Amalia Leifeste
Director of Graduate Programs in Historic Preservation, Associate Professor
Contact
School of Architecture
Office: CDC.C, 701 East Bay St., Suite 202, Charleston SC, 29403
Phone: 843-937-9596
Email: aleifes@clemson.edu
Education
M.Arch, University of Texas (2012); B.Arch, University of Oregon (2007)
Amalia Leifeste is one of the two full time faculty members for the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. She is an architect by training and brings this disciplinary focus to the historic preservation faculty. Specializing within the field of architecture Leifeste earned certificates in both Sustainable Design and Historic Preservation. Her interests in sustainable, contextual design, and the social dimensions of architecture and led naturally to an investigation of preservation themes in the built environment. Her exposure to a wide range of projects while in architectural practice, including remodels and large-scale adaptive use projects, led to her interest in sensitive design interventions within existing buildings. Amalia Leifeste teaches content relating to the history of building construction, building documentation, preservation projects (including HSRs, ruins stabilization, area character appraisals, and sensitive infill designs) and sustainability and preservation. Her research agenda revolves around fostering a sustainable building culture, and sees preservation practice as essential to a healthy building culture and ‘cultural sustainability’. Her co-authored book is titled "Sustainable Heritage: Merging Environmental Conservation and Historic Preservation." In research and through her teaching role she is interested in how we educate practitioners, how place fosters group identity, and in defining how much and what kind of change can keep buildings useful for current needs without erasing essential touchstones of meaning for people who care about their historic places.
