman

    Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews architect Thomas Kligerman, who is widely recognized for residential architecture that conveys a sense of place, is finely crafted, and has an emotional connection to landscape and memory. Listen in to a conversation about modern traditional architecture, coastal cottages, and "summers by the sea."

    Episode 39: Modern Traditional Architecture with Thomas Kligerman

  6. 12 May

    Period Authentic Doors with Steve Hendricks

    Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews Steve Hendricks of Historic Doors who, with his team of skilled millwork building artisans, makes period authentic exterior doors as well as interior moldings.

    Period Authentic Doors with Steve Hendricks

  7. 21 Apr

    Ornamental Metalwork with Doug Bracken

    Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews Doug Bracken of Wiemann Metalcraft, a blacksmith and metal fabricator of ornamental metals. Listen in as they discuss combining heritage trade skills with modern technology to produce ornamental metalwork of enduring beauty.

    Ornamental Metalwork with Doug Bracken

  8. 10 Mar

    Stone Carving with Chris Pelletieri

    Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews Chris Pelletieri, renowned stone carver and teacher. Listen in as they discuss Pelletieri's traditional analog craft. His notable works include St Rita's Catholic church in Alexandria Virginia and the neo-Gothic Cathedral of Saint Divine on the Upper East side of New York City.

    Stone Carving with Chris Pelletieri
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Trailers

About

From the editors of TRADITIONAL BUILDING, PERIOD HOMES, OLD HOUSE JOURNAL, and NEW OLD HOUSE, Building Tradition is a new podcast featuring interviews with industry leaders about traditional design, historic restoration/renovation; period inspired construction and the allied building arts. Join industry veteran, columnist and publisher Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA along with his special guests to hear about who's doing what to improve our built environment.

Information

  • Creator
    Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Copyright
    ©2023 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. an Active Interest Media company
  • Show Website
    Building Tradition

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