The Collaborative Studio sought to develop a model conservation plan through the documentation, recording and analysis of this urban landscape and its context over time.

Over the past decade, an increased awareness of the complexity of issues required for the interpretation and care of historic and cultural sites has generated new approaches and techniques under the expansive concept of Heritage Management. Formerly termed Cultural Resource Management, the concept has been expanded as a total planning strategy for the documentation, conservation, development and management of all cultural heritage sites, especially cultural landscapes and traditional places. Similarly, federal, state and municipal agencies, and preservation professionals are increasingly exploring new technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) to aid in the planning and management of cultural and natural resources focusing on current and future use, development and long-term maintenance needs.

The Collaborative Studio sought to develop a model conservation plan through the documentation, recording and analysis of this urban landscape and its context over time. This was realized through a visual mapping and survey of the cemetery coupled with a practical conservation program for the care, development, and maintenance of these unusual necrogeographies. It sought to develop and implement practical technical solutions to the increasing material problems of tomb degradation and loss of place by preparing specific technical and design guidelines for site managers and tomb owners.

In the process of developing and testing these tools, the program also addressed the social and cultural realities through research into past and current uses and associations by different stakeholders using archival research, oral history, and photography. It developed a local public interface by including professionals and community members in the processes of documentation and preservation, thus establishing and re-enforcing connections between communities, heritage and place.