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Reconstruction is a term in architectural conservation whose precise meaning varies, depending on the context in which they are used.
Contents
- Reconstruction of buildings and structures
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- China
- Croatia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- India
- Israel
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Poland
- Russia
- Slovakia
- Serbia
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- References
More broadly, such as under the ICOMOS Burra Charter, "reconstruction" means returning a damaged building to a known earlier state by the introduction of new materials. It is related to the architectural concepts of restoration (repairing existing building fabric) and preservation (the prevention of further decay), wherein the most extensive form of reconstruction is creating a replica of a destroyed building.
More narrowly, such as under the Secretary of Interior's Standards in the United States, "reconstruction" is "the act or process of depicting, by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location."
Reconstruction of buildings and structures
There may be several reasons for the construction of a building or creation of a replica building or structure.
Sometimes, it is the result of destruction of landmark monuments that is experienced as traumatic by inhabitants of the region, such as through war, planning errors and politically motivated destruction, other times, merely the result of natural disaster. Examples include Yongdingmen (former Peking city gate temporarily sacrificed to traffic considerations), St Mark's Campanile in Venice (collapsed in 1902), House of the Blackheads (Riga), Iberian Gate and Chapel and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow (destroyed by order of Joseph Stalin), Dresden Frauenkirche and Semperoper in Dresden (bombed at the end of World War II). A specifically well-known example is the rebuilding of the historic city center of Warsaw after 1945. The Old Town and the Royal Castle had been badly damaged already at the outset of World War II. It was systematically razed to the ground by German troops after the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The reconstruction of Warsaw's historic center (e.g., St. John's Cathedral, St. Kazimierz Church, Ujazdów Castle) and, e.g., the replica of the Stari Most built in Mostar (Bosnia Herzegovina) have met with official approval by UNESCO.
Other times, reconstructions are made in the case of sites where the historic and cultural significance was not recognized until long after its destruction, common in North America, especially with respect to its early history. Examples include the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, the rebuilding of numerous structures in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, and Fort William Historical Park in Ontario, Canada.
Critics of reconstructed and replica buildings see them as a falsification of history and as the creation of a kind of "architectural ersatz". Most guidelines for reconstruction (such as the Burra and Venice charters) suggest that new construction be distinguishable from the original, and that reconstruction not be carried out if insufficient information exists to accurately re-create the building's former state.
Australia
Belgium
Canada
China
Croatia
France
Germany
Greece
India
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Plans are also being made for reconstructing the Birgu Clock Tower, which was destroyed in 1942.