Quite often, architecture is a study in the new. That said, it is important not to allow the excitement of newness render history obsolete.
With technology moving the field of architecture forward at an unforeseen pace, the possibilities for built forms are growing all the time, particularly when creating entirely new structures.
With a richness of existing buildings, however, architects should be sensitive about the history of communities for a variety of reasons.
Many historical sites are preserved by law, but there are often cases where a building that has a history but that has not been historically designated is torn down and replaced by a new structure.
In these cases, the harm done by building anew outstrips the obvious pitfalls of razing the old to create fresh buildings, such as a waste of materials and carbon emissions as the work is being done.
In a piece titled ‘The Restless Urban Landscape: Econominc and Sociocultural Change and the Transformation of Metropolitan Washington, DC’ author Paul L. Knox looks at the social side of the coin.
The article was republished by the Annals of the Association of American Geographers and explored the impact a changing urban landscape can have on a community, looking into the factors that go into such changes.
“The particular implications of this transformation for the supply and demand of elements of the built environment involve changes in the organization and product mix of developers and construction companies, in the roles and professional orientations of architects and planners, and in commodity aesthetics and patterns of consumption among a ‘new bourgeoisie,’” Knox writes.
While architecture is bound to change and evolve through time, it is important to recognize it can also serve as a snapshot into the past, offering a glimpse of cultural and social realities that led to present conditions.
The loss of historical – if not historic – sites leads not only to the erasure of the physical elements of our past, it can contribute to a decrease in community pride as landmarks and other places with which residents identify are eliminated. This can bring about a cultural malaise, in which those in a community do not feel connected to, or care as much as they once did about, the buildings in their neighbourhood and – by extension – the neighbourhood itself.
National Trust for Historic Preservation president Richard Moe said maintaining existing buildings and simply altering them to meet new needs and demands also has green benefits.
“Because historic preservation essentially involves the conservation of energy and natural resources it is really the greenest of the building arts,” he said.
For both those reasons, architects who are sensitive not only to projects but to communities will seek out ways of incorporating important historic elements in new designs.
It is often exciting to see new ground being broken and barriers torn down when it comes to architecture. In order to maintain a sense of social cohesion and continuity, however, it is best to remember to look back even as the industry moves forward.
