Context 155 - July 2018

8 C O N T E X T 1 5 5 : J U L Y 2 0 1 8 criteria of, for instance, Japan’s Ise Shrine or the wholesale rebuilding of German Alte Städte after the second world war. Indeed, it does not fit the patterns evident in British buildings, but it does bear similarities to the continental use of spolia. Most buildings archaeologists, including the author, on encountering such material in their surveys, would dismiss it as a manifestation of simple economic utilitarianism or, at best, amateurish antiquarianism. The history and material fabric of Whitestaunton suggest other, more nuanced, reasons for the historical use of such material that warrant more open-minded consideration.’ This will surely add to the debate about relative significance. Other essays in the AMS Transactions that may be of interest include one by Richard Hill on previously unknown presentation drawings by Nicholas Hawksmoor for St Alfege Church, Greenwich. The church was entirely rebuilt between 1713 and 1732, badly damaged by incendiaries in 1941 and restored by Albert Richardson, reopening in 1953. The discoveries were made during research (ahead of a Heritage Lottery Fund bid) into the development of the design. Other papers of note are by Paul Holden on the career of William Wynford, retained master mason toWilliam of Wykham, Bishop of Winchester, and Samra Khan’s essay on the Sethi merchants’ havelis (elite urban courtyard houses) in Peshawar, 1800–1910. APT Bulletin The thematic emphasis of this column was not planned but dictated by the serendipitous alignment of the content of the journals reviewed. It is therefore pleasing to emphasise the importance of the double issue of the APT Bulletin (Vol XLVIII, Nos 2–3, 2017) which arrived slightly behind schedule rather than being held back, as it is devoted entirely to the conservation of modernist heritage assets. Anyone dealing with 20th-century buildings will find this issue invaluable. The issue synthesises papers presented during the APT’s 2016 annual conference. One of the most important outcomes of the conference was the development of a preliminary framework for the Principles for Practice on Renewing Modernism. The draft is an evolving document; its aim is to complement existing international conservation standards and charters, and to provide enhanced guidance towards solutions within a framework of best practice, with an emphasis on sustainability, balanced conservation approaches and robustness. This, which appears not to have been attempted elsewhere, deserves wide dissemination. The well-illustrated papers cover philosophical, historical and technical topics, and a wide range of building and construction types dating from the 1920s to the 1970s. Carl Elefante looks into the future of building conservation within the parameters of sustainability and the robustness of an ever- widening range of heritage assets – particularly those of the last half-century (since 1968, let’s not forget), and the challenges and opportunities presented by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Jenna Bresler presents the range of considered options, and the highly original and dramatic solution to saving Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Farnsworth House from frequent and severe river flooding by raising and lowering the house by hydraulic jacks when necessary, thus retaining its original relationship with the river and maintaining its landscape setting. In his paper ‘Modernism on Main Street,’ Mike Jackson examines the evolution of the art- deco and art-moderne shopfronts of the late 1920s and 30s, how these survived over-cladding after the second world war. He describes the challenges of preserving small town ‘ordinary everyday modern’, where new protocols are required to ensure appropriate recognition and protection, and where in the recent past (at least in the UK) unconsidered pastiche 19th-century reproductions might have been the default choice. This issue dovetails nicely with an article by Jordan C Dick and Matthew, B Bronski, with a case study focusing on the testing and development of replacement adhesives for Vitrolite panels in lieu of the original asphaltic mastics. Thoroughly understanding original detailing, possible departures during construction and sensitive adaptation are the concerns of an essay by John H Cluver. He describes how a disciplined, traditional, conservative repair approach on a tightly constrained budget extended the life of chronically leaking, chevron-shaped aluminum windows designed by Eero Saarinen for Vassar College. An equally difficult fenestration problem is explored by Scott Utter and Kelsey Shimpton, who write about the cautious repair and functional enhancement of the skylight assemblies of a 1970s Brutalist building at the University of Illinois, Chicago. LaurenWeiss Bricker explores modernism’s championing of sustainable, environmentally sensitive design through passive solar house designs following materials and energy shortages immediately after the second world war. She focuses in particular on the work of architect O’Neil Ford in San Antonio, Texas, coupled with an exploration of regionalism in both the development of