Reconstructing Lost Architecture: A Commendable Tradition - Lecture by Calder Loth

if I could have your attention my name is Justin Chabot I'm president of the National Civic Art Society thank you for joining us this evening for to hear called or loathe speak on the topic of reconstructing lost architecture a commendable tradition founded in 2002 the National Civic Art Society educates and empowers leaders in the promotion of public art and architecture worthy of our great Republic we do so by advocating for the classical tradition in civic design we believe that that tradition is unparalleled in its beauty dignity and harmony not to mention its legend legibility to the common man it's no accident that the founding fathers consciously chose the classical style when the designing the nation's capital and its core buildings of government the founders sought to hearten back to Republican Rome and democratic Athens and they knew that classical architecture was time-honored and timeless the National Civic artists art sorry the National Civic Art Society works to continue and expand upon the founders vision but we are also now operating in New York City where we are leading a bold project to rebuild the original Penn Station designed by McKim Mead and white and opened opening in 1910 the original station was a BOS arts masterpiece that equaled the majesty of Grand Central Terminal in 1963 it was torn down and replaced with the current station which if you've been there I think you would agree is the most hated train station in America it is our goal to resurrect the original station to its original glory as bold as that might be the great urban planner Daniel Burnham said make no little plans they have no magic to stir men's blood it's our hope that the talk you're about to hear will provide some philosophical justifications for rebuilding monuments such as Penn Station our speaker tonight is Calder loaf he is the senior architectural historian for the Virginia Department of historic resources where he was employed for 40 years and still serves part time he also serves as co-president for the center of Palladian studies in America and he's a member of the Virginia art and architectural review board his publications include the Virginia landmarks register Virginia landmarks and black history and lost Virginia vanished architecture of the Old Dominion in 2008 he was the first recipient of the Secretary of the interiors preservation award for service the state preservation programs he has also received the board of directors honors award from the Institute of classical architecture and art clean draw please join me in welcoming Calder lothe well thank you and thank you for inviting me to talk about a subject that I find both intriguing and pertinent and I hope you will and at least provide momentary distraction from the election but first I need to say how much I admire the dedication and tenacity of the National Civic Art Society keep up your important work all right reconstructions what could be a more positive gesture for civic art than the recreation of beloved lost landmarks but as we know the reconstruction of destroyed historic and architectural landmarks has long been considered as something less than serious architectural expression the loss of a landmark is usually taken to be an opportunity to rebuild with a contemporary aesthetic and most architectural pundits maintain that new buildings should look to the future not the past even so many people sincerely hope that natural or man-made tragedies should not deprive us of important heritage and that accurate rebuilding of noteworthy landmarks is a legitimate and commendable activity reconstruction sirven 'el patriotic aesthetic cultural and additional needs and the majority of scholarly reproductions both here and abroad are serious achievements and time has shown that few people regret our resurrected landmarks and it's always encouraging if you can cite biblical authority for your activities but first I need to define the type of reconstruction I'll be talking about I will not be talking about anastomosis which is a scholarly archaeological term for gathering fragments of a destroyed ancient monument and incorporating them into an academically research recreation of its original form using new identical material to fill in the missing pieces the few surviving elements of the treasure at Delphi enabled scholars to determine the building's original appearance and thus rebuilding the light marble shown here is all new this is anastomosis and with great restraint I will not be talking about a reconstruction of which I've been involved for many years Manoukian which we are defining as a hi-tech anastomosis a 21st century approach to reconstructing a ruin replacing missing sections with glass to help interpret the houses long history of neglect and collapse the Minoan is a subject of another time nor will I be talking about reconstructing within a gutted shell st. bride's fleet-street was one of the many City of London churches burning in the Blitz its walls survived the interior was reconstructed within the original walls in many great buildings such as pavlovsk and peterhof palace in Russia had been rebuilt within there gutted shells but these are another subject - instead what I wish to share with you this evening is a selection of reconstructions of totally or nearly totally destroyed historic buildings destroyed either by natural disaster or conscious demolition and I'm showing a fraction of a voluminous body of such undertakings but we'll peruse this sampling and see how these efforts have maintained cultural identity and have truly enriched society and with these I want to hammer home the point that reconstruction is a legitimate activity actually my horoscope this morning read speak up and share your thoughts in order to start a dialogue that will raise important issues I'm not kidding many people are not even aware that some of the buildings we'll be looking at are reconstructions and few wish they hadn't happened and and even if they were aware that they were reconstructions ok let's start with our own country with one of our earliest reconstructions the Jamestown Virginia Church now the early 20th century all that was left was the church's ruined Tower as part of James towns 1970 centenary celebration it was decided to rebuild the long-lost body of the church this view shows the temporary shed protecting the site's archaeological investigations the completed Church followed the archaeological footprint but what did the original Church really look like they had little idea so the architect relied on precedent fair enough an old st. Luke's Church near Smithfield Virginia also built in the late 17th century provided credible president adequate support for a justifiable conjectural reconstruction interestingly the rebuilt Jamestown Church was designed by the Boston architect Edmund wheelwright better known as the architect of the harbor Lampoon building or work with some similar qualities okay next Dartmouth Hall the signature building of Dartmouth College built 1787 to 91 the stately wood framed structure contained dormitories classrooms museum and library all the eggs in one basket a risky situation in nineteen for faulty wiring started a blaze that reduced the building to smoldering embers in just two hours the decision to replicate the lost work was made while the fire was still hot and being practical minded about replacing a utilitarian building it was decided to rebuild with steel frame and brick rather than wood so we have a visual fest simile rather than an exact reproduction but the New England ambience of this venerable institution is maintained the building continues as Dartmouth signature image the 1817 First Congregational Church in Old Lyme Connecticut was the very form of the New England meeting house complete with a Gibbs style steeple it's storybook Beauty inspired numerous works of art such as this child has some painting the church was completely destroyed in 1970 I never caught arsonist the congregation in the community wanted their church bed not some new expression and the paintings proved to be important documentation for a reconstruction and like Dartmouth Hall steel frame and masonry were used but the church's surfaces employed wood like the original resulting in an amazingly beautiful recreation and the church continues as an active character defining landmark for its historic community the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg was perhaps the nation's most ambitious preservation project although some 80 original buildings survived several significant lost buildings had to be reconstructed in order to complete the plan and tell the story a strategic loss building was the governor's palace burned in 1781 while being used as a military hospital the eighteenth-century Frenchman's Maps seen here gave a key to its outline and sighting and Thomas Jefferson's measured floorplan provided dimensions and shapes of the rooms thank goodness Jefferson's plan was confirmed by archaeological investigations but what did the church really look like oh just tell him I'm busy we have a footprint but if you find my footprint in the sand could you create recreate a person that looked like me from that footprint hope not even so conjectural designs for the palaces appearance pushed forth based on area precedence it probably would have looked like a big Westover fortunately in the nick of time a researcher found an 18th century copper engraving plate in Oxford's Bodley and library the famous Bodley and plate showing the Capitol the College of William and Mary and the governor's palace seen in the lower right the palaces image is seen here the researcher promptly contacted Williamsburg stop hold off I found something and this holy reliable image gave sufficient evidence for an accurate reconstruction of the palace exterior the rebuilt palace now nearly 90 years old has been an educational venue for millions of visitors and will continue to be now colonial America had one other palace that ordered by William Tryon the royal lieutenant governor of North Carolina or the coastal town of Newburgh luckily the palaces original architectural drawings by British architect John Hawkes survived seen here trines palace was completed in 1770 its design closely followed one published by James Gibbs revolutionaries took over the palace in 1775 and used it for their non royal seat of government fire destroyed trines Palace in 1798 but one dependency survived into the 20th century well the North Carolinians were not to be outdone by the Virginians so in the 1950s a group of wealthy patrons organized to have the palace reconstructed handsomely so so we have a recreation of what was probably the largest and finest house built in colonial America and it takes guts for a Virginian to admit that it's now anyway a highly popular Museum now one of America's most historic houses here we have one of America's most historic houses was this simple Greek Revival dwelling the home of Wilmer MacLean MacLean originally lived in a farm near Manassas Virginia which in 1861 became the battlefield for the First Battle of Manassas or Bull Run following the battle MacLean said I'm outta here no more battles so he bought this house in the remote village of a thematic s-- the village that didn't even have good maps to find it so supposedly it was safe from military harm the rest of course is history war found its way to Appomattox a laborer the 9th 1865 General Lee surrendered to General Grant in Willmar McClain's our thus effectively ending the civil war the scene was accurately depicted in this 1868 painting the war left MacLean broke the house was auctioned in 1869 it went through a couple of owners and in 1891 it was purchased by a pair of entrepreneurs they plan to dismantle the house and rebuild it as a historic attraction in either Chicago or Washington the house was thus dismantled but the money immediately dried up its materials were left stacked on the site and were pilfered over the years by souvenir hunters nothing left the National Park Service acquired the nearly deserted nearly deserted village of aromatics in the 1930s with the intention of reconstructing both the courthouse and the MacLean house for its new historic Park fortunately the entrepreneurs had made architectural drawings of the house for their intended rebuilding they were vital for the Park Service's reconstruction completed in 1949 and the paintings shown earlier became the guide for the parlor incorporating copies of the original furniture now preserved in the Smithsonian for the past 68 years the reconstructed house has been a telling monument for the place where our nation was reunited an intriguing but little-known reconstruction is that of st. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Sitka Alaska Sitka served as the capital of Russia America from 1880 to 1867 and then became the capital of the u.s. territory of Alaska the cathedral completed in 18-49 was the spiritual center of alaska's russian orthodox community they're still there its architecture was traditional Russian star with onion domes and bell tower alas fire completely consumed st. michaels on January the 2nd 1966 thankfully the historic American building survey had carefully documented the building with measured drawings and photographs in 1961 this made an accurate replication feasible the rebuilding was completed in 1976 but with a steel frame structural system rather than the log core of the original even so the architectural and historic importance of the cathedral even as a reconstruction allowed it to retain its national historic landmark status an equally exotic religious edifice was the Mormon temple of Nauvoo Illinois on a promontory overlooking the Mississippi River it was completed in 1846 but within months anti-mormon prejudice forced its members to flee the town an arsonist set fire to the abandoned temple in 1848 the ruins were pulled down in 1865 Mormons reacquired the site in 1937 with the help of eventually rebuilding their lost temple construction finally commenced in 2000 and was completed two years later although built with steel frame the same marble as the original was used for its walls this arresting edifice demonstrates the Mormons creative use of the classical vocabulary and as we know from the modern temple on the Capitol Beltway Mormons have never shied from erecting visually arresting temples and now a private reconstruction greenwood in louisiana few dwellings were as evocative of the old south as greenwood the 1830s mansion of william Ruffin Barrow the seat of a 12,000 acre plantation worked by 700 50 slaves it was set off by peripheral colonnade of 28 Doric pillars Union troops looted the property but spared the house by using it as a hospital mr. and mrs. Frank perceive purchased Greenwood in 1915 and repaired the house on August the 1st 1960 lightning torched Greenwood and completely destroyed all but the columns in 1968 Walton barns acquired the ruin with 300 acres using photographs and descriptions he and his son carefully reconstructed green wood finishing it in 1984 it's now open to the public and accommodates overnight guests and has served as a location for motion pictures this kind of private undertaking cooked love and guts and we can be grateful for the rebirth of this distinctive American icon undoubtedly the most extensive reconstruction project in North America has been the rebuilding of Louisbourg on the northern tip of Nova Scotia Louie Berg was the fortress town established by the French to protect the entrance to the st. Lawrence River and the French fishing ended in interests as part of their effort to conquer French Canada the British captured Louie Berg in 1758 Prime Minister William Pitt then ordered the complete levelling of the town and its fortifications reducing it to an archaeological site two centuries later to honor its French cultural heritage the Canadian government undertook the reconstruction of Louisbourg the rebuilding by Parks Canada begun in 1963 and extended over the next 20 years has been remarkable some 80 buildings and nearly a mile before Tiffa caissons have been reconstructed aided by original architectural drawings surviving in French archives it has spawned a whole generation of specialized craftsmen and the Kings Bastian barracks is Louis Berg's anchoring landmark a monument of French military design we now cross the Atlantic for some inspiring and surprising examples Venice Venice is st. mark's campanile e is a powerful focal point for one of the world's most famous public spaces seen here in a painting by Canaletto its construction started in the 9th century and continued into the 11th century repairs to earthquake damage undertaken in 1511 to 14 resulting in the 300 foot structure receiving its definitive profile fire damage in successive years caused cracks to appear in the sides leading to structural weakness finally at 9:45 in the morning of July 14 19 - oh my god no the entire building collapsed into a pile of bricks Oh bad words the Venetian communal council wasted no time in voting to rebuild the Campanile II exactly as it was the new Campanile II what are the world's most familiar landmarks was officially completed in August 25th 1912 st. Mark's Day few of the millions of visitors to Venice realized the structure is barely a hundred years old and we can't imagine Venice without it now we don't necessarily associate destruction of great buildings with World War one the conflict was mostly mired in trench warfare but we did have a major casualty belgium's famous cloth at Ypres this astonishing 13th century gothic pile the nerve center of the town's thriving cloth industry was one of the largest medieval commercial buildings in Europe German bombardment damaged the hull in November 23rd 1914 an incendiary device is torched it the following day the German artillery piece Big Bertha inflicted further damage in 1915 and what was left was reduced to this in 1918 following the war British decreed that the remaining red should be left as a memorial however local sentiment for recreating the beloved lost landmark led to a meticulous reconstruction lasting from 1933 to 1967 today much of this stunning building has as a museum in interpreting World War one the cloth ho truly embodies the notion that reconstructions are the captive beauty of a lost past I now want to turn to what was considered a somewhat controversial reconstruction the stoa of attalos in the athens agora we're looking at a computer rendering of what it may have looked like the Stovall was one of Athens principal Hellenistic Civic works built around 140 BC housing many shops Tolls it's 377 foot facade was frighted by a two-tier colonnade an important gathering place barbarian invaders destroyed the stoah in 267 80 archaeological investigations of its site began in 1862 the american school of classical studies conducted more intense study and excavations in the 1930s the school's research coupled with the archaeological remains provided sufficient evidence to justify a plausible reconstruction the Rockefeller Foundation funded the stoas rebuilding of 1952 256 even so the project was conceived for being in contravention to accepted codes of restoration indeed the subsequent Venice charter of 1964 specifically discourages such reconstruction particularly when it imposes on delicate archaeological districts instead very limited anastomosis such as currently being undertaken on the Parthenon is grudgingly accepted be that as it may the imposing reconstruction has served as a demonstration of the appearance and function of an ancient stoah the building now houses the Museum of the Agora and now world war 2 it would be impossible to calculate the full extent of loss of architectural heritage much less of humanity caused by World War two nevertheless reconstructions have attempted to assuage some of this loss we'll look at a handful of notable examples first the famed Abbey of Monte Cassino begun in 529 by Saint Benedict of Nursia founder of the Benedictine Order the abbey is the orders official home the complex was largely rebuilt in the 11th century with exceptional splendor during the 1944 Allied invasion of Italy it was believed that Nazi troops were using the abbey as an observation post this threatened the Allied events on Rome thus the order was given to vomit the abbey was obliterated on February 15th 1944 tragically it was subsequently learned that the Nazis were not entrenched there after all and that the casualties were local citizens seeking refuge the monks immediately did resolve to rebuild architects as we might expect proposed a modern style complex the monks rebuffed them saying they were ignoring the site's history so from 1948 to 56 the abbey was carefully replicated incorporating fragments of original material in each of the cloisters nitpickers criticized the project for going against contemporary preservation theory but most solid as a symbol of recovery for war-torn Italy the monks maintained that the rebuilding looked backward in order to look forward and the abbey chapel was restored with all its original magnificence if this can be done anything can be done well it's difficult to summarize or even describe the destruction of war so particularly that of the Old Town Market Square the historic heart of the Polish capital the square dates from the 13th century it was largely rebuilt in Renaissance and Baroque styles following of fire in 16-7 Luftwaffe raids damaged the square in 1939 but massive destruction came later following the Nazi suppression of Polish resistance the famous Polish uprising that lasted from August to October of 1944 as punishment for the uprising the Nazis expelled the city entire citizen population and then systematically destroyed 90% of war cells buildings making heavy use of flamethrowers building by building the Market Square was all but ruined after the war instead of a modern quick fix the poles rallied to recreate their much-loved square exactly as it was the rebuilding lasted from 1948 to 53 the squares reconstruction was just part of the rebuilding of the rest of historic Warsaw the largest reconstruction project in history it was a refutation of architects push to remake the city into a caboose Ian type feature Ramallah Warsaw citizens declared without tradition there can be no future the reconstructed historic center of Warsaw has since been placed on the world heritage list and the following is quoted from UNESCO x' official statement quote the historic center warsaw is an exceptional example of the comprehensive reconstruction of a city that had been deliberately and totally destroyed the foundation of the material reconstruction was the inner strength and determination of the nation which brought about the reconstruction of the heritage on a unique scale in the history of the world unquote another victim of wanton nazi destruction was Florence's elegant for to Santa Trinita designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati and completed in 1569 it's speculated that Michelangelo had a hand in the design or certainly influenced it the bridges complex elliptical arches echo the curves in Michelangelo Medici tombs on August 3 and 4 of 1944 in order to help the British 8th army the retreating Nazis dynamited the bridge it took three tries to do the job and the Nazis also destroyed all of Florence's other bridges save for the Ponte Vecchio which Hitler admired how thoughtful of him as part of the reconstruction as many fragments as possible were fished from the river and reused stone from the original quarry was employed for the major fabrication the bridge reopened in 1958 and we can't picture Florence without it now regrettably the Allies too were hardly respectful of Europe's architectural heritage major German cities were relentlessly devastated by Allied carpet bombing in an effort to destroy German morale and to encourage surrender Hildesheim in lower saxony was a treasure of late medieval buildings outstanding was the 1529 milk and our amst house or butcher's guild hall now notice the fountain in the square the same scene followed following Allied bombing in 1945 after the war the city needed to re-establish its wrecked economy so a modern hotel was built on the site in 1964 as you might imagine it was not a popular destination hotel citizens thus rose to the occasion and said we want our Guildhall back the bankrupt Hotel was demolished and the almshouse was completely reconstructed as only the Germans can do a triumph of traditional craftsmanship completed in 1989 and the old fountain looks on approvingly another target of Allied bombing was bronze vyg or Brunswick carpet-bombing devastated the city on October 15 1944 a victim was than 1841 palace the former seat of the dukes of Brunswick the palace was left a gutted shell some discussion about restoration occurred but the city government lacked sufficient money at the time so it voted to clear the ruins and create a park the walls came down in 1960 subsequent West German prosperity made the park attractive for commercial development so we decided to build a shopping mall on the site this generated sentiment for reconstructing the palace instead a compromise was reached do both so we have the palace coupled to a shopping mall why not the palace was handsomely rebuilt incorporating a number of original fragments it has a museum complete with throne room the mall is a mall a nice one a win-win situation and now Dresden the bombing of Dresden ranks with the most controversial of the wars allied actions justification for the utter destruction of one of Europe's most culturally important but far from militarily strategic cities is still debated a tragic architectural casualty of the carpet bombings and resulting firestorm of February 1945 was the fryin Quechua Dresden's majestic Lutheran Church this voluptuous domed edifice was a masterpiece of Baroque architecture the bombing raids reduced the church to a pile of stones despite sentiment for its rebuilding the East German government declared reconstruction low priority so it kept the rubble as a war memorial concentrating instead on reconstructing the Xingu Palace following German reunification a citizens action group formed to pressure for rebuilding with local governments support the reconstruction began in 1993 and was completed in 2006 some 3,800 original stones were reused their blackened surfaces were left as witnesses to the church's destruction and resurrection and the Magnificent interior was replicated to the last detail an astonishing space Dresden was a bad enough loss but Berlin remained the primary target for obvious reasons Nazism had to be destroyed but war took with it much of Berlin's architecture among the losses was the Commandant in house which had the prestigious address of number one unter den Linden it's core dated from 1653 and was expanded in the 18th century becoming the seat of the commander of the Berlin garrison it received its Renaissance style facade in an 1873 remodeling allied bombing left only sections of the palaces walls intact the East German government demolished the ruins in the 1950s in order to build on its site the modernist Ministry of Foreign Affairs this unloved building was pulled down following German reunification a media corporation then acquired the site to build its Berlin offices the Berlin Senate required replication of the facade although the interior could be wholly modern since little documentation for it survived the facade was dearly reconstructed in 2003 critics panned the project as Disneyfication but the building serves as a focal point in the most historic and beautiful quarter the city what else could you or should you do there and now a reconstruction in progress the Berlin Stachel owes a royal palace the sprawling much evolved structure was the seat of the kings of Prussia and the Empress of Germany it was seriously damaged in the war even so its walls remained intact as did some of the interiors restoration was not out of the question but the communist East German government considered the palace a monument to imperialism bad bad so in 1950 Valter ulbrich ordered it all destroyed using nine tons of dynamite to do the job in 1976 the East German Palace of the Republic was built on the site this triumph of socialist modernism which could easily be mistaken for an insecticide factory was later pulled down because it was found to be contaminated with asbestos it came down in 2003 following German reunification the federal government approved its demolition a hot debate over the site use ensued finally champions for reconstructing the palace won the day and in 2007 the German federal government voted to rebuild it foes said it violated the Venice charter but they didn't have a better idea I took this photo in 2008 as the last of the communist building was coming down the dome Vernon Cathedral was in the background reconstruction began in 2012 and occupancy is scheduled for next year we see a progress photo and this is a computer rendering of what the palace will look like when done it's almost there the interior will be multi-purpose housing museums theater auditorium and restaurants portions of the interior will be reconfigured so that someday some of the state rooms can be reinstalled or still reinstalled over time so perhaps someday we can see slitters famous reader so recreated and now Russia many losses of Russian architecture were self-inflicted I'll show too conspicuous examples first is the Iberian gate which marked the northern entrance to Moscow's Red Square and the name has nothing to do with Spain it derives from a basket Konoe ting the Evon monastery on mount athos in greece which houses a miracle-working hike the gate dated from 1583 a small chapel displaying a replica of the famous icon was affixed between the arches in 1669 here all visitors to Moscow including the Tsar prayed on entering the city the Soviets demolished the gate in 1931 to provide access to Red Square for large military pieces displayed in communist celebrations the arrows marked the gates former location following the breakup of the Soviet Union the Moscow city government authorized reconstruction of the gate and undertaken sanction by the Russian Orthodox Church the project was completed in 1994 an old wrong made right not far away was the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour this behemoth the largest church ever built in Russia was a monument to the Russian victory over Napoleon designed in traditional Russian style but Constantin Tony the cornerstone was laid in 1839 the Cathedral was finally consecrated in 1883 the world premiere of the 1812 overture was planned to be performed in the Cathedral in 1882 but the building was not quite finished so the performance was held in a tent out front now in the 1920s the Soviets espousal of atheism deemed the cathedral along with many other churches to be unnecessary luxuries on top of that Stalin wanted the site for his proposed Palace of the Soviets a glorification of communism sure enough so the cathedral was dynamited on December 5th 1931 construction of the palace of the Soviets actually started but was halted during the war the steel frame was taken down for the war effort lack of funds following the war inhibited any further work so a big swimming pool complex was built on the site here o babushkas would take their grandchildren swimming and secretly baptize them here because they considered the site to be fully amazingly in 1990 the Soviet government authorized the Russian Orthodox Church to reconstruct the Cathedral one of the Soviets last acts soviet union collapse the next year reconstruction largely funded by a million private donations began in 1994 and was completed in 2000 it's hard to believe the scale of this building especially when you see the interior if this can be reconstructed anything can be reconstructed and this was done in only six years don't underestimate the value of reconstructions or the ability to accomplish them I want to conclude with a brief look at three potential candidates for reconstruction although the list could be much much longer - or personal choices the third is an obvious one the first is close to home Thomas Jefferson's 1826 anatomical theater at the University of Virginia we have Jefferson's architectural drawings for it unbelievably this unique Jefferson building was demolished in 1939 because it interfered with the view of the new alderman library behind it a wealthy alumnus pushed for its reconstruction around 30 years ago but the local architectural establishment waived the Venice Charter the Charter declares quote all reconstruction work should however be ruled out a priori only anastomosis can be permitted unquote maybe someday we can have Jefferson's building back it would be a fascinating undertaking and now a more ambitious candidate the twee' Larese palace this was the official Paris residence of the kings of France and later of Napoleon the first in Napoleon the third dating from 1549 the palace was originally designed by fielder bird alarm it later was joined to the Louvre by Henry the fourth Grand Gallery and ultimately connected the two outstretched arms of the Louvre during the Paris Commune of 1871 anti Royalists factions set fire to the palace and dynamited its dome after burning for 48 hours only the gutted shell remained sentiment for rebuilding got nowhere finally in 1883 the ruins were demolished and their materials sold interestingly serious talk of reconstructing the palace started in 2003 but further action remains stalled the palace is excellently documented accurate replication inside and out is possible but more importantly the Louvre Museum needs additional space and reconstruction would have the great benefit of permitting a continuous circulation pattern the two arms of the move are now just dead ends and finally Penn Station it would be gross understatement to say that the demolition of Penn Station was about the dumbest thing this country ever did it was a decision made by people not fully evolved one cannot speak of McKim Mead and white Penn Station without lapsing into a plethora of superlatives I had the privilege of experiencing Penn Station I could never forget it America at the turn of the last century considered itself a new Rome an empire for liberty and adopted the Roman architectural image for its own and did it really well can you imagine that we went from this to this New York at its most vetted that's not strong enough it's really trashy the concourse that was and now is it's the same footprint but about its inviting as the vortex of hell and to rub it in it has this lugubrious bit of artwork commemorating our vandalism vandals destroy what they can't understand plans for upgrading Penn Station are currently in the works plans about as inspiring as a Walmart but thanks to Richard Cameron Catesby Lee and others a convincing case for reconstructing McKim Mead and white spent station is being put forth the design can be adapted to meet modern needs and you will hear all about this in your upcoming lecture and as I hope I have shown with the examples we have seen such an undertaking would be hardly unique well of course reconstructions are not the real thing but those we have seen this evening and many many others are not worthless fakes they are serious efforts to return to us designs of great meaning and beauty they help historic places retain their sense of identity identity that has been seriously wounded most are in Bosnia would be irrelevant without its bridge and we should note that its reconstruction following being blown up as part of the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia the reconstruction seen here has kept the bridges World Heritage Site status officially symbolizing the legitimacy of a careful and loving replication the UNESCO report on the mostar bridge reconstruction stated quote the authenticity of form use of authentic materials and techniques are fully recognizable the reconstruction of the fabric of the bridge should be seen as the background to the restoration of the intangible dimensions of this property yeah we began this program with Isaiah's prophetic statement and we should close with it remembering that reconstruction can be the right thing to do thank you so we have time for a few questions from the audience and if you could please wait there is a microphone and that will pass around but if I could just first ask one question could you explain the thought behind the architectural and privacy preservation establishment that finds these reconstructions completely Anathem calling them fraudulent and inauthentic and what is your response to that standard can't be recreated we should look to the future not to the past can we do better good question any comments or let me know what your candidate for reconstruction is I'm sure you all have one what's here in Washington it would be a good candidate for reconstruction from what I read in the papers it's being done dangerously and with desperation by people and as you saw what was the chief curator for was it Syria was murdered by Isis it had his head cut up because he was trying to Palmyra I'm sorry was trying to preserve al Meyer from being destroyed and looted yeah what was it what was the one totally destroyed recently by Isis in northern no one of the one of these ancient templates it'll come to me anyway yeah I will some of those victims be put back together I don't know we've got a long ways to go before we can even start thinking about how to treat those the damage there yes your question over there alley behind you on the front row all right I get your friend the ICOMOS board to consider it I don't know as I read from some of these jicama statements they are sanctioning reconstruction as they did was a mostar bridge as they did with warsaw that's going in contravention to to the venice charter but it's being done anyway and it's being lauded so i don't know who is enforcing the venice charter do you have to obey them or are they going to call you off to jail if you reconstruct something i don't know pressure on the prep room well I can name one in my own backyard some years ago maybe 30 some years ago we tried to reconstruct Shadwell where Thomas Jefferson was born they thought they had the original plan by Thomas Jefferson for Shadwell anyway they opened it to the public you've heard the poem smarty smarty gave a party and nobody came nobody came I mean it was just a simple house it wasn't much to see you got Monticello right up on the mountain well why go to save Chad well and they since found out that that plan that Jefferson did was very questionably the questionable - ad well anyway to make a long story short the museum closed down building wasn't very big and actually I think they picked it up on a helicopter and flew it over to the Boar's Head Inn and now it's a real estate office or something there so if you really want to see it a reconstruction gone awry you can go to the Boar's Head Inn and see it there that is a very conspicuous example trying to think of others it hasn't gone awry but the reconstruction of the colonial capital in Williamsburg the researchers have found out that there are a lot of things that were not built exactly as they found it that they should have been they're not going to change it as far as I know it'd be that you have to rebuild the thing to do so but they're being perfectly honest about new evidences shed light on what it should have been I questioned the design of the ballroom of the governor's palace we have no idea what they looked like they used I think the doorways from Rosewell is precedent for that complete conjecture and I don't know whether further study would offer better evidence for what that wing looked like I don't know and of course the interiors of the governor's palace are complete conjecture we have very little idea of what they originally were like far be it for me to speak for the AIA I'm not an architect and not a member the AIA I don't know certainly architects have not turned down a good project and if one came to the pike with things they would entertain the idea I don't know whether they would say just on principle they can't do it or certainly most of the architects are trained to be modernist it is simply unqualified to do this kind of thing there are plenty of skilled architects in traditional design that are perfectly capable of doing perfectly good reconstructions yes back there now are you thinking about a building that's going to being completely destroyed but you know it's evolution yes well that certainly come up with the Berlin Royal Palace and parts of the earliest section as I understanding and some of the inner courtyards are not being reconstructed these are judgment calls it's a practical matter yeah on the Berlin Royal Palace obviously they're having to accommodate the interior for all these new functions mainly they're doing the exterior because it is an important landmark in the in the in the appearance of the city so that that's the priority and I don't know how many of those interiors will be replaced over time it's a fascinating project I need to learn more about it one one other or all right I'm holding you up for drinks but one more question yes we saw in World War two the corruption of classical forms by the Nazis in the factories if and when similar 42 rise again that he was reconstruction say that again I didn't quite understand the question when such authorities eventually arise reconstruction someone once said to me architecture doesn't have morality do you disdain a building because it's associated with bad people I don't know mmm some of the worst people have rebuilt have built some very interesting buildings and there's a lot of reconstruction and restoration going on in Russia right now do we look down our nose at them because we don't like Russia right a whole lot right now I don't don't know I'm kind of glad they're doing what they're doing some wonderful work going on there anybody want to make a counter statement to that what do you feel it would have been say that I didn't quite hear you yes we all wish they had they were going on the best information they had at the time they got permission from the head of the abbey to bomb the building I guess they assumed that it was a strategic observation post in that the and the war was what was more important yes we're all very sorry that happened it was a tragic mistake but it was it was done with the best of intentions so I think we can continue this conversation informally over drinks

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Keywords: National Civic Art Society, Calder Loth, Justin Shubow, historic preservation, Pennsylvania Station, classical architecture, civic architecture, architecture

Id: 09gsVlroH3A

Length: 65min 38sec (3938 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 30 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/fezzzster]

seems pretty poignant especially following the recent fire in Paris.

[u/Vitruvious]

In this lecture sponsored by the National Civic Art Society, Calder Loth, Senior Architectural Historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, provides the arguments for rebuilding destroyed historic landmarks, and offers examples from around the world.

Loth notes that the reconstruction of demolished historic structures has long been considered strictly forbidden. The loss of a significant building is usually considered to be an opportunity to rebuild with a structure reflecting a “contemporary” aesthetic and lifestyle. Nevertheless, a widespread popular sentiment holds that natural or man-made disasters should not deprive us of important heritage, and that accurate rebuilding of landmarks is a commendable activity since reconstructions serve emotional, patriotic, aesthetic, and educational needs. Moreover, the majority of reconstructions are serious, scholarly achievements. Time has shown that few people regret these resurrected buildings.

[u/Tommy27]

/r/lectures