Tagged: Historic preservation quote

Preservation Is…

Architecture has been called the art of building beautifully, a fixation of man’s thinking, and record of his activity…  Keep in mind that last phrase. It is important.

-Ernst Johnson, architect, professor, colleague of Eero Saarinen
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The Wenner Gren Building on the campus of the University of Kentucky, designed by Ernst Johnson, was constructed in 1941 to house the university’s aeronautic engineering lab. It was later used to train chimpanzees for NASA. It is slated for demolition next year. Image via the Lexington Herald Leader

Preservation Is…

Rehabilitating historic properties conserves taxpayers’ dollars, conserves our local heritage, and conserves the natural environment. Rehabilitating historic buildings and using the infrastructure that is already in place to serve them is the height of fiscal and environmental responsibility.
– Donovan Rypkema , Place Economics
GERMANOW-SIMON REHAB

Preservation Is….

Historic preservation clearly does much more than preserve bricks and mortar. It recognizes that our built history connects us in tangible ways with our past and provides context for the places we occupy and the world we live in. It fuses art with craftsmanship, capacity for modern utility with embodied energy, and progressive ideas for economic revitalization with traditional authenticity. Historic preservation is at the same time wonderfully egalitarian; all socioeconomic classes in every corner of the nation have successfully utilized its principles to protect their heritage and revitalize their communities.

-Craig Potts, Executive Director of the Kentucky Heritage Council and State Historic Preservation Officer

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Painting of Shotgun Houses by Catherine Wilson. Available at Fine Art America

Preservation Is…

It has been said that, at it’s best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a a mutual concern for the future.

-William Murtagh, first keeper of the National Register of Historic Places

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13th century Dominican church adapted for use as a bookstore in the Netherlands. Image via Inhabitat