A Call for Active, Not Passive, Preservation

In Barcelona, Mario Ballesteros says that now is the time to change the perception of historic preservation from a staid, conservative activity to an active, contemporary approach.

1 minute read

February 2, 2011, 1:00 PM PST

By Tim Halbur


Ballesteros says that historic preservation "is all the rage", and is hot in avant-garde design journals. He says that the impression that preservation is all about "inaction" is wrong:

"In a way, preservation does oppose specific actions (destruction or construction), but it is never about "doing nothing." Preservation requires recording and studying and choosing and debating and occasionally fighting.

Preservation might oppose destruction or construction, but it always turns to reconstruction: of buildings, their histories, their briefs, their contexts."

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 in domus

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