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Forwarded message:
From: [log in to unmask] (Henry CLEERE)
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Date: 97-11-17 04:22:23 EST
Dear Patrick
At 10:12 15:11:97 +0000, you wrote:
>"Facadism" of this kind is unfortunately all too common and becoming more
>so. As planning authorities fail to take responsibility for balancing
>priorities between preservation and renewal of the townscape this is the
>easy cop-out. (Even the devoted wife of an architect friend of mine
>describes the result of one of his projects in which the planning board
>insisted on preserving a not very distinguished 19th century reproduction
>of an early 18th century style on a new office block as "Queen Anne front
>and Mary-Anne back"!).
>
>I suppose the most famous example was the centre of Warsaw, when the
>authorities decided that the famous pre-World War II faades had to be
>reproduced on the fronts of the re-built town square etc. - perhaps
>understandable and justifiable then, but not necessarily at all
>appropriate elsewhere. Nor does it seem particularly unusual for the
>preserved facade to be moved to another site and building as is proposed
>in your case. In one notorious English case (the medieval city of Exeter
>- in the 1960s - railway lines were laid temporarily to move two sides,
>still joined, of the facade of a 15th century building around 150 yards so
>that the inevitable 4 lane high speed highway could cut uninterrupted
>through the centre of the Roman and medieval quarter).
>
>As someone who served on public authority conservation committees for a
>total of nearly 20 years I can't offer any advice, except perhaps the
>apparently very negative view that with the exception of the Wawsaws of
>this world (where there were obviously special issues of national
>identity etc.) it is probably better to "let go" competely if the on-site
>conservation argument is lost, and perhaps hit the developer for money
>something near to an equivalent sum of that saved for other conservation
>projects, public landscaping or some other "development gain".
>
>On commemorative plaques, for many years the London "Blue Plaques" were
>often attached (or transferred) to new buildings. (There is one on a late
>1960s "brutalist" teaching block of our University commemorating the fact
>that the house and studio of the 19th century artist and print-maker
>Baxter was pulled down to make way for it, but nowadays Blue Plaques are
>strictly limited to the original buildings.
>
>Patrick Boylan
>
>=====================================
>
>On Fri, 14 Nov 1997, Stephen Kelley wrote:
>>
>> I am sending the following enquiry as a representatve of the Landmarks
>> Preswravtion Council of Illinois (LPCI).
>>
>> We are facing a possible preservation issue with one of our
>> skyscrapers in Chicago. The city is allowing the total dismantlement of a
>> 17 story building and reconstruction of the front facade in a new
>> building on the same site. The language of the ordinance is vague and
>> is being interpreted that it is not mandatory to save the original fabric
of
>> the facade. If the fabric is damaged during removal, it can be replaced
>> with new fabric. In effect the building can be demolished and a new
>> facade with new materials can be created with some ornamental
>> detailing incorporated.
>>
>> As the ordinance reads, " The reconstruction shall be carried out in a
>> manner that substantially replicates the existing significant facades, bas
>> reliefs, and the roofline. If the facade and bas relies can not feasibly
be
>> retained completely intact, the portions not retained shall be replicated
>> and incorporated into the new construction." The new building will then
>> become an official City of Chicago Landmark.
>>
>> We are concerned that the outcome will be a facade recreation will
>> then have a historic plaque applied. We believe that this is
>> unprecedented. Are you aware of any precedents or similar examples?
>> Can you offer any sound technical advice?
>>
>> Please respond to
>> Steve Kelley
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
One of the worst examples of facadism I know is the western side of Park
Crescent, part of Nash's great design that sweeps down from Regent's Park to
Carlton House Terrace. Taking advantage of a large gap provided by the
Luftwaffe, the Crown Estate Commissioners gutted the whole Crescent, removed
all the front doors, and turned the interior into a Kafkaesque series of
faceless Civil Service offices (in which the Council for British
Archaeology, of which I was Director at the time, uneasily lived for a year
and a half until we were able to find a genuine 18th century terrace house
south of the Thames).
But that is not why I am intervening: my concern is more with the issue of
Blue Plaques. The basic issue is, I think whether it is the building or the
individual who is being honoured. If the former, I go along with your
strictures. However, my own inclination is towards the latter significance.
Certainly, when I was Archaeological Adviser to the late lamented GLC
Historic Buildings Panel (which fought a bitter, but often unsuccessful
battle against facadism) it was clear that it was the original building that
was intended to carry the Blue Plaque. However, I seem to recall that the
consensus was that these should carry over to the site when force majeure
(like developers' greed and political clout) resulted in demolition. To
decline to transfer the Plaque seems to me to constitute some form of
disrespect towards the individual being honoured.
Completely off the point, you may be amused by the debate that went on when
we tried to find somewhere to put up a plaque in honour of Gordon Childe (a
great prehistorian, for other readers). He tended to move around rather a
lot and John Evans, his successor as Director of the London University
Institute of Archaeology, suggested that the most appropriate place might be
a No 29 bus!
By the way, I read the advertisement for the post of Director General of
ICOM rather wistfully: I fear this has come too late for me, but it would
have been nice...
As ever
Henry
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