Through the Looking Glass – Historic Preservation at Menokin

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Menokin, the home of Francis Lightfoot Lee, has stood in ruins since the late 1960s. The Menokin Foundation has taken up the challenge of interpreting the “hidden histories” of the house, the people, and the land that once formed part of this plantation estate. This process includes the Glass House Project, a revolutionary treatment plan to stabilize the remaining house structure.  Join Sam McKelvey, Executive Director of Menokin, and Jorge Silvetti, Principal at Machado Silvetti and lead designer of the Glass House Project and The Menokin Master Plan, as they describe “the most engaging preservation project in America.”

Panelists

Sam McKelvey, Executive Director, Menokin Foundation

Sam currently has over ten years of museum management experience. Before coming to Menokin in 2016, Sam managed multiple museums within the Henrico County Virginia Historic Preservation and Museum Services section. In addition to museum management, Sam led teams of professionals in event coordination, historic preservation, and historic programming throughout the county. Sam holds a MA in History from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BS in Geography and History from James Madison University.  While Sam’s early passion was for Civil War history; preservation of landscapes, buildings and architecture has always been close to his heart. In addition to his time with Henrico, Sam serves a Trustee to the Virginia Association of Museums.

Originally born in Columbia Missouri, Sam spent much of his youth in northeastern Maryland before coming to Virginia to attend college. Sam moved to central Virginia after meeting and marrying New Kent Virginia native, April. April and Sam have three children, Alden, Sydney, and Isla, as well as a spunky lab named Murphy and an indignant cat, Nash.  Sam thrives on working with new and developing museums and is thrilled to be working with the talented and dedicated Menokin board and staff to take Menokin to the next level.

Jorge Silvetti, Principal at Machado Silvetti

Jorge Silvetti is a founding Principal of Machado Silvetti, along with Rodolfo Machado, and is a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, where he chaired the Department of Architecture from 1995 to 2002. Since its founding, Machado Silvetti has won numerous prestigious awards, its work has been widely published internationally and it has been the subject of many monographs such as the recently published The Work of Machado & Silvetti (ORO Editions, 2018). Jorge serves regularly as juror for a number of architectural competitions and prizes, and was a regular member of the Pritzker Architectural Prize Jury for the period 1996-2004. In total, he has received ten Progressive Architecture awards—many in collaboration with Rodolfo Machado—and was the first person to receive awards in all three categories (architecture, urban design and research). Recently, Jorge was honored as the individual recipient of the 2018 AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Architectural Education, which recognizes individuals who have had a significant impact on architectural education and the discipline and practice of architecture.

Moderator

Tarin Jones, Education Manager, The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design

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