The Recycling Of America
Old buildings make new landmarks
Of all American characteristics, none perhaps has been more enduring than the national preoccupation with newness. This trait nourishes invention, but faddishness as well. Its least attractive symptom may be Americans' rejection of almost anything old that is not a marketable antique. In no aspect of the nation's life has this been more evident than in the reckless, relentless assault on old buildings and neighborhoods. The "pull-down-and-build-over spirit," as Walt Whitman dubbed it, has been incalculably costly in terms of aesthetics, energy and the...
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