The Philosophy of Conservation

Different views of conservation and identity in Eastern

John Preston discusses a very different approach to conservation and reconstruction.

The Annual School raised issues which are rarely apparent within the British Isles, because we have been fortunate in escaping invasion or (with a few exceptions) large-scale war damage. As a result, we have been able to take historic buildings and places, and their importance as enduring symbols of national and cultural identity, for granted in a way which would not be possible on the Continent. This article compares post-war reconstruction in Poland, with the work of the Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik in establishing new identities at Prague Castle and in Ljuhljana. These provide different perspectives on the way in which reconstruction and conservation work have reflected political and popular aims. A new book about Plecnik by Damian Prelovsek has recently been published (Yale University Press, £45) and his work at Prague Castle has been the subject of a major recent exhibition.

The rebuilding of Ypres, and its importance to the people of the town, reminded me of the similar rebuilding of Warsaw after the Second World War. Walking through ‘old’ Warsaw, I knew almost everything I was seeing was less than 25 years old, yet it did

not feel in any way a replica. In some sub-conscious way, it was as if the rebuilding had been made genuine by the popular will which it reflected. The rebuilding of the Royal Castle was still continuing at the time of my visit in 1988: “ The annihilation oftheRoyal Castle in Warsaw was a conscious and systematically realised political decision. . . Though threatened by the most violent reprisals, a great number of Polish art histdrians, architects and National Museum employees undertook a veiy risky task of saving all they could hide away or safeguard beJbre the German robbers laid their hands on or destroyed it. . .Many precious architectural elements and ornaments were saved Jbr the future reconstruction of the Castle. Also, documentary photographs of the destruction were taken. . . In 1949 an act of the Seym obliged the government to rebuild the Castle. Due to various non-economic obstacles, quite against the nation’s wish, the decision to start the reconstruction was postponed untilJanuary 1971.. .“ (from The history oftheRoyal Castle in Warsaw, by Maria & Andrzej Szypowscy). The rebuilding of Warsaw is perhaps the most extreme case,

because it exemplified a country which had been wiped off the map in the past, and whose culture the Nazis had planned to eradicate completely. UNESCO’s exceptional designation of the rebuilt Warsaw as a World Heritage Site reflected this significance of the reconstruction.

I felt less of the same emotional charge in Ypres (except in the vivid exhibition in the museum); this may have been because of the longer interval since rebuilding, but perhaps also because the buildings themselves are less highly charged with symbolism. I found myself making comparisons of the conservation approaches with the old Hanseatic town of Elbiag in north Poland, which was 90% destroyed in 1945. Reconstruction in Elbiag was still continuing, slowly, in 1988, on the basis of a detailed archaeological survey. After some initial precise rebuilding, the approach had changed:

replacement buildings were being erected on the surviving walls, and reproducing the original footprints, but the elevations were more post- modern than replicas! I have not yet been back to see the results.

Building or rebuilding to assert

Elbiag in 1 988: early reconstruction and excavations.

Elbiag in 1988: proposed reconstruction (post-modern?).

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Context 55 September 1 997