Question: do you think it is better to preserve old structure or replace them with more advanced versions?

Adam Wootton answered on 20 Nov 2019:

This is a really difficult question! It’s currently a very controversial issue in France, where Notre Dame cathedral needs a new spire. Do they build one that looks like the original spire, or do they build something modern and contemporary?
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I think we should always try to preserve where we can, but we shouldn’t be afraid to try to build new things, so long as they don’t damage the old things. Preservation is a really touchy area, because people have always thought that they should try to restore the building’s original state, and get rid of any later repairs that damaged the original. However, those repairs are actually part of the history of the building, so why should we get rid of them? We try to preserve a bit of everything for future generations now.
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If you look at a typical medieval cathedral, you’ll notice that the building very rarely stayed the same. In the 1000s, people built cathedrals with Romanesque (round) columns that were designed to look like ancient Rome:

Later on, people added to building with Gothic (pointy!) architecture:

Basically, every generation puts their own mark on the building, so we shouldn’t be afraid to do the same!