Historic Preservation Faces Tough New Questions

As more modern buildings are seen to have historic value, historic preservation flashpoints erupt with tough new questions.

1 minute read

August 13, 2001, 12:00 PM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"[As] historical research and shifting public tastes identify more and more recent buildings as worthy of conservation, the public is being asked to weigh the intrinsic cultural value of somewhat more ephemeral structures, built for commercial or public use over the last century and now threatened by pressures on real estate and changing business practices." "[C]onsider if Walter Gropius's Pan Am Building...were at risk. How to evaluate a building castigated at its inception...but that remains a significant work of an important architect?...What criteria ? aesthetic, historical, functional ? are to be used for so recent a monument?"

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Sunday, August 12, 2001 in The New York Times

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