Saturday 16 December 2017

front-business

Having recently learnt that there’s a specific name for the construction and preservation technique that aims to capture the elaborate fronts of buildings either for conservation or as a stage or film set is called faรงadism (Entkernung) reminded me of these flats erected by various artists in Paris and rural France to suggest that among other things about the nature of outward appearances that we lose out when only the shell of a historical treasure is saved, whereas provisionally, it is a technique that can be used to retain the character of a neighbourhood while the back office, so to speak, is reconfigured and repurposed. What do you think? It does seem aesthetically pleasing to retain the original appearance of an architectural ensemble, but also part of the practise seems like a sham and a folly, especially when an ill-fitting (like a fast-food franchise that gains a purchase in a historic district by blending in) enterprise can benefit from some window-dressing.