Joy English · Level C2 · Architecturejoy-english.com

A panel on restoring old buildings honestly

Name:Date:

A conservator and an architect disagree over whether a heavily repaired building is still the original, and how visible repairs should be.

Audio and answer checking: https://joy-english.com/listening/restoration-authenticity-panel

Opinions and attitude

Listen to the recording. Choose the best answer. Think about what is implied as well as what is said.

What is the central question of the discussion?
- a) How old buildings can be made cheaper to heat
- b) In what sense a much-repaired building remains the same building
- c) Which buildings in the city are the oldest
- d) Whether old buildings should be pulled down
What does Quentin's remark "I've been waiting since about nineteen ninety" suggest?
- a) He is only a recent supporter of the idea
- b) He has held and argued this view for many years
- c) He dislikes being interviewed
- d) He is impatient with the presenter
Why does Quentin compare a repaired wall to a forgery?
- a) Skilful hidden repair destroys evidence of the wall's history
- b) Repairs are always carried out by unskilled workers
- c) Modern materials are not strong enough
- d) Old walls should never be touched
What does Priya mean by calling his argument "a wonderful argument for a museum and a rather expensive one for a town hall"?
- a) It is witty but should be ignored
- b) It is fine in theory but impractical for buildings that must stay in use
- c) It is too modern to be correct
- d) It is inaccurate about museums
What is the point of Quentin's reply that "a distinguished heap tells the truth"?
- a) A ruin is at least honest about its condition
- b) Heaps of stone are worth more than buildings
- c) Priya's building is already a ruin
- d) Truth matters less than beauty
What kind of repair does Quentin accept?
- a) Repair that copies the old style exactly
- b) Repair carried out only by volunteers
- c) Repair marked so that new work can be told from old
- d) Repair that is paid for by visitors
What reservation does Priya express about this approach?
- a) Visible repairs can make a building look like a patchwork
- b) New timber is not strong enough
- c) Visitors dislike dates on beams
- d) It would take too long
How do the two guests react to the puzzle about the ship?
- a) They both find it comforting
- b) They both reject it
- c) Priya finds it reassuring, but Quentin thinks it is a false argument
- d) Quentin accepts it, but Priya thinks it is a trick

Key details

Listen again. Type one or two words from the recording to complete each sentence.

Quentin says a record that has been rewritten is a ___.
Priya says the grain exchange was meant to keep rain off ___.
The grain exchange has lasted for ___ years.
Quentin would cut the ___ into new timber.
Quentin jokes that the eye can rest on a ___.
Quentin says succession is not the same as ___.

Answer key

Opinions and attitude

b) In what sense a much-repaired building remains the same buildingInes asks in what sense a heavily repaired building is still the same building.
b) He has held and argued this view for many yearsHe implies the question has occupied him for decades.
a) Skilful hidden repair destroys evidence of the wall's historyHe says a crack is evidence, and filling it invisibly destroys a document for the sake of decoration.
b) It is fine in theory but impractical for buildings that must stay in useShe means that buildings in use need continual repair, so his rule is costly and impractical.
a) A ruin is at least honest about its conditionHe turns her jibe round: he prefers honest decay to a disguised repair.
c) Repair marked so that new work can be told from oldHe would use new timber and cut the date into it so the new work is visible.
a) Visible repairs can make a building look like a patchworkShe says a building that announces every repair becomes a patchwork and can distract.
c) Priya finds it reassuring, but Quentin thinks it is a false argumentPriya says identity lies in continuity of care; Quentin calls it a sophism and says succession is not survival.

Key details

forgeryHe calls it a forgery, however handsome.
sacksShe says it was built to keep rain off sacks.
two hundred / 200She says it has carried on for two hundred years.
dateHe says to cut the date into the beam.
lawnHe says the eye can rest on a lawn.
survivalHe ends by saying succession is not survival.

Transcript

Ines: Good evening. One question tonight: when a historic building has been repaired so often that little of the original remains, in what sense is it still the same building? My guests are Quentin Baird, a conservator who has spent his career preserving old stonework, and Doctor Priya Nair, an architect who restores buildings for modern use. Quentin, you look as though you've been waiting for this.

Quentin: I've been waiting since about nineteen ninety. My position is simple. A building is a record, and a record that has been rewritten is a forgery, however handsome. If a medieval wall has a crack in it, the crack is evidence of what happened to the wall. Fill it so skilfully that nobody can tell, and you have destroyed a document in order to produce a decoration.

Priya: That is a wonderful argument for a museum and a rather expensive one for a town hall. Buildings are not records. They are tools that happen to be beautiful. The grain exchange I'm working on now was never meant to be admired. It was meant to keep rain off sacks, and it has carried on doing that for two hundred years only because somebody kept replacing the bits that rotted. If we had followed Quentin's rule, it would be a very distinguished heap.

Quentin: I would point out that a distinguished heap tells the truth.

Priya: So does a bus timetable, and nobody wants to live in one.

Ines: Quentin, is there any repair you would accept?

Quentin: Of course. Repair that is honest. If a beam has to be replaced, use new timber and cut the date into it, so that a visitor in the next century can see exactly what is old and what is ours. What I object to is the quiet substitution, where new work is dressed up to look ancient, and everybody is invited to admire a joke that nobody admits to making.

Priya: On that I'm with him, though I'd add something he won't enjoy. Honesty has a price. A building that announces every repair becomes a patchwork, and some visitors find it distracting. There is a case for letting the eye rest.

Quentin: The eye can rest on a lawn.

Ines: Let me raise the cost, since someone always does.

Quentin: Someone always does, and it is usually the person who will not be paying. Neglect is also expensive; it merely sends the invoice to the next generation.

Ines: There's an old puzzle about a ship whose planks are replaced one by one until none is original. Does either of you find it useful?

Priya: I find it comforting. It suggests that identity lies in continuity of care rather than in material.

Quentin: I find it a sophism. The ship has not been preserved. It has been succeeded. And succession, however loving, is not the same thing as survival.

Ines: Neither of you has convinced the other, which I take as the sign of a good discussion. Thank you both.