issue26 by MYcolting

MYcoltingUID: 2563080

TOPIC: ISSUE26 - "Most people would agree that buildings represent a valuable record of any society's past, but controversy arises when old buildings stand on ground that modern planners feel could be better used for modern purposes. In such situations, modern development should be given precedence over the preservation of historic buildings so that contemporary needs can be served."
WORDS: 493          TIME: 00:40:00          DATE: 2009-3-4 21:12:44

Should modern development be given precedence over the preservation of historic buildings so that contemporary needs can be served? The speaker claims so. However, as far as I am concerned, under most circumstances, people, especially the contemporary citizens, actually benefit much from the ancient architectures.

To begin with, when it comes to the ancient architectures, the culture identity of people in groups or nations is reinforced for the reason that the ancient buildings represent a valuable record of any society's past. Consider, for example, Sistine Chapel, which was built in the period of Renaissance, is the most famous architectures in Italy. Because of the perfect preservation, the chapel has collected and reserved a great many of works of art which are considered as the marks of civilization. Grounded in the fact mentioned above, Italians are praised of their achievement and contribution in the development of history. And the Great wall, which was originally built two thousand years ago, is another case to indicate my position. Chinese people are praised of their great project which is the symbol of industry and wisdom. Simply put, without the ancient architectures, the sense of who they are would, to some extent, be undermined.

Moreover, the ancient buildings, actually, create tremendous economic value through attracting a large amount of tourists to visit the interesting places. Here is a good example to illustrate my position. Taj MAHAL, which is made of white marble by Mogul emperor for the memory of his favorite wife, attracts three million of tourists which bring India with thousand of money and promotes the development of the local economic. Taking another more persuasive case as an example, Vatican City, the center of the religion in Europe, due to the limit of its total land area, it is impossible for Vatican City to develop industry. However, relying on the advantage of a great deal ancient architecture, people in Vatican City can live rich only by tourism. In a word, no matter what else may be said, most governments should not overlook the economic value of historic buildings.

Furthermore, with the development of technology, architects relevant to ancient buildings have been skillful in relocating buildings without damaging any part of the buildings. For instance, Lei Feng Tower, which is located by the side of the west lake in China, was successfully relocated to another place because of the expansion of city. In addition, through cogent plan of the government, the tough problems can also be solved perfectly, which create the harmony between the ancient buildings and the modern skyscrapers. Taking Rome city as an example, whose government assigned the site of modern buildings reasonably and finally flourish the economic of Rome.

To sum up, in my point of view, in most cases we can find an approach to balance the conflict in the ancient architectures and modern purpose through relocation skills. At the same time, the reservation of ancient buildings can bring to us stunning economic profits.