Exposing the 'Copying the Past' Nonsense - with Marjo Uotila

In this video, Marjo Uotila tells why the idea that one should 'not copy the past' is counterproductive, or even complete nonsense, for many reasons. Traditional and classical architecture can have a place in today's world, as they are based on solutions that have been time-proven. As a Dutch architect always says (Mieke Bosse): Tradition is nothing more than the sum of successful innovations.

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Music: Wolgrim, by Cody Martin

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[edwardkravchuk]

Progress should be defined as the culmination of all good ideas from the past. "Reinventing the wheel" is not progress.

[erine.]

Finally I see more and more people being fed up with all this ugliness and start demanding to be surrounded by beauty. For me it's a matter of human dignity.

[marijaparlov]

It is not copying, it is perserving the good in witnessing our own time, it is owning ourselves in it

[marksonofnel]

The majority of architecture from the renaissance to the beginning of the dominance of cars could easily be called "copying the past". Many styles were even blatantly called something like neoclassical, or romanesque.

[WillieFungo]

I'm glad people are finally waking up to the plague of modern architecture.

[xealit]

real architecture always _learnt_ from the past, got _inspired_ by it and created new styles that would fit, add and enhance the artistic heritage of the previous generations. And above all of it, the real beautiful architecture, like the real beautiful art, was always inspired by the beauty of nature. And it would add and enhance the natural beauty. Buildings of Palladio _adorn_ the landscapes of Italy, not pollute them. People who spout "copy past" have no clue what they are talking about.

[kevincrady]

"Make ugly Brutalist boxes or copy the past" is a false dichotomy. All it takes is to apply creativity toward the creation of beautiful buildings rather than Lovecraftian abominations (looking at you, Frank Gehry). And of course, there is always the option of copying _nature, _ if one must copy.

We're not limited to a choice between sterile concrete and imitation Greek buildings.

[bernardob]

Other than the rather loud music, i like the snippet of the interview

[eliseosterbrink]

I find it interesting that we're forbidden from using the aesthetics from historical buildings that we like in new construction, even though one of the most frequently uttered phrases I hear in academia is "there is nothing new under the sun". Totally ignoring or even demonizing the past makes for a poorly founded future that is based on nothing and will lead to nowhere.

[bluenothing_]

I would change so much if I could, sadly I can't, just some german student ...

[JohnFromAccounting]

Tradition is about preserving culture to give to future generations. Our traditional architecture is a gift from our ancestors to us, to teach us how to build properly.

[dayangmarikit]

I love highly ornamented buildings, but I truly want our generation to have our own style, like how Art-Deco represents the 1920's and 1930's.

[microcolonel]

Tradition is the sum of ideas that stood the test of time.

[profmonkey]

the sturdiest, and best looking buildings imo are the ones from like 200 years ago in random parts of europe, better than modern stuff on every level

[twentysecondcenturywoman]

The whole “buildings shouldn’t copy the past” literally got us where we are today. With the ugliest architecture we could build.

[ximenadelrio]

Antoni Gaudi is the answer to that debate. He created a new thing taking the best of the past and showing us how could a beautiful sustainable future look... Antoni Gaudi was an absolute genius.

[Spookspek]

You can't just dictate the zeitgeist. Current year fallacy: pretending something to be objectively appropriate just because you called it "modern". By the time you call it that, it's already in the past.

[lemonlemon]

Modern architecture is also the copy paste of past's prisons, suitcases

[CrankyHermit]

How about an architecture of its place, rather than of its time?

[arismy]

Modern building just make people more depressed