{"id":66565,"date":"2018-08-02T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T02:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tapchikientruc.com.vn\/?p=66565"},"modified":"2018-08-02T09:00:52","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T02:00:52","slug":"preserve-or-raze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/?p=66565","title":{"rendered":"Preserve or Raze?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preservation experts in three cities explain how and why a building is deemed worthy of protection.<\/em><\/h3>\n

Should we preserve it, or should we knock it down? Over the last 50 years, this has become a real question in towns and cities across the country. As urban areas continue to grow, and as local leaders increasingly embrace the historic buildings that communities were built around, it often falls to design boards or commissions\u2014and the architects who populate them\u2014to decide what stays and what goes.<\/p>\n

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(Image: Tom Bonner)<\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>
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Los Angeles boasts one of the country\u2019s first preservation committees; the city passed the Cultural Heritage Ordinance in 1962, which led to today\u2019s\u00a0Cultural Heritage Commission<\/a>. It is currently made up of five commissioners, four with ties to architecture: two architects, the president of an architectural firm, and an architectural historian. Their job is to review buildings based on a specific set of questions: Does it stand out architecturally? Was the architect or designer a master in his or her field? Was the property ever associated with anyone historic? And, finally, does it represent a broader social history?<\/p>\n

If one or more of the above returns a \u201cyes,\u201d answer, the building is likely to be declared a monument and preserved accordingly. But even a negative response doesn\u2019t mean the building is tapped for destruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t decide if something gets demolished or not,\u201d says Gail Kennard, commission member and president of\u00a0Kennard Design Group<\/a>. \u201cWe accept applications from property owners and other interested individuals and groups, and then we deal with the merits of the building. Even if we deny a request for designation, that doesn\u2019t mean we think it should be torn down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being declared a monument means your building is deemed relevant to LA\u2019s history and social fabric. But it also gives the commission partial oversight of the property to ensure no \u201ccharacter-defining features\u201d are modified by overeager owners. And there are consequences for unapproved actions, even if your building itself isn\u2019t declared a monument.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you own in what we call a \u2018historic preservation overlay zone,\u2019 and the property is considered a contributor to the zone, if you alter your house in any significant way or demolish it,\u201d Kennard says, \u201cyou could face severe repercussions.\u201d Those include a \u201cscorched earth punishment\u201d wherein owners who are investigated and deemed negligent or detrimental to a protected building are barred from any transactions related to their property for five years.<\/p>\n

Of course, not every preservation decision is a matter for the local government. Barry Milofsky, a commission member and founding partner of\u00a0M2A Architects<\/a>, has worked in preservation for decades. He recalls one instance where design-centric recommendations couldn\u2019t convince the owners to save the backdrop for one of our country\u2019s most shocking moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were hired to explore reuse options versus demolition options for the Ambassador Hotel,\u201d he says, \u201cand we informed the clients that it could indeed be preserved.\u201d The commission provided options for the owners, including adapting it into a high school or market-rate workforce housing, all while preserving Robert F. Kennedy\u2019s assassination site and other rooms with deep ties to Hollywood history. The owners passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s their building,\u201d he says. \u201cIf the community steps up and exerts power or pressure, it can make a difference. But it begs the question: Is it the job of the owners to pursue their specific needs, or do they have a larger responsibility to society in general?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Queen City<\/b><\/p>\n

Burlington, Vt., adopted regulations to protect historic buildings in 1973. Its leaders have a keen awareness that, as a New England city organized in 1785, they are stewards of many significant structures that define the country\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistoric architecture makes us who we are as a community,\u201d says\u00a0David White<\/a>, the city\u2019s director of planning and zoning, \u201cand that\u2019s not just Burlington.\u201d This sentiment is shared by many residents, though some vocalize frustrations that anything notable has also been deemed irremovable. But White reinforces that this isn\u2019t the case: \u201cWhile it is not our preference to tear buildings down, we do recognize that sometimes that is the appropriate choice, and we want there to be clarity around the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(Image: Milofsky and Michali Architects)<\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>
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As with many burgeoning cities and towns, Burlington is dealing with issues of housing affordability and availability. When it becomes a direct one-to-one comparison\u2014 such as preserving a historic structure versus building additional housing units\u2014White notes that the members of the city\u2019s Design Advisory Board have to ask themselves a series of important questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are subjective questions like, \u2018Does the existing building have true historic value?\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cBut beyond that, \u2018Is the building structurally sound?\u2019 \u2018Can it be moved to another site?\u2019 \u2018What is the cost of tearing it down or remediating the site?\u2019 And, at the end of the day, \u2018Will whatever replaces this building compensate the community in some capacity?\u2019 And \u2018Will it serve a higher and better use?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

History\u2019s Real Value<\/b><\/p>\n

In Charlottesville, Va., another city with a rich history, what to raze and what to preserve is frequently discussed as well. Mary Joy Scala, who served as the city\u2019s preservation and design planner for 14 years, has seen architects recommend protecting buildings for a bevy of reasons. \u201cOlder buildings were built to last a lifetime, not 20 years,\u201d she says, \u201cand anyone interested in sustainable design knows that it is often better to reuse in some capacity than to discard it all in a landfill.\u201d She references a neighborhood called Vinegar Hill that was destroyed in the early 1960s, noting that \u201cpeople are still, rightly, talking about that. They\u2019re asking, \u2018Why did that neighborhood that belonged to us get torn down?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not as if the city wants to forgo modernity entirely. In fact, Scala notes that Charlottesville encourages modern design for its new buildings. \u201cSome localities do want their new buildings to look like the old buildings,\u201d she says, \u201cbut when you mix, you get a much more complex and intriguing built environment\u2014especially when the new ones draw on certain specific features of the old.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scala admits that the city is uniquely positioned to value preservation. Tourism is not only one of Virginia\u2019s major economic drivers, but also one of the Charlottesville region\u2019s major drivers\u2014with historic buildings like Monticello comprising several of the biggest draws, as well as having the University of Virginia School of Architecture (and its highly respected historic preservation program) within city limits. It all adds up to a higher overall level of awareness among locals (and visitors) alike.<\/p>\n

That said, she also recognizes that architects shouldn\u2019t take this level of appreciation for granted. \u201cIt is so important to consider public education and outreach,\u201d she says, \u201cso the people living in and around these buildings understand why preservation matters. You can\u2019t do that through regulation alone. If your fellow citizens can grasp the design thinking and the architectural reasons that fuel your recommendations, they\u2019ll be that much more cooperative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milofsky echoes that sentiment. Long interested in preservation professionally, he made that interest well-known and took on volunteer opportunities whenever they arose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same way you get clients,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t sit in your office and wait for someone to ring your doorbell. You have to be active in what matters to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Source: Architectmagazine)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preservation experts in three cities explain how and why a building is deemed worthy of protection. Should we preserve it, or should we knock it down? Over the last 50 years, this has become a real question in towns and cities across the country. As urban areas continue to grow, and as local leaders increasingly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66565"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tckt.vn\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}