Alum overseeing restoration of 600 year-old NM settlement

Shawn Evans ’93, a Texas A&M environmental design graduate, is overseeing the preservation of a 600 year-old settlement in New Mexico as the director of preservation and cultural projects at a Philadelphia design firm.

Evans’ firm, [ Atkin Olshin Schade Architects] (http://www.aosarchitects.com/introduction.aspx) , is restoring [Ohkay Owingeh] (http://www.aosarchitects.com/portfolio-type/description.aspx?id=137&cid=23) , “Place of the Strong People,” a settlement of the Tewa people, located 30 miles north of Santa Fe on the Rio Grande.

The settlement’s historic core contains more than 100 buildings, including ancient homes, an 1890 chapel, and tribal facilities from the 1970s. The buildings are in poor condition and 30 percent of the dwellings are uninhabitable.

“We have worked closely with the Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority on a preservation plan, which provides for quality housing within restored and new buildings while returning the area to its traditional form,” said Evans.

Native American students trained in global positioning systems technology for the project mapped the village; tribal elders’ oral histories of the settlement were also part of the research findings.

Then, assessments of dwellings and preservation standards were developed with the tribe’s involvement.

The first phase of construction, funded through Department of Housing and Urban Development grants, including a federal stimulus award, began in July 2010 and will rehabilitate 21 homes. The renovations include modern amenities and adobe restoration, including the reintroduction of mud plaster.

Evans’ other projects include the restoration of the Commandant's House at Fort Mifflin, the [Cliveden/Upsala Master Plan] (http://www.aosarchitects.com/portfolio-type/project.aspx?cid=24&id=66) , the [Mainwaring Wing of the Penn Museum] (http://www.penn.museum/our-building/146-2002-the-mainwaring-wing.html) , and the Wesleyan University Museum.

He was the primary author for Penn Museum and [Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church’s] (http://www.motherbethel.org/church.php) historic structure reports, led the establishment of the firm’s Santa Fe office and is routinely involved with its clients.

Evans, who earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania, is co-chairman of the historic preservation committee of the American Institute of Architects’ Philadelphia component and is a frequent speaker on historic preservation. He is a past recipient of AIA Philadelphia's Young Architect Award.