1/2–2016

Private monument

The principle of the avant-garde determined the architecture of modernism: its best projects embodied the aim to be ahead of its own time and to validly express social progress. “Liberated housing” shattered the heaviness of traditional envelopes and volumes; it strove for lightness and transparency. On the other hand savings were made with regard to comfort and representation in the standard sense; innovation in terms of typology, construction and materialization was more important than the wish for permanence. In the intervening period they have been included in the lists drawn up by conservationists. While they continue to be used as before, these buildings often fail to meet modern day housing requirements and do not allow energy to be used in a contemporary way. Those who want to live in an original of this kind must adapt their standards and habits to the given conditions and in addition must grant the state, in the person of the conservationist, the right to have a say about their private living space. At times others decide about their room sizes, floor coverings or colours. The extent of this intervention in the private sphere is not negligible. Alongside the small bijou there are also mass housing buildings in which modernism and later postwar modernism also placed accents. In situations where the housing standards of numerous people are involved departures from the pure theory of conservation are unavoidable. In such cases the demands of functionality and energy consumption carry greater weight, as otherwise the monument cannot survive. Consequently, in time-consuming planning processes the preservation of the building fabric must be weighed against economic and energy consumption constraints and the residents’ present-day needs. Building conservation is the art of the individual building. Each one requires a carefully considered and appropriate strategy that strengthens it in a comprehensive way.