Young Architects Forum

Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS in partnership with Environment for the Americas and the National Park Service Youth & Young Adult Programs announces that the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) has been selected to host *TWO*️ Latino Heritage Internship Program - LHIP architecture students for summer 2024.

The LHIP architects will produce HABS measured drawings and a short HABS historical report on the Alazán-Apache Courts in San Antonio, Texas. The project will be based at the Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS (HABS/HAER/HALS) office in Washington, DC with one week of travel to the site for fieldwork. Travel costs to the site will be covered by HABS.

The 10-week paid internship starts May 20 and ends August 9, 2024.

COMPENSATION

Weekly stipend of $640

Cost of round-trip travel to the HABS/HAER/HALS Office in Washington, DC (some restrictions may apply)

Housing will be provided

APPLICATIONS DUE February 5, 2024

Portfolio/Work Samples Required

HOW TO APPLY

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Summer 2024 project consists of producing Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) measured and interpretative drawings of the Alázan-Apache Courts Leasing and Community Center Building and select historic structures associated with this endangered public housing complex in San Antonio, Texas. The interns will also write a short-form HABS historical report on the structures drawn under the guidance of a HABS Historian or others familiar with the site. There will be a 5-day trip to the site to undertake field measurements by hand and with a laser scanner. Travel expenses will be reimbursed by HABS/HAER/HALS.

The internship will provide the students with marketable skills that will further their professional career in architecture, historic preservation, and the use of new technologies. The position requires ability in hand-sketching and hand-measuring in the field, the production of detailed, as-built, measured drawings of the Alázan-Apache Courts in AutoCAD. The selected intern(s) will learn about various documentation methods such as photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning, including being introduced to several new software programs. The HABS team will produce standard two-dimensional architectural drawings (site plans, floor plans, elevations, sections, and architectural details, etc.) to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). There is potential for some drawing in 3D and 3D modeling. The interns will also write a short-form HABS historical report on the buildings being recorded under the guidance of a HABS historian and/or others knowledgeable in the history of "Los Courts". Upon completion, the documentation produced will be transmitted to the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection in The Library of Congress where it will be permanently archived and made available to a world-wide audience online. The internship position is supervised by a permanent architect of the Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS (HABS/HAER/HALS) staff.

SITE SIGNIFICANCE

Opened in 1940-41, the Alázan-Apache Courts-aka Los Courts-is the oldest and largest extant public housing complex in San Antonio. Located in the city's predominately Mexican American Westside, and conceived at a time when housing, schools, and public facilities were legally segregated, Los Courts have provided affordable housing for San Antonio's working poor, in an area where historically families have struggled with poverty, lack of municipal services, severe flood conditions, and high death rates. The Alazan-Apache Courts not only introduced critical infrastructure to the Westside, but for nearly 80 years have provided a critical safety net for thousands of people who have contributed to the growth of the city, a city that is currently experiencing a growing affordable housing crisis.

THREATENED AND ENDANGERED

Los Courts appeared on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places" in 2020 hoping to raise awareness of this threatened and endangered site.