Buildings and monuments are increasingly becoming a “burden” to the inevitable changes required to accommodate new functions and adapt to the evolving identity of society. Driven by resource scarcity and modern realities, architects are often forced to rewrite existing scenarios rather than create new ones. The growing relevance of experimental preservation methods is linked to the institutional pressure to preserve post-war modernism, the regulatory stance on cultural heritage, and the lack of ideas in current preservation practices.

“E[x]perimental Pre$ervation” explores and analyses methods that step outside the boundaries of traditionally defined disciplines, viewing preservation as a creative and intellectual challenge.

An exhibition was created at MAD Architecture Space, Elizabetes Street 2, Riga, on December 1, 2020. It was based on my 2017 Master’s thesis, inspired by the book Preservation Is Overtaking Us by Rem Koolhaas and Jorge Otero-Pailos. Unfortunately, the exhibition did not take place due to Covid-19 restrictions. This year, as rushed and thoughtless decisions continue around the demolition of the Victory Park monument, I decided to revive the exhibition in the format of Instagram stories and posts.

👉 Full version available here >>> E[x]perimental Pre$ervation

Experimental – relates to processes of experimentation and those based on testing. It also refers to processes that are not in their final stage and are still being tested. While failure is a natural part of experimentation, in the context of cultural heritage preservation, negative outcomes may be sharply criticized or even seen as degradation of heritage. On the other hand, experimenting with architectural objects is essential to deepen knowledge about heritage and its future preservation.

Practitioners in the field of experimental preservation do not idealize the experiment itself, as seen in the works of modernist architects, artists, and scientists of the 1960s and 70s. Instead, they adopt experimental methods as alternatives to traditional preservation practices, without rejecting them entirely, offering new approaches that extend beyond institutional mechanisms. At the core of experimentation lies creativity and the free application of research mechanisms to the object of study.

Preservation – in architecture, this term is primarily used in relation to monuments and culturally valuable buildings or their parts. It implies that when choosing to preserve a site or part of a building, one must identify its valuable elements in accordance with legal standards.

In the 2006 English-Latvian urban dictionary by Prof. Sigurds Grava, Preservation of monuments is translated as pieminekļu saglabāšana (aizsardzība) — the word in parentheses (aizsardzība = protection) clarifies the context in which “preservation” is commonly used.

However, in the context of “E[x]perimental Pre$ervation,” such a definition is incorrect and misleading, as it implies unauthorized manipulation of heritage. In this project, “preservation” means non-destruction (non-demolition) of objects, not regulatory interventions.

The image shows the building at Elizabetes Street 2, reduced to the smallest pixel size to retain its form. The sketch from a grid notebook was enlarged to 90x90 cm and printed as a single copy.

Summary

In preservation theory, there is a belief that the building’s form and its conservation are primary, which contradicts early modernist ideas like form follows function. As the conceptual era evolves, the form must adapt to new urban values.

Post-war modernist buildings were constructed during the rise of automobilization, often on tabula rasa sites – areas completely cleared for development. Given this radical approach, experimentation is a proportionate response to the origins of such structures.

Complete demolition is the “last” resort.

Preservation can also involve destructive actions – such as removing a wall or dismantling a façade to reveal what was previously hidden.

Current practices focus on protecting monuments, not preserving the city as a living organism. Cities are turning into ensembles of architectural monuments.