Owlish points to this thought-provoking op-ed in the New York Times from a few days back by the architecture critic for The New Republic, Sarah Williams Goldhagen, responding to architect Rem Koolhaas’ recent accusations that preservationists “cherry-pick the past”, “destroy people’s complex sense of the urban environment” and all too often are caught snogging with developers.

Here’s a blurb from Koolhaas’ exhibit description on the New Exhibitions Museum website…

Koolhaas seeks to find what the future of our memory will look like, and how our obsession with heritage is creating an artificial re-engineered version of our memory. Lacking a set of coherent strategies or policies and generally not engaged by architects and designers, preservation is an under-examined topic, but increasingly relevant as we enter an age of “Cronocaos,” in which the boundaries between preservation, construction, and demolition collapse, forever changing the course of linear evolution of time.

Hmm…I wonder what Koolhaas would say a natural, non-“re-engineered” memory looks like.

Williams argues that while there’s some truth to Koolhaas’ critiques – and I would perhaps add a dash of “Hello Pot, my name is Kettle!” – preservation is not actually the cause these problems.  Instead, it’s a stop-gap measure acting as a very blunt tool in lieu of more comprehensive city planning departments, which should be considering preservation and development in the same breath.

She goes on to give an insightful and concise history of the preservation movement – including when things came to a head in the mid-1960s when the public decided it had had enough with urban renewal projects blindly tearing down their physical history (see NYC’s Penn Station above) – up to the present day when in many cities around the country “decisions about managing urban development are frequently framed as decisions about what or what not to preserve, with little sense of how those decisions affect the surrounding neighborhood.”

She concludes…

Instead of bashing preservation, we should restrict it to its proper domain. Design review boards, staffed by professionals trained in aesthetics and urban issues and able to influence planning and preservation decisions, should become an integral part of the urban development process. At the same time, city planning offices must be returned to their former, powerful role in urban policy.

We can argue all day about the “proper” role of government in urban planning, but it’s hard to argue that preservation ordinances all too often step in to fill a larger policy void in the present day.  Decatur has had its fair share of examples of historic districts spurred on mainly to impose height of size limits  – from Old Decatur’s historic status stemming from the never-built condos on Hillyer to the Oakhurst kerfuffle over whether it should become a historic district due to the number of tear downs and larger new construction.

The 2010 Strategic Plan task 3a aims at tackling some of what’s lacking in our current planning, by adopting “new transitional design standards to integrate commercial, mixed-use, and residential districts.”, while Goal 4 looks to “encourage the preservation of neighborhoods and appropriate
reuse of historic structures.”  It will be interesting to see how an if these policies combined will create an even more precise and acceptable preservation policy going forward.

Architect Clay Chapman is currently constructing the “Daulton House” at 317 South McDonough Road in the MAK District. The house design was approved at the Historic Preservation Commission’s January meeting in a 3-2 vote.

You can monitor the Tudor brick home’s progress at the Chapman Architecture blog.

But perhaps even more interesting than watching this house rise brick-by-brick, is reading Chapman’s theory of the trade that he relates along the way.  Such as…

There may be an underlying suspicion in the collective psyche that we are presently unable to expound; unable to do anything of creative significance because the era of modern manufacturing, in all it’s efficiency, has made the artisan tradesman obsolete; and in so doing extinguished that brazen creativity we Americans pride ourselves as being descended. Of course this is in no way limited to creative building — what car being built today will be held with the same affection as a 66 Ford Mustang in the year 2060.

All this to say, a penchant for period architecture should in no way be based on an unbalanced appreciation for another time. Many modern architects view period design with a bricker-brack sort of kitchy, collectibles mentality and there is good fodder for this. But it’s not so much a particular period I’m in love with, as a few rudimentary materials that happen to be historically ubiquitous; materials I find difficult to improve upon without a price.

h/t: the DNO

Photo courtesy of Chapman Architecture blog

While many in Decatur pine for a historic theater, Duluth is knocking down theirs. From the AJC…

Duluth will knock down the oldest section of its prized Red Clay Theatre on Wednesday.

Almost a month after razing about 80 feet of the theater at Ga. 120 and Main Street, the city will demolish the 1908 portion of the city-owned brick building. Despite efforts to salvage the section, officials said there were too many structural issues at too high a cost to repair.

According to the article, another portion of the theater was knocked down last month in order “to widen GA 120 and increase the historic district’s visibility from Buford Highway.”

Perhaps this is all just to make way for that Continental Divide Ice Cream Parlor.

Photo courtesy of AJC

There’s lots of excitement surrounding the reopening of Macy’s (previously Davison’s) downtown this summer after an extensive $16 million renovation. The AJC has a great little write up on the transformation of the department store into an event facility with restaurants.  (You can also click here for a couple of renderings and “before” pictures of the space.)

Money quote from the article: “The best way to save a building is to use it.”

Dang straight.  Let’s keep providing incentives to do just that.

h/t: Next Stop…Decatur

Scott points to a blurb in the print version of the AJC, but not yet online.

Decatur is one of 10 Georgia cities receiving federal money for historic preservation projects.

The city will receive $10,000 from the Historic Preservation Fund to do a condition assessment report and preservation plan for the Beacon Hill complex.

The complex on West Trinity housed pre-integration elementary and high schools for the city’s African-American students.  It has served as the city’s police department since the early 1980s.

The city has considered for years how to renovate the existing building for modern use, while retaining the historic character.