Svante wrote:

> by the way I start to notice the apperance of NYC sidewalks
> and even tried to count splotches per square - seems to me like the gum is
> the favorite in the city).

Look at the NEW sidewalk in front of our shop and you will understand where I
got my inspiration on the bubble gum. I'm wondering if sidewalks should not be
made new with splotches just to make the vernacular splotches more reasonable.

> I can only imagine the horror of the future researchers trying to put together
> the
> story of the building development using traditional methods like brick and
> mortar analysis.

You come from a preservation tradition that has a deeper cultural and
philisophical grounding than our own and I think therefore you can visualize in
hundreds, if not thousands, of years of history. I don't find many in the
preservation field who are concerned about the fact that in our attempts to make
everything look perfectly old that we are in effect increasing the confusion of
the future preservationists. The current generation of preservationists I
believe were brought up in the belief that tomorrow you die in the big atomic
bang. We thrive with a culture of millenialism and are ready to throw our
heritage away as soon as it becomes the property of someone else. So why worry
about 2100?

> Seems to me like working on the historic objects and recognizing the value of
> the time passed we tend to forget that we are going to be a history too and
> there is no need to be more historical than necessary.

True.

> In my opinion reconstruction is (even if necessary) bad enough but pretending
> like put the black splotches on new
> sidewalk to have it look like the old one is unacceptable.

I think we all agree on this. Thus the absurdity of the story.

> On one of the projects visited by me recently contractor considered using the
> new brick with artifcally applied "wear and tear" look as possible solution to
> the old brick replacement. Again in next couple of years new brick of the same
> size,
> finish and color as original one will get the natural aging look and
> Disneyland is the last thing we need in restoration.

Bear in mind that the contractor in question probably has very little
understanding or exposure to any philosophical questions of preservation --
which is probably why you were called in -- and that Disney is the closest that
he/she can imagine. As well, have you not noticed that nobody around here wants
to wait a few years?
--
][<en Follett
SOS Gab & Eti -- http://www.geocities.com/~orgrease
Bullamanka-Pinheads website
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A0=bullamanka-pinheads