I like a good debate. Not the lunkenhead talk radio scream-a-rama sort, but the interesting, informed, progressive kind. I not only want to hear about the flip side of an issue, I actually want to be convinced by the opposing argument in order to shed my current belief around a topic or at least see it evolve. Solid research, reason and original thought, coupled with passion for the subject at hand, is a powerful force that can potentially move people in favourable ways.
Respected architect Rem Koolhass’s provocative exhibit, Cronocaos, at the New Museum in NYC challenges the notion that all historic preservation is ‘good.’ Nicolai Ourosoff writes about it in today’s The New York Times.
It makes for an interesting debate around the sacred cow of preservationism and its often difficult co-existence with a more contemporary aesthetic.