44 C O N T E X T 1 1 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 he once described his role in Chester as acting as a kind of doctor, encouraging the self-help of a patient working for his own recovery to health. In this he was aiming to awaken and reinforce the natural ability of a city to guide its own destiny, which in a sense he achieved.’ It is apt that Living Buildings is dedicated ‘... to all who love and care for buildings, old and new.’ I commend this book to all who fall into that embracing category. Dennis Rodwell, architect-planner, consultant in cultural heritage and sustainable urban development. A common ethic The Future of the Past: a conservation ethic for architecture, urbanism and historic preservation StevenW Semes, Norton, 2010, 272pp, ISBN 978 0 393732 44 3, £45 From the outset, Semes acknowledges the two publications from which he takes his title. First, the collection of essays, The Future of the Past: attitudes to conservation 1174–1974, by such luminaries as Nikolaus Pevsner, Osbert Lancaster and Hugh Casson (edited by Jane Fawcett, Thames and Hudson, 1976). Second, the phrase ‘conservation ethic’, which the author credits to Anthony Tung’s Preserving theWorld’s Great Cities: the destruction and renewal of the historic metropolis (Clarkson Potter, 2001). Taking these as its cues, this new book is aimed at reassessing contemporary conservation theory and practice against the emergence of new traditional design practice among contemporary architects and urban designers. In short, The Future of the Past is a polemic for ‘new traditional’ in achieving real knowledge.’ Living Buildings is both the title and the over-riding theme of this book. Looking and listening are described as the core survey skills, starting from as few preconceptions as possible. Observe buildings and speak to their occupiers; look at historic areas and towns and speak with their inhabitants; understand people’s emotional and behavioural relationships – including in terms of building technology and evolving functionality. Above all, recognise that small or large, ‘every place and building is special, and each has its own unique soul and identity.’ Living Buildings is a remarkable record of personal and corporate achievement. Founder of the profession of conservation officer, 1971; a founding commissioner of English Heritage, 1983; and awarded the Europa Nostra Medal of Honour, 2000, ‘for his outstanding contribution to the cause of conservation throughout his career.’ Then there are the 1960s Lavenham, Thaxted and Chester reports, the latter of which established a new generic order of townscape values – anchor, major, minor, group and location – which substantially advanced the aesthetic and morphological approach to urban design, including as guidance for the design of new buildings in a historic area. And the major building restoration projects for which Donald Insall Associates will forever be connected in the public mind: Chevening House, Kent; the Lords’ Chamber at the Palace of Westminster; and, not least,Windsor Castle following the disastrous fire in the Queen’s annus horribilis of 1992. The catalogue of new buildings is equally impressive, from modest infill developments in country villages, through substantive interventions in Winchester, to the sinuous Stephen Hawking Building, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. So is the spectrum of writing and teaching – including his seminal The Care of Old Buildings Today (Architectural Press, 1972) and lecture tours across most continents – and his engagement with international organisations such as the European Commission and theWorld Monuments Fund. Underlying this litany of achievement and worthy recognition as CBE (2001) and now KBE, is a self-effacing, team-inspiring human being, one who is totally committed to the historic environment in its broadest meaning. A friend has added the following footnote in a letter: ‘What I like about him particularly is his modesty. I recall architecture in historic cities. It argues vigorously that context matters, that contemporary interventions should be in harmony with their neighbours, and that continuity and respect for the past are more important than sanctifying it. The Future of the Past presents a wellargued case that spans the ancient and modern worlds. In Europe, it commends the ‘definitive changes’ that took place in the historical development of the Athens Acropolis and Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, but critiques Carlo Scarpo’s ‘decontextualised fragmentation’ of the Castelvecchio in Verona (1957–73). The author is equally unsympathetic to Foster Associates’ Maison Carré at Nîmes (1991). He writes that ‘despite abstract formal analogies that purportedly relate the new building to its ancient neighbour, the preponderant visual effect of the new building is to isolate the Roman temple from its otherwise consistent setting.’ At the more modest urban scale, The Future of the Past applauds design that demonstrates the architect’s ‘deep identification with the architectural culture of the place as well as a commitment to superb craftsmanship’. He cites works by Quinlan and Francis Terry in London, and the construction of an entire terrace of new traditional buildings in Brussels – in replacement of a demolished 1960s modernist office tower. The Future of the Past justifies ‘literal replication’ and commends invention within a style; disparages fundamentalist arguments about authenticity and falsification; and prioritises design coherence over the self-conscious display of historical layering. At the same time, the author ridicules the notion that a modern city centre office building can qualify as contextual simply because its glass envelope reflects its historic neighbours. Agree or disagree with it, The Future of the Past is an important contribution to the debate between conservationists, traditionalists and modernists. The book calls for a common, unifying ethic, based on a broad interpretation of conservation (of structures, values, meanings and skills) that promotes ecological and environmental awareness, and equates historic building conservation with sustainable development through the ‘3Rs’ of reduce, reuse and recycle. That call is one that this reviewer can not fault. Dennis Rodwell, architect-planner, consultant in cultural heritage and sustainable urban development.
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