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Mehran Saiq
After reading Green and Mason one can begin to understand the struggles of preserving. Who should be elected to preserve? We must be very careful when doing historical preservation. When thinking about architecture and the buildings to be preserved me must take in to consideration memories, emotions, significance. A time before our time.
When thinking about persevering one must think in the past, present, and future. For what we decide in the present effects the past and the future. Future is affected through historical preservation because we have to decide what is significant enough to be preserved. Historic preservationist have the burden of thinking on this significance.
As the general public we decide these significance. After reading Green the reader realizes a piece of architecture only holds value that we give it. In fact value is given. Nothing is created or born with value. It seems like common sense when we discuss value. As I read I felt as if everyone know value is given, so what are mason and green trying to enlighten us with. As I continued reading it became very clear that its not value but who decides that a certain value is worth giving, keeping, passing. Historic preservationist have the responsibility to not only preserve a piece of architecture and or a piece of object.
Green and Mason both share the idea of perceiving memory not object. Persevering history is persevering something that as significant value and it must be shared by being past down from generation to generation. An interesting irony to me is that what we have decide to preserve might not be what future generations find to have value. They might look a back as we look back and say we were idiots for preserving one nothing and not the other. Yet they to will be left with the same decisions we are left with; which is what memory holds significant value to persevere.
Architecture is a gateway to pass on values form the past into the present. Through architecture we are told a story. A story from the beginning of a sketch to the end of a compilation with the final brick being put in its place. Historic preservationist have to decided is this story wroth preserving because if we go back in time and ask any person involved with creating a piece of architecture would say yes my story is worth preserving.
To understand the significance of a structure, we first have to ask ourselves two things; what is it that makes this so special to the community, and how old is the structure? This brings us to our specialists, supporters or advocates of the preservation of something, especially of historic buildings and artifacts, also known as preservationists.
Today, many buildings and artifacts are unique and have its own characteristic significance but the question is, what does the term “significance” mean, and most importantly what does the phrase “historical significance “mean. The definition of significance is the quality of being worthy of attention; importance. In the other hand, something with historical significance can simply be something important in history.
In “The Social Construction of Historical Significance” by Howard L. Green “…President Lyndon B. Johnson…that he would sign the National Historic Preservation Act. Describing the act, Johnson said it will allow us… to take stock of the buildings and the properties that are a part of our rich history and to adequately preserve these treasures properly. “(Pg.2, Paragraph 6). Johnson is saying to save the importance and significance of the structure while maintaining its quality.
“If the notion of historical significance suggests the carrying of meaning about history, we still need to know what history is.” (Pg 3 paragraph 13) History as we know it, is the study of past events, particularly in human affairs. “The patterns of the past are identified, not imagined, or invented…Historical data are information, they are not sources laden with many possible meanings that must be teased out with care.” (Pg4 paragraph 14). History is known from experts such as historians who study past world events in history.
In the other hand there is another phrase that’s used quite often. “Making history”. It basically means to do something which will be remembered forever. “ I think many people here would create a mind picture pf people in the past doing something important; enacting a law, fighting a battle, or giving a speech, for some examples. “
Even though an old object from the past may hold a historical value, we cannot underestimate the value of a present object or thing. There are reasons why we built, create, and invent and with those in mind there are purposes to what these things are capable of providing.
In conclusion, preserving a historical piece whether it is a building or an artifact is important because it provides so much information to people of the present. Without history then there would not be a past or present.
As discussed in class last week, when asked the question what determines whether a building or site should be preserved or not we are brought to the question; is it historically significant? Well first we must ask ourselves, who should it be significant to; the past, present or future? As Howard L. Green states in his article “The social construction of historical significance” we must first analyze what historical significance means. According to Green the synonym for significance is importance. That brings us to the question who gets to decide what is important. Do we base the importance of something on how important it was when it was created; how it is viewed now, or how it will be viewed in the future?
As our discussion last week showed, the importance of the subject at the present time is arguably the most significant. It is the job of the present to determine what is historically significant and since the past nor the future has a vote in present decisions, the present must decide what is historically significant in the now. Historical significance means important events or places in the past, however as preservationists we must first decide which events or places are important enough to be historic. As Randall Mason points out in his article “Fixing historic preservation: a constructive critique on significance”, once we can evaluate the historic fabric of a subject and gather information we can use it to create an argument of why the subject should be preserved.
If we look at preservation conceptually, preservation would be based on emotions and the way those emotions connect us to a certain place or event. However these emotions are different for everyone. Someone from a small mid-western town may not necessarily feel the way a native New Yorker may feel about the Statue of Liberty for example. This requires preservationist to have a set of guide lines of the reasons why something should be preserved and what makes it historically significant. These rules reference history and events, connection to a community, uses of architectural elements etc. and are be taken into consideration. The checklist or guidelines used is more intricate then as I have stated but there is a method behind the items taken into consideration before a preservation decision can be made. The more qualities a subject possess from the guidelines the more likelihood it will be saved. We as the present are the ones who decide what is important now and what must be preserved for future generations.
A major goal of historic preservation is to retain qualities intrinsic to the building from its period of identified significance. Sometimes, however, it can be challenging to fit modern technology into older buildings and still retain their historic character. The art objects or buildings should illustrates how energy-efficient systems can be integrated into a historic building in a low impact way. Even i didn’t read the “Green and Mason”, Innovation, Sustainability, and Historic Buildings are most important today in modern architectural.
Innovation in design for historic buildings targets reduction of the volume of systems to allow the original building’s spatial and architectural characteristics to be preserved and be evident to its occupants.
Building construction has important role in sustainable development it is not only due to participation in national economy, but it is due to the fact that constructed environment has great influence on life quality, comfort, security, health, etc.
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It tends to refer specifically to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness. The Architecture and Environmental Design teaching architectural history and preservation technology, preservation engineering and failure analysis
Our heritage is all that has been passed to us by previous generations. It is all around us. It is in the houses we live in, our places of work, the transport we use, our places of worship, our parks and gardens, the places we go to for our sport and social life, in the ground beneath our feet, in the shape of our landscape and in the placing and arrangement of our fields, villages, towns and cities.
The Free and Accepted Masons, one of the oldest fraternal and benevolent organizations in the world, was founded during the middle Ages. Present-day members of the group see themselves as the spiritual heirs of the craftsmen responsible for the architectural monuments of the ancient and medieval worlds, including the pyramids, Solomon’s Temple, the Roman aqueducts, and the medieval cathedrals. This inheritance rests not so much in the monuments, but in the philanthropic, democratic and charitable principles these early builders espoused. The founders of Freemasonry, opponents of the abuses of the divine right kingship, were attracted by the freedom the ancient craftsmen protected and cherished. Early members included the philosopher Voltaire, President George Washington, and the composer Mozart. The symbols of Freemasonry – the right angles, the calipers and the ceremonial trowel – find their source in the tools of the ancient craftsmen.
Modern-day Freemasonry’s activities in the United States are fraternal and philanthropic. Members progress within the organization by degrees. Freemasonry grew tremendously in the United States beginning in the mid-19th century, and by the early 20th century almost every city and town in the United States, and many neighborhoods in New York City, had at least one
References;
http://blog.preservationleadershipforum.org/2014/04/15/historic-buildings-aspinall/#.VA9teGP1F8E Innovation, Sustainability, and Historic Buildings By: Roger Chang, PE, Assoc AIA, ASHRAE BEMP, LEED AP
http://ijes.info/2/4/42542406.pdf Sustainability in Building and Construction: Revising
Definitions and Concepts by Hossein Zabihi
http://www.englishheritage.org.uk/professional/advice/hpg/generalintro/heritageconservationdefined/ Heritage Conservation Defined