Additions, extensions, transformations : new architecture to old

Abstract

Architectural preservation in America has led to an increase in imitative architecture in many sectors of the profession and, as one architectural historian has pointed out, there is no historical precedent for imitative architecture. Fortunately, buildings can only rarely be preserved in a static form: they grow, evolve, and change in response to many circumstances. Too often the form of an addition or extension is determined by aligning cornice lines, using the same building materials, the same window and doors, and a similar roof structure. Essential formal issues are often not addressed. Four case studies are made, each being either an addition, an extension, or a transformation. Differing sizes and scales are explored. Accesses and circulation options are studied, as well as room sizes design decisions. Mostly drawings comprise the work, and they are additive form studies.