Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again,Figure 1: Under new EU policy, the faithful reconstruction of, say, the campanile in Venice after a collapse (as happened in 1902) would be forbidden, and instead a “contemporary” insertion would be required — perhaps like this Madrid building?. Image via Public Domain

Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again,Figure 3: History is not a line but a fugue, full of recapitulations and revivals. Here Jefferson revived Palladio and Roman architects. Image Courtesy of Dino Marcantonio

Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again,Figure 4: The mandate for only “contemporary design” would not only forbid literal historic revivals, but also locally contextual eclectic fusions of new and old, like these buildings by the architect Christopher Alexander in Eishin, Japan. Image © Center for Environmental Structure

Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again,Figure 2: Warsaw’s beautiful and much-loved Old Town, a major economic engine of the city, was entirely rebuilt after the Nazis leveled it in World War II. Such a reconstruction would be forbidden under new EU policies. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Users Jedrzej1224 / Olaf1541

Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again,Figure 4: The mandate for only “contemporary design” would not only forbid literal historic revivals, but also locally contextual eclectic fusions of new and old, like these buildings by the architect Christopher Alexander in Eishin, Japan. Image © Center for Environmental Structure

Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again,Figure 5: This building in a traditional character, located in the historic Nob Hill District of Portland, has a literal date stamp on its front showing its construction in 1992. No one would be fooled as to its historic origins. Image via Google Maps

Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again

Zoom image | View original size

✕

Colonialist Modernism Strikes Again