« Follow the Higher Education Dollar | Main | Historic Preservation - NIMBYism over, you know, historic importance »
July 10, 2010
Nazis, Fascists, and Architects -- and then add Historical Preservationists!
The German Pavilion in Venice's Giardini Publici is used for exhibiting German art at the big Biennale. The original building was put up in 1909 and then hastily Nazified in 1938 and then superficially (i.e., removing swastikas and busts of Hitler and Mussolini) in 1945.
Some architects want it replaced, since "It creates an image of Germany that has nothing to do with the reality of today." Others want to preserve it, of course.
Ms Gaensheimer, who is also the director of Frankfurt's Museum for Modern Art, claims that demolishing the building would be futile. "You can't change history by demolishing architecture. But we can use architecture to preserve our consciousness of history," she said. "Fantastic works of art have been shown in the German pavilion and that is what represents this country," she added.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at July 10, 2010 8:44 AM