On the conflict of old and new architecture

As written in the article by Francisco de Gracia; ‘’since the debates of modernity, the problem of how to build on the built has been an open theme of discussion, both with regard to the scale of buildings and in terms of the city.’’ What impact do we want modern architecture to leave on our traditional way of building things? And how can we best adapt to what is already built?

We can often find a cities identity in its old traditional architecture. Often traditional ways of building or a special pattern might be what makes people recognize as the cities. As said in the article Building on built; ‘’Another aspect of the problems is the renunciation of the chance to continue building the city as an artistic entity, one of the kind that society does recognize in the historic city, which is all the more appreciated because it contributes to public life.’’ But what also needs to be taken into consideration is the evolution of time that has though us a lot about living and building, and much has changed. Therefore, there is a need to restore and rebuild. Also, contemporary architectural practice still to have the right to its own historical condition. The present should leave its history and knowledge for future generations. In fact, it should formulate itself by giving testimony of its own time, even where the already is historical centers built. The path towards achieving this includes recognizing the past and the reasons why they built this way, but also to look at what is new, and how things have changed in the societies. In contemporary architecture, we can find a good mix of both good and bad examples on new buildings, some who grow too modern to fit in the old city and others who stays too far in past like a copy.  As Francisco de Gracia explains in his article; ‘’we are talking about practices that can incorporate important transformations of the existing, but under methodological control of the kind that draws inspiration from the past. The idea is to make improvements without modifying for modifying’s sake becoming the center of attention.’’ It can be achieved a certain harmony when done right. The answer is to not have disregard for neither.

The best contributions are the ones capable of arriving in a balanced combination of old and new, that is preserving their original identities without coming into conflict. And the best way to achieve this is to do enough research on the traditional workings, cultural norms, modern improvements and most of all, adapt to how the society has changed. It’s about the impact from all that together. This also raises the question on what impact contemporary architecture will leave on future constructions.