Carter Nelson, B.Arch '17
The Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture is pleased to announce that Carter Nelson (B.Arch '17) has been selected as the winner of the 2022 Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship for his proposal Dovecotes of Tinos. With this award, Nelson will fully document a selection of dovecotes on the Greek island of Tinos in order to help support their preservation. The structures are important material artifacts demonstrating the island’s unique vernacular architecture and rich cultural legacy.
The Highlands Fellowship supports School of Architecture alumni in the study of collections belonging to locales to promote the professional development of awardees and contribute to the richness of our surroundings. The selection committee looks forward to seeing the final results of Nelson’s study and extends its thanks to all of those who submitted proposals for consideration in this year’s call.
Read on to learn more about Nelson’s project proposal and the history of the Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship.
Project Proposal: Dovecotes of Tinos
Dovecotes of Tinos.
Source: John Winder, 2018, Flickr.
Carter Nelson’s project proposal for the 2022 Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship is Dovecotes of Tinos. The Greek island of Tinos is home to over 1,000 dovecotes, structures for doves to roost in which date back to the thirteenth-century. These unique remnants of the island’s agrarian past are unlike any others found throughout the Cyclades archipelago. The two-story structures are constructed of slate clay and situated along leeward slopes, enabling a dove to take off and alight with ease. Their form resembles a fortress, with parapets and square piers that come to a point. Their longevity is a testament to the island’s resilience against millennia of geopolitical conflicts and foreign intimidation.
Many of the dovecotes are still family-owned, lovingly maintained as part of a family's heritage and a source of generational wealth. Yet many have fallen into disrepair as the island transitions away from agricultural life. Cultural associations have begun rehabilitating and reconstructing the dovecotes, making it an ideal time to document this vernacular architecture, some of which is at risk of being adversely modified or lost entirely.
Dovecotes of Tinos.
Source: John Winder, 2018, Flickr.
“The dovecotes of Tinos are the perfect example of ‘the individual, the particular, and the local,’” Nelson said, referencing the spirit of the Highlands Fellowship. “They are just waiting to be rediscovered and chronicled for posterity. I am beyond grateful for the award, and the opportunity to bring attention to these historic structures.”
Current archival records of the dovecotes are sparse. With this award, Nelson will fully document a selection of Tinos' dovecotes, including photographs (interior and exterior), and measured drawings (plans, elevations, sections, and details). With this research, he seeks to understand the underlying political, socioeconomic, and other causes that account for the disparity in which dovecotes have been preserved and which have not. He also seeks to better understand the community groups that are working to rescue the dovecotes. Nelson believes that understanding these structures’ past is key to securing their future.
About the Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship
The Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship supports Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture alumni in the study of collections belonging to locales to promote the professional development of awardees and contribute to the richness of our surroundings. The Fellowship is named in honor of Professor Delbert Highlands, who taught courses in architectural design, design theory, and architectural history at the school from the 1960s through the first decade of the twenty-first century. Professor Highlands’ teaching emphasized the “individual,” the “particular,” and the “local.” His courses were grounded in authoritative scholarship and meticulously presented fundamentals, but always went further by asking students to think of “this time,” “this place,” and this “occupancy.” He has been widely recognized as a seminal teacher whose skill and understanding enriched the educations of generations of students.
The Fellowship is offered on a biennial schedule. The School of Architecture will announce the call for applications for the next award cycle in Spring 2023, with the submission deadline in Fall 2023.