Professional Documents
Culture Documents
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment.
What Would We Want New or Revised Standards to Say? Dont Try to Legislate the Architecture of Our Time
Left: Pritzker Pavillion, Chicago, Gehry Partnership, 2004 Right: Office Building on Piccadilly, London, Robert Adam Architects, 2007
Preservation should promote appropriateness. The appropriate is the fitting and the exemplary. Fitting is what fits: a connection with valued pre-existing conditions. Exemplary sets a good example for those who will come after us.
What Would We Want New or Revised Standards to Say? The Origins of Differentiation
The Arch of Titus, Rome Restored by Raffael Stern and Giuseppe Valadier, c. 1820
Differentiating new work from historic fabric is a valid idea, and it is not new.
What Would We Want New or Revised Standards to Say? Preserve building cultures that produced our heritage sites.
Left: Taos Pueblo, New Mexico Right: American College of the Building Arts, Charleston
What Would We Want New or Revised Standards to Say? Recognize validity of delayed completion
Left: Kennedy Warrant Apartments, by Joseph Younger, 1929 Right: Completed south wing, by Hartman-Cox Architects, 2003
What Would We Want New or Revised Standards to Say? Recognize how the sites under protection were produced and dont prohibit continuing the same processes.
United States Capitol, Washington DC, 1793-1962 The Louvre, Paris, 1545-1870
3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.
3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, use, and building culture. Interventions shall not obscure perception of the historical development of the site, and interpretive materials shall be available to assist the public in understanding the sites changing character and significance over time.
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment.
The NPS should revise the Standards to remove confusion. The NPS should publicly distance itself from misguided interpretations of the Standards. The NPS should participate in developing best practices for the field. US/ICOMOS can remove stylistic biases from its Charters. Preservation stakeholders, including NPS and ICOMOS, can join forces to draft new guidance, on the model of GBC or CNU.