A friend of mine from the US told me sarcastically that the columns and huge truss work of the Esplanade that stands firmly at the outer brim of the building, should be replaced with Roman Columns decorated Ionic or Corinthian Capitals, and its impressive adjoining podium should have an extension that depicts the architectural style of classism. What was he thinking? No, but I can't say he's wrong... Everybody is entitled to their POV, or what Wikipedia says, personal Point Of View.

What if in situations where there were no restorations to an old building but rather adding a new extension? Likewise, should the design be modeled after its original building?

Maintaining A Heritage

Depending on the skills of an architect, people have the misconception that everything should be "it is, as it is" state of mindset. Well I am no fan of buildings of restoration or extension of "it is, as it is" state, but if you intend to restore or construct an additional extension/structure to a century old building, you should probably take into account of the building's heritage and the strategy of retaining that heritage of a particular building that is known to posses. Likewise, preserve its history and you have preserved and maintained the building's historical roots, which provides various educational opportunities to the younger generations. The architect is to find the building's historical roots and heritage and does what he can to retain that essence. Not every building restoration or added extension must follow the original design of the building. Sometimes, the architect re-designs in the interior with new modern materials like steel and glass, and in most cases, the exterior facade of the building is maintained and retained, also with the additional of a new modern extension. This process is called adaptive reuse.

The Reichstag Building

Perhaps one of the most famous, in terms of building restoration purposes of all time is the Reichstag Building in Berlin, Germany. Originally built in 1894 to house the Reichstag, which is the parliament of the German Empire. In my personal POV, I think Norman Foster did a pretty decent job in redesigning the Reichstag with a newly constructed dome. Even though the dome is nothing more but clad with a huge glass cupola with a tapered cone in the center clad with reflecting mirrors, it still stands majestically modern as a representation head of the Reichstag and yet still tender with the building's exterior facade. Not only the dome was reconstructed but the original entrance of the Reichstag was also torn down and built with glass panels to full height, yet still doesn't stick out like a sore thumb..

What about now? (Conclusion)

As I am writing this, I somehow kept a glance to the keyboard and wonder if the keys or alphabets could be shifted or remodeled to a different position... If that was done, could we adapt to this new layout? Likewise, the same goes to buildings with new extensions. To me, I wouldn't say buildings with new modern extensions to old buildings are all bad, but on how it was done to remodel to a new design is another process. Architecture can be experimental, and at times, the results can be drastic. In my design opinion, I'll just put it simply; any new extension design should blend entirely well with accordance of the older structure. Whether if the extension was modeled specifically for the old structure or modeled to its own time, an extensional design should and must, to interact and blend with its overall surroundings and relates well to the other older structure.