Anthony West wrote:
Elisabeth wrote:That is the problem indeed. But when we try to sidestep the crucial issue of taste, we wind up creating fake judgement criteria that smuggle it back in under another name. "Historicity" also boils down to taste. That's because ALL buildings have history and all buildings exemplify history. Anybody can write a two-page release about the period that any building represents. In practice, the history that gets preserved is the history that people like. One way or another, taste will be expressed.Tony says that we need to "treasure the best from the past while letting the rest go." The problem is that "best" is a matter of opinion, and in this country we tend towards not being willing to regulate taste.
The question is: who gets to say which buildings they like and which matter less to them? Who gets to choose now history, now modernity? I'm not sure I have a one-sentence answer. But in general, public tastes matter when it comes to public property. And in general, the public likes some things more than others, just as individuals do. And in general, no building stands forever. Sorting out the particulars case by case is what makes public works projects such a fun spectator sport.
(see, I guess this is why I've been asking the questions I've been asking.)
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btw, I've been admiring the new glass-skinned buildings going up in the area -- the faceted cira center, the circular chop, that slender wedge over on market right next to the old furness bank. I love how glass surfaces integrate new and old -- reflecting the old buildings while quietly asserting their own structures, in a vocabulary that's both inventive and borrowed (ie, in terms of changing skies). and I especially like how the glass wedge on market so perfectly pays respect to the furness building -- by being so utterly different from it, superficially, and angling away from and around it, structurally. there's a living, breathing dynamic between the two buildings that might've been choked off had they parked some sort of historical-looking imitation of the furness there.
......... laserbeam� [aka ray]
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