Why do we ordinary folks prize our monuments – or museums for that matter? What is it about these piles of old stone or brick, these fading or decaying, and sometimes chipped, objects that inspire awe and affection in many of us?
While we could each have our own reasons, speaking for myself, as an architect, I value those moments spent soaking in the spatiality and materiality of old buildings, as much as their form and details.
As a father, I take my children to both monuments and museums so that they can understand their place in the continuum of time and human history, as much as to learn through experiential observation certain understandings difficult to imbibe only from books.
As a citizen – of a city, a state, or the country – I value them for placing me and mine within a continuity of this civilization.