March 10th, 2010
 “New tools make the craftsman lazy, causing us to forget how to cope the corner of moldings and how to nail things so they hold. Too many times I have seen carpenters nail a gapped board an extra 10 times instead of making the cut right the first time. Instead of approaching a job wondering how-to, we go in wondering if we have a tool for it. . .The future of fine quality in architecture production is reliant on quality craftsmen. The machine will dumb down architecture, limiting creativity and making quality too expensive.”
—Brent Hull, owner, Hull Historical
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February 24th, 2010
 “. . . A restoration should not only reinstate the past, it should also prepare a building for the future. If a building cannot meet tomorrow’s standards, . .it is doomed to become obsolete. And that will lead the public and policymakers to wonder why they should devote precious resources to the very cause preservationists hold dear. . .Preservationists have to reinvent themselves—or they will become dinosaurs.”
—Blair Kamin, Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic, Chicago Tribune, from a speech he gave to the Michigan Historic Preservation Network
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February 11th, 2010
 “The current recession began with the collapse of the housing market, which had a domino effect into nearly all sectors of construction. With new construction waning, the economics of reusing existing structures becomes more inviting. Despite the tired cry of ‘that old building is too expensive to save,’ I have seen very few buildings in my nearly 40 years of practice that would fit that description. ‘That old building’ may not only be the greenest on the block, as is often said of late, but it may also be the most cost-effective opportunity to revitalize our communities in this time of uncertainty.”
—James T. Kienle, FAIA, director of the historic preservation studio, Moody Nolan, Inc., writing in Contract magazine
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January 28th, 2010
 “If we continue with what is now a scorched earth policy of consumption, we cannot sustain nature’s limited resources. The writing was on the wall in the 1880s, 1960s and 1970s and now again in the 21st century.”
—Eric Stengel, principal, Eric Stengel Architecture, LLC
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January 13th, 2010
 “Some New Urbanists are opposed to Modernist architecture because they do not think it has, to date, contributed reliably to a pedestrian-friendly, human-scaled public realm. But most New Urbanists believe it can contribute, as there are many strains of Modernism.”
—Sandy Sorlien, photographer, code writer and member of the Congress for the New Urbanism
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December 29th, 2009
 “For years, the assembly line was credited with destroying building crafts, although blame for such should probably be more heavily shouldered by architects desiring what they called a ‘machine aesthetic.’ It is ironic that, at this juncture in history, the assembly line is poised to return architectural wisdom to the market on a scale so massive that it cannot even be contemplated by the few pockets of highly trained tradespeople who currently exist. Stay tuned.”
—Stephen A. Mouzon, AIA, CNU, LEED AP, principal, Mouzon Design
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December 16th, 2009
 “When was the last time you tried to buy good moldings or well-designed building materials at a lumberyard? Why is it so hard to get products with thick and rich details that convey a sense of permanence and strength? A major problem in the building-materials market today is the lack of design expertise of manufacturers. Few manufacturers seek to be the experts and sources of information that manufacturers were in the first half of the last century.”
—Brent Hull, owner, Hull Historical, designer and manufacturer of custom architectural interiors
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November 19th, 2009
 “Mainstream media has less interest in historic preservation than it did a few decades ago. Back when ‘less is more’ ideology reigned supreme, the idea of reviving richly ornamented historic buildings seemed radical to editors who thrive on all things new and different. Our successes in preservation have ironically caused our undoing with the media: We’re not considered new and exciting any longer. That’s the preservation movement’s own inconvenient truth.”
—–Clem Labine, founder of Old-House Journal magazine and editor emeritus of Clem Labine’s Traditional Building and Clem Labine’s Period Homes magazines
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November 5th, 2009
 “We clearly do not have all the answers to the challenge of creating sustainable communities or of adapting traditional building and urbanism to a world of peak oil, global climate change and possible sea-level rise. While traditional urbanism may reduce travel – and it seems to be clear that traditional approaches to making buildings that can respond passively to climate are proving relevant today – tradition must evolve to respond to changed conditions.”
—Hank Dittmar, chief executive, The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment
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October 20th, 2009
“What is new is the current push to save energy, which can threaten the integrity of the historic home and potentially rob it of that which makes it truly historic. It is taking various forms, such as replacement windows with insulated glass, vinyl siding backed with rigid insulation and embossed fiberglass doors with insulated cores. The problem is, if you replace the siding, windows and doors with materials that belong in the 21st century instead of the 19th, can you still honestly call the house historic?”
—John H. Cluver, AIA, LEED AP, partner and director of preservation, Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP
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Andi 
Preservationists are already dinosaurs.
This is about as good a definition of the term “sustainability” as I’ve ever seen.
Good stuff, Blair. I truly think that this is the way preservationists and restorationists are headed: keep the style and design and the architecture, while upgrading systems so they meet contemporary expectations, standards, and requirements.