Good thoughts.  I would add that nothing can be "freeze framed" (except
Lenin).  The process is one of time warping.  I have a probelm with what I
call "materials preservation" vs preserving the whole - the building.  If
you scaffold a building for 25% of the budget for a project done every one
hundred years why preserve material that will only last another ten or
twenty?
Although not an architect, I concur that in many cases good additions and
adaptive re-uses often enhance the historic nature and architectural beauty
of the original and help to raise the awareness of the public on their
merrits.
No shooting at the feet please.

Leland
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Becker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 1998 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: Additions to Historic Buildings


>Mary sez:
>
>>Witold's comment hits squarely on the issues faced in a current project I
am
>>working on -- a new (and large) addition to a 19th C. Italianate villa in
a
>>semi-rural area. It is a program with great merit, but it is a substantial
>>design challenge. Initial reactions from the local preservation advocates:
>>"impossible."  Yet the building would be preserved (it is now suffering
>>substantial deterioration having been vacant for a number of years), used
as a
>>focal point in the new program, and put to a worthy new use.  A creative
>>design for the project would allow the building to move on in history,
albeit
>>with some compromise to site and historic fabric (accessibility a big
issue).
>>
>>One can always speculate as to what kind of project might be more
sensitive to
>>the site.  The problem is that no one has come forward with ideas or money
for
>>ANY project in many years, and the house has suffered.  Preservationists
are
>>not in agreement on this issue here.  Any thoughts?
>
>I wish we weren't sponsoring a statewide conference this weekend, y'all are
>having some mighty meaty conversations about which I have lots of thoughts
>but no time to convey them.
>
>Mary, I can tell which way you are "leaning," and I believe you are
>correct.  Folks will cut off their nose to spite their face waiting for
>just the perfect thing to come along that will be just the perfect thing.
>Sometimes it never comes; I prefer more realism in an imperfect life that
>sometimes you have to go with a proposal that will secure the economic
>viability of the resource.
>
>My background is in design, and so I have enough of the designers' ego in
>me to feel that "a creative design" of sensitivity will work, regardless.
>Not every building can be "freeze-framed" in time.  Evolution indicates
>vitality, and so it's ok for historic buildings sometimes to be vital and
>not musty.  If nothing ever changed, if we preserved the world perfectly,
>well...I think that would be pretty sad...and boring.  Life is a barbeque,
>and I like vinegar on my barbeque.
>
>____________________________________________
>Dan Becker
>Executive Director, Raleigh Historic Districts Commission
>
>[log in to unmask]
>