# Modern Additions to Old Buildings / Areas



## NeilF (Apr 22, 2006)

Spawned from a discussion in the stadia forum... I suppose the first question must be, "do you support modern additions to old buildings / old areas of towns?" and, secondly, if so, do you think additions should be built in modern materials and styles, or "true" to the original style. Finally, what are some interesting / spectacular mixes of traditional and modern archetecture you've seen?

I've always felt that if you're going to build something modern onto an old building, at least make it properly modern. There's nothing worse than something that attempts to look like the original - it never quite will and, no matter how hard you try, the join will always be there. At least with something properly modern, you aren't trying to defraud any body into believing something that just isn't true and create additional structures that could almost be individual buildings. As long as you stick to scope, ethic and scale, I've always been a fan, in most cases - I find sacle, rather than style to be the most important part of successful archetecture.

My favourite has to be the work done in the Old Fish Market in Edinburgh's Old Town;










I'm also quite fond of the work Hull University have recently completed to their business school;


















Also, in terms of modern additions in old areas, Gherey's Dancing Building is something that proves the point of scope and scale perfectly.










P.S. I'm sure we all appreciate the pyramid at La Louvre and the dome / remodelled Reichstag (which, I admit is an amazing site!), but I'm looking for something a little more inventive than that.


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## Melchisedeck (Jul 29, 2005)

British Museum 










East Building, upgrade of National Gallery of Art in Washington


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

How about *The Louvre* in Paris


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## Melchisedeck (Jul 29, 2005)

Ara Pacis in Rome, is only modern Building in the center of Rome.
The Ara Pacis Augustae, a sacrificial altar, was originally housed in a building designed by Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo in 1938, primarily in concrete and fake porphyry instead of the travertine and marble that Mussolini's architect had requested. The building was in disrepair and the altar itself was in precarious condition so in the 1996, the Comune di Roma appointed American architect Richard Meier as head of the project for a new museum. Because of its historical relevance one part of the original building has survived: a low travertine wall that Mussolini had engraved with the "Res Gestae" (the Acts of the Divine Augustus). Meier's design is a kind of architectural revival--in terms of materials (Roman travertine and glass) and in terms of plan.



































_____________________________________________
My Blog: http://marvelousarchitectures.blogspot.com/


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## LuckyLuke (Mar 29, 2005)

Porbably the most famous example for a modern addition to an old buildings: The Reichstag


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2006)

Bullring and St Martins church Birmingham.


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

I love these juxtapositions!


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2004)

*Le Louvre:*









































*Musée d'Orsay*, previously it was a railway station:


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## NeilF (Apr 22, 2006)

Thanks for the pic of D'Orsay. I never knew the history of the place (although it seems obvious, now that you've pointed it out).


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

If its within proportions and looks good, than we can talk about it, IMHO.
Within areas protected by the UNESCO eg, I would call for only very decent modernisms. (Like the Vienna city center is one).

In the periphery of Vienna a project has been completed known as the "G-Town" or Gasometer Town. 

Abandonned Gasstorages have been adopted to residentials buildings, offices, a shopping mall etc.

http://archrecord.construction.com/features/bwarAwards/archives/02gasometer.asp


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## Marcanadian (May 7, 2005)

*Toronto*

1 King West









Air Canada Centre (The other side has the old facade from the post office)









Royal Ontario Museum









Ontario College of Art and Design


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2004)

NeilF said:


> Thanks for the pic of D'Orsay. I never knew the history of the place (although it seems obvious, now that you've pointed it out).


The "Gare d'Orsay", built in 1900, closed in 1958, become a museum in 1986:


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## Marco Bruno (Aug 29, 2003)

*Lisbon*


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