Taliesin Colloquium 2023: The Evolution of Preservation Standards and Guidelines

  • Date

    Friday, February 03 2023-Saturday, February 04 2023

  • Time

    Multi-day event.

  • Location

    Taliesin West

Join the AIA National Historic Resources Committee for a colloquium on The Evolution of Preservation Standards and Guidelines sponsored to be held at Frank Lloyd Wright’s historic Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 3-4.


This event will inform dialogue on historic district guidelines at the local level, as well as the state and national level on ways that preservation standards and guidelines can better interact with and complement energy codes and performance standards, as well as resilience guidelines, and to foster community equity.


We must ask if the current policies and standards governing historic preservation continue to be viable as the world is far different than it was when the standards were written.  The current climate crisis has changed codes and regulations and goals toward sustainable building practices.  Equally our understanding of the need for historic preservation to take on a more holistic view of sustainability including social, cultural and economic equity has intensified and calls for us to look closely as to whether current standards are inclusive or exclusive.  Are the current policies and practices of historic preservation still valid or must they mature to meet the current challenges?  How can we respond to these challenges and prepare for the future?   Do policies and practices need to be open to change? Some say that current Standards provide the required flexibility and that that it is the interpretation that has become too rigid.   Others believe that we need additional standards to address issues of social and economic equity.  This Colloquium will take a deep dive into the global issues that preservationists face today and the Standards and Guidelines that have been the backbone of our practice.


Organized by:

AIA National Historic Resources Committee