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"havent we been over this "modernism created preservation"meme enough times before. "

Haven't we been over this "car ruined the city" meme enough times before? I've always found that to fully understand a problem, it's good to look at every angle regardless of where the light shines.

"Preservation of the 20th century type is a luxury product, and one driven by a sense of rootlessness due to industrialization and urbanization."

Or it could be a product of having a huge swath of your city disapear to be replaced with either a parking lot of something few Americans would voluntarily move into. Provide parking to the suburban population while wharehousing poor people and call it "Urban Renewal"...really? Industrialization and urbanization has been with us for 200+ years now, but the modern preservation movement grew out of the 1960's, not the 1860's.

If the goal is clarity, I'd like to hear the OHP outline a their view on architecture, history, and their roll in both our culture and the modern preservation movement. At least I might better understand why some architects can land a glass cube in Cleveland Park while others get panned for blending in too well. (Interesting to note that in Georgetown, the exact opposite thing happened with the Apple Store controversy)

Some of the greatest urban spaces and buildings have been a result of blending in, like the Fiorentine Piazza where Brunalleschi's Hospitale Degli Innocenti was built in the early 1400's. One might get the impression he's responsible for the whole unified look of the piazza, but the other two facades (minus the church) where done in two subsequent 100-year intervals.

I wonder if this "immitation" elicit "hatred" from the hundreds of Architecture students who visit there every year? My guess is many of them would come to realize that sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. Sometimes, beauty is a more compelling argument for design than social commentary. It's a good thing the Italians indulged themselves with the "luxury" of preservation, or else young architects might not be able to learn these valuble lessons.

by Thayer-D on Aug 1, 2012 4:31 pm • link • report