"Love the New Skin You're In" pre class meg143

I felt this article was a great tie in to the class discussion we had this week about Jencks and postmodern architecture styles and themes. This article discussed the problem people are facing with revamping and renovating old modern structures, and whether you get rid of it, restore it, or create something new from it. "There must be somewhere between pristine preservation and the bull dozer" (McGuigan 60). This quote reminded me of 'tradition reinterpreted' and how many buildings have a complex relation to the past but are given new meaning to justify their existence without needing to be an exact replication. Making sure to keep the themes and important parts of the styles history in tact while also bringing in new creativity. This could also be related to 'amamnesis' which is the relation between the past and the present and how it can make use of disassociated memories. These terms describe two of the canons of postmodern art and architecture. In this particular article the building being discussed "The Museum of Arts and Design" was carefully renovated to keep the basic structure, shape and scale but the inside of the gallery was all revamped to bring in more light and give more space to the art work. "Thought not flawless, the project manages to both echo the past and breathe new life into a long derelict little block of the city" ( McGuigan 61). The MAD building was restored to its original beauty while including new and creative ideas to make it something even more amazing than it was originally.